I was jazzed to see the news about former Michael Stanley Band singer-songwriter Jonah Koslen who recently announced an April 18th date at The Winchester where he will recreate the classic MSB live album Stagepass with his creatively titled band Stage Pass Now.

As someone that didn’t grow up here in Cleveland, it took me a little while to grasp the MSB thing. All of the songs that your average Clevelander went ga-ga for were all of the songs that did nothing for me as a music fan. I was more of a fan of the Koslen-sung MSB material, particularly “Nothing’s Gonna Change My Mind” (speaking of Stagepass….) and later discovered more of Koslen’s music with the anthology for Koslen’s post-MSB project Breathless that was released in the early 90s by Razor & Tie. My other favorite moment on Stagepass comes from the album opening “Midwest Midnight,” which is in my opinion, Stanley’s final moment..

Here’s the lowdown on the show from the Winchester website:

In October of 1976, Cleveland Rock-n-Roll history was made at the original Agora Theatre. Cleveland’s own Michael Stanley Band recorded the classic, gold, double-live album “Stagepass”.

Jonah Koslen and Stage Pass Now re-create the classic album, “Stagepass”, live and in concert, turned up loud and rocking out exactly the way you remember it.

Re-live it, or Experience it for the first time: “Strike Up the Band,” “Rosewood Bitters,” “Nothing’s Going to Change My Mind,” “Show on the Road,” “Waste a Little Time on Me,” “Midwest Midnight,” and the rest of the hit songs from the acclaimed, live album. Jonah Koslen and Stage Pass Now will be live and in concert at The Winchester. Tickets are $15.00. 9pm.

Michael Stanley will be at the show, but not in the way that you might expect. Stanley shares the following quote:

“I’m as excited as everyone else is to hear Jonah and his band perform the Stagepass album live and in concert. I can’t wait to sit in the audience and have the experience of hearing our classic MSB album in all its rocking glory, this time as his friend and a fan.”

Grab your tickets now for this intimate evening with Koslen and crew, which will very likely be a sellout. Visit The Winchester website for ticket details.

PS – a little birdie told me that this will be a warmup show for a larger show later this year. You don’t want to miss this one!

While we’re on the Koslen tip, check out this cool video of Breathless performing at the Cleveland Agora circa-1979!

Relevant Links:

Purchase Michael Stanley Band – Stagepass – Amazon

Jonah Koslen official website

Michael Stanley official website

The Winchester website