Flight to Mars, the Tribute and Benefit for CCFA featuring Mike McCready and Ace Frehley

Flight to Mars is a tribute band to the 80's rockers UFO, who play a few times a year while all the members of the band are not on tour with their regular bands. These members include Mike McCready (Pearl Jam), Gary Westlake, Paul Passereli, Kelly Van Camp, Ty Bailie and Tim DiJulio. The opening night of the Flight to Mars tour took place at The Casbah in San Diego. All proceeds of this performance went to The Wishlist Foundation to benefit the CCFA's Camp Oasis and Advocacy for Patients. The show was photographed impromptu in black and white due to band demand (to appear 80's garage band-esque), as I was there on an "off night" to see my old friend Mike and hear some music. The performance sold out while remaining intimate in atmosphere, especially considering some of these guys are on arena tours. Halfway through the show, there was another announcement. Mike McCready, the most well known member of  the band, announced that Ace Frehley of Kiss flew in to play the show with them and help out the cause. Mike then states, "This guy is the reason that I play guitar," which is a fairly strong statement from one of the gods of grunge who wrote "Alive" and "Even Flow." Flight to Mars played a three hour show and clearly had a great time. They are on a brief  tour throughout the west coast with their final show taking place at The Showbox in Seattle, where most of the band resides. Support local music with a great cause!

Brief and Photos by Doug Siegel