On an upcoming October night, the high energy rock ‘n’ roll of a half-century ago will fill the walls of a local auditorium once again. It’s not the original Stage Pass performance, but Jonah Koslen plans to bring the Michael Stanley Band’s iconic set back one more time.
On Oct. 22 and 24, Koslen, who joined Stanley in 1973 to form MSB, will take over the Kent Stage with his Stage Pass 50 shows on the exact anniversary dates of the original performance. Though Stanley died in 2021, his music has lived on through the musicians and fans he influenced. Koslen’s shows this October will serve as his last dedicated tribute to the MSB legacy.
If you speak to a Clevelander who was alive in the ‘70s, they will tell you that MSB was the biggest band of the time. Many of them danced on the lawn as the band broke attendance records at Blossom Music Center in ‘82. But if any of those Clevelanders left the Midwest, they would see that the impact of MSB did not extend much further than Cleveland.
While other up-and-coming artists or bands on the rise leave the city after getting a strong start here in Cleveland, MSB stayed. Perhaps that’s why they never really took off nationally. Perhaps it was their record label or management. The topic is still debated among music historians in the area to this day…