What a crazy night at Ameristar Casino this past Saturday.  Yes, Kevin Cronin of REO and Sammy Hagar came into town for a reunion of classic rock dj’s and neither of them were paid to do it.  Here’s how it all went down.

This reunion of dj’s was the second annual with the first one being held at the House of Rock last year.  But then a woman named Terrye Siegel had connections to Sammy and Kevin and the whole thing blew up.  She thought it would be cool to see if the both of them would come into town and play a few songs and speak about their relationship with KSHE and the late Shelly Grafman.  Shelly owned KSHE back in the day when Sammy and Kevin would get their first airplay.

Sammy’s manager called me in November to ask me about this reunion to see if it was a legit thing.  I told him that I didn’t make it to last year’s but I heard that it was really cool.  He asked me if KSHE was involved and I said no as this thing was being put together by former FM jocks.  Sammy’s manager (Tom Consolo) thought the idea was really cool and thought he’d be able to get Sammy and Kevin to participate.

A few weeks went by and I heard that they were going to be there.  I really couldn’t believe it.  These guys get paid a lot of money to travel and play but they would not be paid at this gig.  Nope, they came here because they value the relationship between them and KSHE.  And of course, the late great Shelly Grafman.

The night was filled with people who I used to work with here at KSHE.  They included Smash, Gary Bennett, Randy Raley, Steve Haas, Katy Kruze and other FM rock dj's who worked at various stations.  We presented the Grafman family with a plaque and then it was time for Sammy and Kevin.  I introduced them to the crowd as the, “worst kept secret of the century.”  They came out and had really nice things to say about Shelly and KSHE.

Sammy and the Wabos (yep, he brought the band) ripped into a Montrose medley followed by Red and I Can’t Drive 55.  Then Kevin came out and they all did a version of Roll with the Changes.

It was an amazing night.  They came all that way because they know where their roots are.  They know the type of fans that love them.  And they value their long term relationships with a station like KSHE…it was pretty damn cool.  And this could only happen in St. Louis.

Favazz

AMF!