Riot Act, the band featuring original Riot members Lou Kouvaris and Rick Ventura, published their first video of the classic “Swords And Tequila”. The band also features Paul Ranieri on bass, Claudio Galinski on drums and Don Chaffin on vocals for whom Kouvaris told The Metal Voice: “
“I asked a friend of mine if he knew any singers and he goes, ‘You know, you could try this guy but he’s very busy playing in like three or four bands and one was a Journey tribute band.’ I said ‘Okay.’ So I gave him a call and I told him the situation and he was very receptive. I told him that I was in a band playing with my partner Rick Ventura and we wanted to play the first, second and third Riot albums, which is Rock City, Narita and Fire Down Under and we have gigs in Greece. He said he was very interested and I had his ear for about an hour and we got along like two little birds. So then Rick and I went to his studio and we auditioned him and he was blown away by how together Rick and I, and the rest of the band, were. And we were impressed with him. It’s one of those things that just gels instantly and as soon as we started playing, he interpreted the song so perfectly and we just had this vibe. It’s like the typical story you know. You get the right bunch of guys together, you hit a chord, it’s like, ‘Yeah. That’s it.’ We all looked at each other and go ‘Wow!’”
In terms of how fans will receive another Riot band, Ventura opined: “I think Riot fans will always know Riot as Guy Speranza and Mark Reale as they were an important part of Riot history as they were the writing team of Riot. Lou and I contributed songs to Riot and we were there from the beginning. I think fans will appreciate us playing those classic tunes because we were the guys that played on those early records. You’re never going to bring back Guy or Mark or Rhett so it’s like not really that same band because key members are gone but we were there from the beginning so the spirit of band lives on in us and that’s what people pick up on.”
Kouvaris added: “I think one thing that that will will be evident is the fact that the sound that Rick and I have is basically the true sound of what Riot was back in the day. There’s no question. You’re gonna hear that in the music video we just did with “Swords & Tequila.” Riot V are our friends and what they do is fantastic and we support them. I mean they gave us a thumbs up on doing this. They had no qualms about what we’re doing so I’m pretty happy about that. “
