Pearl Jam's Mike McCready Books Flight to Mars 10th Anniversary Shows

Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready Books Flight to Mars 10th Anniversary Shows

2012-03-01

Story by Anne Erickson

Flight to Mars tour dates will benefit charity

If you weren’t already aware, Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready dabbles in a rock band called Flight to Mars. The guys have announced tour dates to celebrate their 10th anniversary, but don’t expect to take in any Pearl Jam tracks. Flight to Mars is strictly and utterly an UFO cover band dedicated to playing the songs of the English hard rock group that features Michael Schenker, one of McCready’s favorite guitar slingers.

The tour — which features McCready, Tim DiJulio (guitar), Gary Westlake (bass), Mike Musburger (drums), Ty Bailie(keyboards) and Paul Passereli (vocals) — kicks off on May 14 at the Observatory in Santa Ana, Calif., and closes out on May 23 in the group’s hometown of Seattle at the Showbox at the Market.

The shows benefit a good cause, too. As the story goes, in 2002, McCready announced that for two decades, he had been struggling with Crohn’s disease, an inflammatory bowel condition that has no known cure at the moment. Ever since, McCready has been one of music’s biggest supporters for Crohn’s patients and the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America, and these shows will benefit Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America’s Camp Oasis and Advocacy for Patients with Chronic Illness, two non-profits that McCready has supported for nearly a decade.

Tickets for all shows except Seattle go on sale on Friday, March 2, via local ticket outlets. Tickets for the Seattle date go on sale Friday, March 9, at 10 a.m. PST. Check out venue websites for more details.

Flight to Mars, Featuring Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready, 2012 Tour Dates:

05/14 — Santa Ana, Calif. — The Observatory
05/15 — San Diego, Calif. — The Casbah
05/16 — Las Vegas, Nev. — Hard Rock Cafe on the Strip
05/17 — Los Angeles, Calif. — The Troubadour
05/20 — San Francisco, Calif. — The Independent
05/22 — Portland, Ore. — Hawthorne Theatre
05/23 — Seattle, Wash. — Showbox at the Market

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Anne Erickson

Author, writer and editor Anne Erickson is a longtime music writer and radio host. Her work has been published in the USA Today Network, Consequence.net, Blabbermouth.net, Loudwire.com, the Oakland Press and more. Anne holds a master's degree from Michigan State University. Contact Anne at anne@audioinkradio.com.