Great White looks back, moves forward

updated 3:26 p.m. ET Sept. 29, 2006

LOS ANGELES - For more than three years, anger, grief, lawsuits and haunting memories have swirled around the band Great White since its pyrotechnic display ignited the Rhode Island nightclub fire that left 100 dead and injured many more.

The fire “was a full-blown American tragedy,” lead guitarist Mark Kendall told The Associated Press in a recent rare interview. “I was sad to be a witness to it. It was just a nightmare.”

The February 2003 conflagration, sparked by stage explosives that ignited foam meant to soundproof The Station nightclub’s stage, also killed the hard-rock group’s guitarist Ty Longley.

Amid escalating legal troubles, Great White has now reunited after a year off the road and is preparing to record an album and go back on tour.

Looking forward is much easier than looking back for Great White.

“These people (in the club) were like friends to us, not just rock fans,” Kendall said. “There’s a fellowship with the surviving victims. ... We all get together, we hug, we cry. For the majority of the people, they all want to hear the band play.”

NBC VIDEO In court Sept. 29: Relatives remember loved ones who died in the February 2003 nightclub fire. NBC's Michelle Franzen reports. MSNBC

Others want the band to pay.

Nearly 300 people who were injured or whose loved ones died in the blaze named Kendall and lead singer/co-founder Jack Russell in a federal lawsuit seeking compensation for their losses. Multiple calls to the band’s attorney, Ed McPherson, were not immediately returned.

Former tour manager Dan Biechele, who lit the pyrotechnics that night, has been sentenced to serve four years in prison. Under a plea deal a judge is expected to approve Friday, club owner Michael Derderian would receive four years in prison and his brother, club co-owner Jeffrey Derderian, a suspended sentence.

Many fans remain devoted
Kendall said the Southern California group — once Grammy-nominated for the ‘80s hit “Once Bitten, Twice Shy” — has re-formed with its original members. Kendall and Russell have written 15 new songs for an as-yet untitled album to be recorded in Los Angeles and Salt Lake City by year’s end.

NBC VIDEO Vivid emotions Sept. 29: The judge calls a recess after one family member lashes out. MSNBC

It’s the group’s first full album of new songs since 1999, and everyone is “pumped,” Kendall said. The band will begin touring in January. Will there be a stop in Rhode Island? Kendall isn’t sure, but he does know that some money from the tour will go to a fund to benefit survivors’ families and victims. There will be no pyrotechnics, he said.

Steadfast fans are ready for the band’s re-emergence and have expressed their support on the Great White MySpace Web site.

“What happened in Rhode Island was very sad but I go by the music and I still love to listen to their music!” fan Pam Meadows, 36, wrote in an e-mail when asked by The Associated Press about her loyalty to the band after the fire.

“My hands are joined in the circle around Great White,” wrote Cheryl Blevins, 45, of Idaho, when contacted by The Associated Press.

Just after the fire, bassist Dave Filice and drummer Eric Powers left the group. Kendall — 49 with a shaved head and white goatee — stopped performing, turned to Christianity, went through intensive therapy and surrounded himself with his wife Bridget, three sons and one stepdaughter.

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