Light show for bands rescued to rock

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“As a kid, I’d go see it whenever I could,” Stewart recalls. “Seven months ago I found that it had been in storage since 1972, and was able to get it and refurbish it.

“It’s about 8-foot-by-8-foot, made with neon, Christmas lights and LED’s before most people were using them. It was way ahead of its time, and goes backwards and around.”

Stewart took it to Keith Combs, owner of Creative Signs by Keith in Middletown, to bring it back to life.

“I took it apart, cleaned it up, painted it and made sure the neon was working,” said Combs. “Someone else got the electronics working, and it’s all up and running now.

“I was pretty excited that Geno was going to get it working again. I definitely remember this light show at the Inferno at YMCA dances, and it was really cool.”

Tim Halsey, a member of the Rapscallion Sirkle, along with his younger brother Mike, remembers it better than most; not only did the light show enhance their performances, but his father, the late Ed Halsey, built it in the family garage.

“He was a millwright and provided the materials and assembled it,” recalls Tim Halsey. “There are rotary switches that fire off lights at different times, also manual switches. We’d have three sections in front of us with lights showing the band, two behind with strobe lights front, right and left, and it made squares that go in and out, making band members seem bigger and smaller.”

The Rapscallions ranged from five to eight pieces during the band’s 1966-1970 heyday, and the light show was built and used from 1967-69. They not only played in Middletown but also from Kentucky to Columbus.

“We played a lot of jobs for WSAI Radio — LeSourdsville Lake Amusement Park a couple times a month. Different disc jockeys had locations where we’d play during the summers. WING Radio in Dayton had WING Island on Gettysburg Avenue, a huge place with a stage at each end, and we’d take turns. I think it’s a car parts shop now. We played a lot in Dayton, Cincinnati and surrounding areas.

“Most of our music was psychedelic, Motown and Top 40. Mom and Dad rode around with us, since we were still in school, and Dad would keep stuff working. That light show took two panel vans to haul, but it made a difference and was great fun. It was a big deal back then. People still ask about the band, some who weren’t old enough to get into the dances so (they) would climb the fences.”

Tim Halsey, after the band and a few sporadic guitar gigs, took a job with the City of Middletown.

He said, “For people like Geno and others around at the time, this light show’s a real blast from the past.”

Stewart, who played guitar with various bands (Adonis, Straight Up, Beowolf, Spinal Kracker, Inside Out), later opening for famous hard-rock groups such as Aerosmith, Great White, Ratt and Steppenwolf, now records bands in his Middletown studio, manages groups and produces concerts.

“I’ll use the light show for special occasions,” he says, noting that the blast from the past will be used for the first time since it was put in storage on March 11 at the Old Crow Bar in Middletown. Stewart has put together a show with four bands — ThunderTaker, Nerak Roth Patterson, temper and Lift the Medium — all using the light show.

“We’ll add lasers and other lights, mixing the modern with the old,” he said.

The show starts at 8 p.m., and tickets are $5.