By Not many bands in Long Beach perform hits from the 1980s these days. That’s where Knyght Ryder comes in.
According to the five musicians, who range in age from early 20s to late 40s, Knyght Ryder plays everything from Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” to Bon Jovi’s “Living on a Prayer” to Rick Springfield’s “Jessie’s Girl.”
The band also accepts song requests prior to their shows, guitarist Travis Goertz said.
“We’ll accept requests at shows depending on what’s going on,” bassist Dave Gonzalez said. When it comes to the band’s own set lists, however, “There’s a lot of debate. Some of us think some songs are better than others, so we have to talk it through.”
The members met in 2002 to form the band with former lead singer Sean Katlen.
“I was at a barbecue with Dave,” Goertz recalled. “We know a bunch of stupid tunes that we started playing and we thought, ‘Why don’t we start a band?’ A week later, Sean says, ‘I’ve got this idea for a band. We’re called Knyght Ryder, and we play Rick Springfield and Loverboy.’ And I was like, ‘That is so gay. I’m in.’ ”
The Gaslamp Restaurant and Bar reaches maximum capacity every Friday night when Knyght Ryder rocks the stage.
The band has performed weekly at The Gaslamp for nearly five years, but they have also done gigs at corporate events, concerts in parks, Disneyland and Las Vegas. They also performed in downtown Long Beach last year during a New Year’s Eve event.
The band said their reason behind making this ’80s cover band is simple.
“We thought it would be really fun and cheesy,” Campos said. “But then it got so popular that we realized that we could actually do something with it, make a little bit of money and more people [eventually] kept coming in.”
The members also played together in another band called 90s210, which specialized in songs from the 1990s. For now, that band is inactive.
“We were playing [as 90s210] at Gaslamp on Thursdays, and there was new ownership,” Goertz said. “One of the things they wanted to do was try a different direction for Thursday nights so they let us go. Our direction is still aimless at this point.”
The guys have big plans for the future. To start, they want to revive 90s210.
“We want to keep being successful in this band while building up the other and doing a lot of shows with that,” Campos said. “So for corporate stuff we make a lot of money, especially if we’re doing booking. For anything over a certain amount you get a certain percentage, so if you do shows for $4,000 or $5,000, you make a lot of money.”
The band has another feasible idea of gaining more popularity and money, although it is more of a joke than a concrete plan.
“We can do some other tribute bands like Churro, which is a Charro tribute band,” Campos said. “We’re also thinking of The Whom, a grammatically correct tribute to The Who.”
As much as the musicians enjoy playing in Knyght Ryder, they make a living with day jobs. Welsh teaches private music lessons to 30 students, while Goertz does graphic design projects for Cal State Long Beach. Carmichael works at an investigation firm and Gonzalez works with computers.
“We wouldn’t have been performing this long if it wasn’t fun,” Gonzalez said. “I take care of the bills with my job; the band is for enjoyment. Rick’s idea about making more money is nice, but even if we don’t it’s good because these guys are really talented.”
The guys in Knyght Ryder are clearly serious about their band and their plans for the future. They hope to combine Knyght Ryder and 90s210 into an ’80s and ’90s band.
“We want to be in something that’s successful so that we can do more corporate gigs and more weddings,” Gonzalez said. “Because, right now, we have a lot of potential, and it seems like we could do really well.”
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