Ron Keel Band, Sioux Falls, SD

It's great to say that Ron Keel has become a friend along with the rest of his band. You aren't going to find a friendlier bunch of rockers. On June 9, 2018 they headlined a brand new festival in downtown Sioux Falls - Porkpalooza.

The "Metal Cowboy" with DC Cothern on guitar, El Diablo on bass, Dakota Scott on keyboards and the Rev on drums always put on a great show. Original Keel tunes, deep rock classics and legendary country songs are performed with all the flash and flair of Ron's 80's hair metal background.

Check them out at RonKeelBand.com.

Ron Keel Band, Mitchell, South Dakota

I had a great afternoon on April 7, 2017 doing a promo photo shoot with the Ron Keel Band and also shooting their show in support of Hairball at the World's Only Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota.

I'm leaving the promo photos for the band to release, but here's a shot my friend Thad Friedeman took of me working away.

The concert at the Corn Palace was a ton of fun. These guys are about as friendly as you could ask for, despite their cowboy/biker/apocalypse survivor image.

If you aren't familiar with Ron Keel, he's a real-deal rockstar from the 80s hair metal movement on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood. You might remember his former band KEEL's hit "The Right To Rock." Ron now lives in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and is a disc jockey on KBAD radio along with fronting the Ron Keel Band. For their first year of existence, the band was known as the Badlands House Band based out of the now defunct Badlands Pawn. 

Badlands House Band, Mitchell, South Dakota

South Dakota's newest classic country rockers, the Badlands House Band, opened the show for Hairball at the World's Only Corn Palace in Mitchell on April 9, 2016. Fronted by 80s hair metal star Ron Keel, the band put a hard-edged spin on classics from Johnny Cash and their signature tune, "Ghost Riders in the Sky."

Learn more about the Badlands House Band at their website BadlandsHouseBand.com.

Vince Neil, Ron Keel, Chainsaw Caine, Sioux Falls, SD

The first-ever concert on November 28, 2015 at Sioux Falls' newest venue, Badlands Pawn, featured a night of 80s arena rock with Hairball and special guests Vince Neil, Ron Keel and Chainsaw Caine.

First class in every detail, the pawn shop converts weekly to a really great and intimate concert hall. For a photographer, the light rigging couldn't make things easier to take pictures that show off the artists well.

Vince did several songs with Hairball and was well-received by the sold-out crowd.

 

Chainsaw Caine may be a new name to many South Dakotans, but he was the legendary frontman for the Minneapolis metal band Slave Raider and the founder of Hairball. He has now moved on to become entertainment director for Badlands Pawn and occasional performer. For this show he brought his namesake chainsaw and dealt severe blows to foam cutouts of Kanye West and Justin Beiber.

 

 

 

Ron Keel was the lead singer for the 80s hair metal band KEEL and now fronts the Badlands House Band and does DJ service on the pawn shop's KBAD radio station. Ron is very charismatic and fun. I think Sioux Falls and South Dakota will see a lot of this guy in the future.