How much company bandwidth are you chewing up here with all these videos, Jeff. It's a good thing the IT guys were into Slave Raider...

Awesome job Jeff!

Thanx,

Dan

great article!

This rules!
Obsession was the best!

This is a great article do you remember the band straight up just wondering if any of those guys are around anymore . Or the band roxx

Jeff,

Greatly enjoyed your article regarding the '80s metal scene in the Twin Cities. However, I just have to set straight a couple of inaccuracies. First, Zippy Caplan was the guitarist for the Litter, as well as one of two guitarists for White Lightning (along with Ron Roberts). My first concert memory was seeing White Lightning open for Alice Cooper at the Depot (later to become First Avenue) in 1970 on my 12th birthday, but I digress.

Second, while my beloved bandmates and I in Dare Force opened up for a number of major national acts, Van Halen was not one of them. Our most significant opening slot was in front of KISS (we did open for Kansas and Ted Nugent, as well as a slew of many other acts of note in the day). However, Van Halen did come to see one of our shows at another very popular venue you neglected to mention in your article, Boyd's on the River. We had a run of several national acts coming to see us in the clubs after their shows in the late 1970s and early 1980s, including Cheap Trick and the Allman Brothers.

Finally, the biggest show Dare Force played was for 14,000 rabid metal heads outdoors on the shorefront of Lake Michigan in Milwaukee, at an anti-disco event hosted by a local hard rock station in 1982. We also played in front of 12,000 rockers at the Met Sports Center in 1982, headlining Stereo 101's "Twin Cities Rocks" concert that also included a number of local acts featured on an album sponsored by the radio station. My dearest friend and beloved gunslinger-in-arms Brian Bart likely forgot to mention these shows because he was not in the band at the time (having taken a brief detour to play with another band, DVC, the drummer of which, Johnnie Bolin, brother of legendary guitarist Tommy Bolin, would later join Dare Force when Brian rejoined the fold).

It is nice to see our musical scene's history finally getting a little well-deserved press (albeit still somewhat of a back-handed compliment). While we were never the darlings of the local rock critics, the musicians of our era always took pride in their musicianship, and the special relationship with their fans. It definitely was a magical time, the likes of which will never be seen again.

Sincerely,

Johnny O'Neil

Yes, it was truly an amazing time... I remember seeing Paradox, Obsession, Dareforce, at "The Payne Reliever" on a monthly basis, and it was like full blown concerts you'd see at the arenas with pyro, explosions, thick smoke you could never get away with these days. I can remember seeing Paradox at the "Payne Reliever" and they had pyro all over the front of the stage and when it went off, it blew a bunch of the ceiling tiles right off! I think its about time someone recognizes the great scene St. Paul had. Even though it was always under the shadow of the MPLS punk and Prince scene, it was 10 times more entertaining and you could see and hear what real great virtuoso musicians were.

John Eller of "Paradox" was one of the greatest guitarist and vocalist I have ever seen, and inspired myself as a musician and many other people I know to pick up the guitar. Brynn Arens of "Obsession" was legendary as a rock guitar entertainer, there will never be a likes of him again on a local scene.
Long Live the "Payne Reliever, Ryans Corner, Nib's, Studio 94, Music Island, The Libation Station, and others!

thanks for a great story, jeff.

i couldn't agree more with mr. o'neil that this was a bit of a back-handed compliment. had obsession, dare force, paradox, rocking horse been based out of LA, they would have been gods. but the simple fact that the 'mats, husker du and prince owned this scene, hard rock was a joke. but not to us, the fans.

i can speak for a slew of local rock musicians who looked at brynn arens, brian bart, johnny o'neil, brian lorenson (sp?), dugan mcneill, the dudes in paradox, etc... as nothing less than larger than life rock stars. they were all the real deal.

i'm not sure what the rest of the country had in terms of hard rock bands in the 80s, but i can't imagine anyone had a better scene than mpls/st. paul.

these bands traveled with entire production. lights, sound, road crew, sound and light guys who actually created a full-on, arena style concert in a small club. it wasn't a joke. it wasn't a spoof. it was just as important to us to see dare force at ryan's or obsession at muldoon's as it was to see motley crue open for ozzy.

it truly was magical, as johnny said, and i doubt it will ever happen again. i feel very fortunate to have been a part of it, albeit my band, riff raff hit the scene when it had already made that turn into "hair metal". DOH!

great work, hairball! keep flyin' that flag! how about adding "if the good die young...", "pushin' your luck" and "stranded" to your set list!

thanks, jeff!

This story was great fun to read and way overdue.
These were all GREAT Twin Cities bands that while they were supported by the fans were sadly over looked by the media.
I always found it kind of ironic that each of these bands Dare Force, Paradox and Obsession (not to mention Cain) did not appear on the cover of City Pages on a regular basis. Besides the fact that they were all contributing to the music scene in their own way they were the bands the bars/clubs were buying advertising for to help keep your weekly afloat!
More articles on hard rock and metal please!!!

John Eller rules!

I wanted to thank Jeff again for the story and breakfast. It's always a blast remembering the good old days. I talked to him before press, and realized he had to edit out much of our conversation. I did mention Crow, Cain, Gypsy, Jessie Brady, Strait Up and Chameleon in the interview. These bands were a huge local influence on Dare Force. I also think Hericane Alice, Paradox, Impailer, Disturbed and too many more to mention also need to be remembered for their contribution to the Twin Cities rock / metal history. The agencies were a trip, Marsh, Alpha, GMA, ARM, NTA. There were so many gigs you could make a full time living off music. I've told stories to studio clients and former Musictech students about this "bygone era", and they wish there was still a scene like that.
I would love to thank everyone in the Midwest music scene for many fond memories.

I was there. I lived it. It is in my soul forever. Most of the musicians were really great people, they were fun to be around. Some of them thought that they were better than others but I guess that happens. It was a great time, and in the scripture of Paradox. A pleasant time was guaranteed for all

I think we need a Dareforce, Paradox, Obsession reunion show!!! How about it guys??? I would pay xtra to see that!!! as I am sure many other people would.

Thanks for the fun article--
The tribute bands seem to cash in every 20 years--the 70s had Rockin Hollywoods playin 50s--the 90s had Boogie Wonderland playin 70s and in the 2000s (luckily) we can rely on Hairball for an 80s good time. Of all the musical genres it must be stated that the metal fans are probably the most dedicated.

My name is Jeff Loven-- I was lead guitarist/singer in Obsession. I'm probably the only musician left out of all the original 80s bands mentioned in your article that supports my family and makes a living by strapping on a guitar and singing/rocking on stage 4-6 nights a week. Oddly--I'm not with a band--I perform as Minnesota's #1 One Man Band. Don't feel bad---things are going so good I recently turned down an audition with Guns-n-Roses (Yes, it is true.) If you come out to one of my shows you can expect a wide variety of music--but you will also be thoroughly rocked as there will be a few 80s amp-busting assaults along the way ala AC/DC, Vanhalen, G-n-R, Satriani Etc....plus, you never know who might be sitting in!

If you are a MN metal fan-or Obsession fan in particular--I would like to invite you to my webpage www.jeffloven.com. You can view a bunch of Obsession photos by clicking Pictures>Thru The Years>Obsession 1980-1986. We'll also be posting the full length 1982 review of Obsession that appeared in City Pages back in 1982 (not 1992) that was referenced in this current article.

Thanks again for the fun look back!
Jeff Loven
Minnesota's #1 One Man Band

No way Jeff not unless you get Brynn and the guys together too!

I think that Karl Kaiser was and still is the best singer to come out of the twin cities music scene. If you ever see him sing it will send chills up your spine. He was originally from Paradox and then he went and joined Warloxx. He was also a member of Trash Manor and Atomik and Badditude. I know that once in awhile he sings with John Eller, and I've seen him sing with Jeff Loven. You really should hear him sing. So good