Left End readies ‘Final Ride,’ recalls first one

WHAT: Left End: The Final Ride, preceded by the documentary "When Idora Rocked"

WHEN: 7 p.m. Saturday

WHERE: Powers Auditorium, 260 W. Federal St., Youngstown

HOW MUCH: Tickets range from $40 to $89 and are available through Ticketmaster.

When Left End played Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre in 2024, the band assumed that was its last hurrah.

At the amp and the year before at Packard Music Hall, the surviving members of its classic lineup -- guitar players Tom Figinsky and Jim Puhalla, bass player Roy Guerrieri and drummer Pat Palombo -- were joined by Las Vegas singer Michael Lawrence (taking the place of lead singer Dennis Sesonsky/Dennis T. Menass, who died in 2014), guitar player Dave Lemasters, who played with the band in the 1980s, and backup singer Leanne Binder. They played songs from "Spoiled Rotten," its 1974 album on Polydor Records, the EP "Ridin' Again" and other favorites from when the band's fans filled area bars and clubs up to six nights a week.

Those fans had other ideas.

"One of the things that keeps the band going is the fan base," Palombo said. "There’s still people interested. We have a Facebook page, and we get hundreds of hits a week. For the last year and a half, they have been sending Instagram messages and saying, 'You guys got to do it again, we really want to hear you again,' that kind of thing. Ray Timlin, who worked with the band at one time and is co-promoter, he said, 'Hey, why don’t we give it one more shot?' ... We’re healthy enough to do it. We really enjoy doing it, quite frankly. So we’re coming back."

Left End will take its "Final Ride" on Saturday at Powers Auditorium. A revamped and enhanced version of "When Idora Rocked," the documentary that was part of the 2024 reunion, will be shown at 7 p.m. before Left End performs.

To Mahoning Valley music fans in the mid '70s, songs such as "Bad Talkin' Lady," "Sunshine Girl" and "Cyclone Rider" are as well known as the biggest hits of that era, and those originals were the focus of the 2023 and '24 reunion concerts. But Left End wasn't playing four sets a night in area clubs relying solely on original material, so this time the band plans to mix in some of those distinctive covers.

"When we run into people, they always mention, "We used to come watch the band and you guys used to do this Aerosmith song' or whatever," Figinsky said. "A lot of people came to see the band because they wanted to hear the originals, but a lot of people came to see the band because they liked the cover tunes that we did, and a lot of times we would do them a little differently. And people said, 'We liked your version better.'"

The band polled its social media followers on what cover songs they would like to hear and will incorporate some of the choices.

As the band prepares for its "final ride," the four original members in separate interviews shared memories of how it began, including the first gig with Sesonsky on lead vocals and the creation of its first original song.

The band that became a local favorite, signed to Polydor Records and played shows with acts ranging from the J. Geils Band to Parliament, started with a phone call.

Guerrieri, who played bass in The Soulsations, an R&B cover band, called his third cousin, Palombo, and invited him to audition for the open drummer slot.

Palombo's band, Cherry Paup, which he formed with Figinsky when they were in 8th grade, had played its final gig the night before.

"I’m going to be starting college in a couple of weeks, and I really assumed it was the end of my drumming career," Palombo said.

However, when he got the call, he decided to audition and was hired. The Soulsations had two lead singers, Odie Crooks and Bill Colantrone, and wore powder blue tuxedos, a far cry from the glam rock look to come.

Puhalla played guitar in The Hi Guys, a respected local R&B act, and when that band broke up, The Soulsations invited him to join their band.

Bands playing on the local bar level tend to have high turnover rates, and The Soulsations were no exception. Colantrone, lured away by future Michael Stanley Band guitar player Gary Markasky to join his band Coconut, and the keyboard player both left the group. Crooks became the lone lead singer, and instead of hiring another keyboard player, Figinsky was brought in as a second guitarist.

Coming from a rock background, Figinsky and Palombo started adding songs by Grand Funk Railroad, Black Sabbath, Uriah Heep to the The Soulsations' repertoire and it wasn't long before that band name no longer made sense. Puhalla came up with the new name.

"As a rock band in the '70s, we were looking for a name that represented the absolute limit of things," Puhalla said. "We chose Left End because of our unruly, loud and extreme behavior. We took everything to the absolute edge.”

The band started playing more venues and drawing bigger crowds when Crooks announced he was leaving the band to join Brainchild, a rock band filled with Dana School of Music graduates who were widely viewed as the most gifted musicians in the Mahoning Valley.

Lead singers as talented as Crooks were hard to find, and Guerrieri didn't think Left End could survive without someone at least as good. Guerrieri wasn't familiar with Sesonsky, who was singing with Holy Mackerel at the time, but others in the band were convinced he'd be the perfect replacement.

"They said, he’s the rock singer of the future, and he may even be a step up from what we’re used to with Billy and Odie," Guerrieri said.

He went to see Sesonsky a couple of times with Holy Mackerel and agreed with his bandmates' assessment, so he visited Sesonsky about joining Left End. Sesonsky seemed interested, but it was clear the bigger obstacle was his wife, Guerrieri said. They had a child, and Sesonsky was paying the bills by singing. Why leave a sure thing for something more risky? Before he left, Guerrieri encouraged Sesonsky to come to Left End's final gig with Crooks at The Apartment.

According to Palombo's book, "Intensity: The Left End Story," Sesonsky came backstage afterward and told them, "You guys are the loudest, most obnoxious band I've ever heard. I'd love to play with you guys."

Guerrieri said the rest of the band didn't know he'd lobbied hard to get Sesonsky to show up. But it still wasn't a done deal. Sesonsky didn't want to play whatever were the biggest hits of the day. If he was joining a new band, he wanted to do originals and he wanted to do songs that reflected his musical sensibilities, not just whatever was popular. He also wanted to be in a band that wrote its own songs.

Everyone agreed, and Sesonsky exceeded expectations starting with the very first rehearsal.

"When he came in, he was in control," Palombo said. "He knew what he wanted to do. He knew how to do it, when to do it and what to do. He came in with a number of songs that he wanted the band to play. Holy Mackerel was a great group of some really talented musicians, but they were sort of a fusion kind of thing, and Dennis really wanted to do more rock, glam rock kind of stuff. So he saw an opportunity with us to bring that side of it out."

One of the things that made Sesonsky a great singer is that he understood what his strengths were.

"He always played things that he could sing very very well, actually better than the original singer," Guerrieri said. "Those are the only things that he would play. He wasn't interested in playing top 40 to trying to be Paul Rodgers and sing Bad Company because he knew he wasn’t that soulful kind of guy. like Paul Rodgers. He stayed away from it, and he sang the AC/DCs and all the stuff that he knew he could sing, and he hit it."

Sesonsky also was a showman, something he made evident at his very first Youngstown performance with Left End. The band was scheduled to play the Gazebo Room in Austintown. The other band on the bill that night was Brainchild, featuring their former lead singer, so the venue was packed to see the two acts share the same stage.

Puhalla, who also served as the band's business manager, thought they should have a tune up before the local debut with the new lineup, and booked a gig in Slippery Rock, Pa., the night before, which went well.

At the Gazebo Room, Brainchild came out first and played the first of its two sets, followed by Left End, which came out on stage as a four-piece.

"I can’t remember what it was, but Roy and I are singing this song, and it sounded OK," Figinsky said. "But I think people were kind of thinking, 'Oh, they didn’t get another singer. They’re just gonna continue on without a lead singer.'"

When the song ended, the band started playing "Pop Goes the Weasel," as a crew member pushed a large box through the crowd and delivered it to the stage.

"We get to the end of 'Pop Goes the Weasel,' and Boom! Dennis comes flying out of the box (wearing nothing but a pair of silver shorts and covered in glitter)," Figinsky said. "He had this big fish in his mouth, signifying he was leaving Holy Mackerel. He comes out with that sinister look, and people were stunned. We break into Zeppelin’s 'Bring It on Home,' and Dennis comes up on the stage, grabs the mic and just sang the s-- out of that song. The band was just cooking, and I just remember the shock on people’s faces because, well, first of all, the band sounded really good, and Dennis just nailed this."

The debut was a rousing success, and so was the first rehearsal after it. Everyone has slightly differing memories of most of the events in the band's history, but at that rehearsal Figinsky started playing a guitar riff. Maybe it was something he'd come up with before; maybe it was something that came to him that day.

Figinsky said, "I played that riff and, I think, Dennis says, "What's that? Play that again, OK?' We played it again, and then I think Roy chimed in, 'You gotta do more than just that,' and we added another part to it. Patsy's playing stuff, so we start playing and then Dennis steps to the mic and for some reason sings, 'Sunshine girl, you know I love you, babe.' By the end of the practice, I think the song was done."

"Sunshine Girl" was the band's first single, and it's a song that might have been played at nearly every gig Left End had.

It seldom came that easily ever again. Figinsky would work on song ideas alone but said he soon learned that while Sesonky often used his riffs, he seldom kept the melodies and almost never kept any of the lyrics. Just about every song went through what became known as the "Left End Debate Team" with each musician weighing in on what they liked and what they didn't before some consensus was reached.

They also had to listen to outside forces once they signed with Polydor Records. The label rejected their original recordings for a concept album called "Umbilicus," demanding more short, radio-friendly songs like "Bad Talkin' Lady" instead. More than 50 years later, "Umbilicus" will be put out by Penguin Productions, but a release date hasn't been set yet.

"Spoiled Rotten" was the only release on Polydor, and Left End went from touring nationally to playing local gigs almost exclusively, which Guerrieri said accelerated Sesonsky's excessive tendencies

"Dennis was so great that his problem was he had to outdo his last performance every night," Guerrieri said. "That’s when he started drinking. He was great that night. Now he’s got to be better the next night. What does he do that's more outrageous? What does he do better to hold the crowd? If we weren’t traveling and we were stuck in Youngstown, these same people were coming out every night to see him do something different, something crazier, something better.

"He was a true entertainer, and it wasn’t even him. He was a very quiet guy. When we’d have to go pick him up, he’d be in church praying with his hood on. Then when it’s time to go to the gig, he’d turn from Dr. Jekyll into Mr. Hyde."

The shows in 2023 and 2024 and the concert Saturday at Powers Auditorium provide an opportunity to forget the debates and disappointments in the past and focus on the happier moments.

"At this stage in our lives, everyone sort of kicks back and is like, 'OK, if you want, let's do it that way,'" Palombo said. "There's not too much arguing or challenging. You realize what's important and what's not at this point. It'll be a great time and a great reunion."