Pop Evil Performs With 2 Fill in Musicians

Sometimes things happen to rock bands that force them to make a move under the last minute in order to keep the tour rolling...they say that's "Rock n Roll."

A band is similar to a sports team except, they usually don't have members on the bench to go in for a player who cannot be at the game, or this case, the show.

Pop Evil are from right here in West Michigan but their current drummer, Hayley Cramer, lives in the UK, and because it is much harder to get a work visa to travel out of the country because of the pandemic, they band had to get a fill in drummer to start their tour.

I don't blame Pop Evil for keeping the show on the road. Their band and crew and have essentially been out of work for a year and a half and postponing a stretch of dates waiting for a work visa, they had time to get a fill in drummer who happens to be from Michigan by the name of Jason Hartless.

Hartless is best known for playing drums for Ted Nugent, Sponge and many others. He has some history with Pop Evil for laying some drum tracks for them as well back in the day. The good news for Hartless was, he had plenty of time to learn his parts and that allowed band plenty of time to get him worked in because the work visa thing with Hayley the knew in advance.

Now longtime bassist Matt DiRito leaving Pop Evil was a bit more last minute than Hayley's ordeal. So Pop Evil contacted an old friend of theirs from a band called Devour the Day. Devour is a great band and you may even remember their biggest song "Good Man." Here's the video for a refresher:

So Pop Evil enlisted Devour's Joey "Chicago" Walser to fill in for DoRito. I have seen Devour the Day several times and Joey is a great player, but also a great performer on stage. Let's face it, Matt DoRito was a big part of the live performance for Pop Evil so not just any bass player could come in.

Well Joey had 36 hours to learn 30 songs and like a pro, he pulled it off. Pop Evil performed at the Upheaval Festival on Friday, July 16, at Belknap Park in Grand Rapids and did an amazing job.

I spoke with Leigh Kakaty after their performance and he was like, "man, this came together right down to the wire." Pop Evil delivered a great set and both Joey and Jason did a great job under short notice.

Hayley will rejoin the tour in a few weeks once that work visa allows her the opportunity to roll back into the states.

As they say in the music business, the show must go on, and it has for Pop Evil.

Here is the latest from Pop Evil, a great track called "Survivor."