News

Classic Rockers Boston Coming to Atlantic City

Tracy Ferrie vividly remembers the first time that he heard the band Boston.

It was 1976 and the then 10-year-old Elkhart, Indiana native was at his parents roller rink when the instantly memorable, soon-to-be rock classic  More Than a Feeling emanated from the sound system.

 I remember the day we put the Boston record on, Ferrie said.  I m skating around the roller rink thinking,  this is unbelievable. I ve never heard anything like this. 

More than 35 years later, Ferrie is playing bass on Boston s summer tour, performing  More Than a Feeling,  Peace of Mind,  Amanda and other classics to sellout crowds. Boston plays this Saturday at the Mark G. Etess Arena at Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City.

 It s been fantastic, Ferrie said by phone of playing with Boston, which is led by guitarist and keyboardist Tom Scholz.  It s a high energy show.

 You see a very diverse age range and it s wonderful to see people singing along to every word to every song. The fans are excited to be there and I m excited to be there.

Ferrie said he also loves the fact that Boston is in-sync both on- and off-stage.

 The band gets along great, he said.  A lot of bands on their day off, they don t even want to see each other. If we haven t seen each other in a few hours it s like,  let s go have dinner or do something. There s a lot of camaraderie.

Boston s summer 2012 lineup also includes guitarist Gary Pihl; singer, percussionist and keyboardist Tommy DeCarlo; vocalist-guitarist David Victor; and drummer Curly Smith.

The band is excited to return to Atlantic City. The last time Boston played America s Playground, in 2008, they were greeted by a three-story high billboard of themselves and quickly gathered their cameras to capture the larger-than-life image from their tour bus.

Pihl shared another Atlantic City anecdote from the 2008 tour and hinted at some surprises in the set for fans attending this Saturday s concert.

 I went jogging on the boardwalk and a couple of fans yelled,  we re coming to your show, please play  Smokin,  Pihl said by email.  We'll be playing  Smokin again this time, and some songs we haven t played for a while.

This will be Ferrie s first time playing Atlantic City, but not New Jersey. He said his favorite Garden State experience was playing the legendary Stone Pony in Asbury Park as the bassist for Christian metalers Stryper.

 It s such a famous venue, Ferrie said of the club that helped launch Bruce Springsteen s career.  Playing there definitely left an imprint in my mind.

Ferrie has worked with a long list of

A closer look at Boston with bass player Tracy Ferrie

By Chad Hobbs

Peace of Mind, Don t Look Back, More Than a Feeling, Foreplay/Long Time, and Amanda are a few of the many classic rock anthems that Boston can lay claim to and will be playing live when the band makes a stop on their current tour to Columbus on August 1st. They will be playing the Celeste Center at the Ohio State Fair. I didn t hesitate when I was given the opportunity to interview the newest member of the band, bass player Tracy Ferrie.
The bands publicist, Gail Parenteau, was gracious enough to organize the interview and Tracy was the real deal. During my time with him on the phone I got to know a little more about him, I got a better understanding to the inner workings of Boston and the music they play, and we even got to do a little bit of old fashioned rock  n roll discussion.

Boston in Austin

Last night, the 80s stadium-filling band Boston played a sold-out show on the ACL Live stage at the Moody Theater. Founding member, inventor and philanthropist Tom Scholz led the band through a set list containing all of Boston's monster hits. Tommy DeCarlo, the former Home Depot employee who was found through a YouTube karaoke video posting, assumed lead singer duties and the Austin crowd enthusiastically sang along. Austinist's Steve Hopson photographed the action.

Photo: