Punky Meadows and Frank Dimino of ANGEL played to a packed house June 15 at Count's Vamp'd in Las Vegas when, unexpectedly, former ANGEL keyboardist Gregg Giuffria walked onto the stage to the roar and cheers of shocked fans and kicked off "The Tower" for the encore. The crowd was in a trance and Gregg sounded great, as if he never stopped playing with the guys. The chemistry and vibe was magical. This was the first time Gregg, Punky and Frank performed together in over 37 years. You can clearly see in the video footage below that he was really enjoying himself, as did Punky, Frank, and the rest of the band on stage. This was a very special moment for ANGEL fans indeed. Meadows and DiMino are continuing their joint tour, with stops including Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis and Nashville. They will also play in the U.K. for the first time in October. The band is rounded out by Danny Farrow (rhythm guitar), Charlie Calv (keyboards), Steve O'Jane (bass) and Billy Orrico (drums) and is delivering a full ANGEL set with select solo material from DiMino's 2015 solo effort "Old Habits Die Hard" and Meadows's 2016 release "Fallen Angel". DiMino joined Meadows on stage for the first time in over 30 years in March 2017 to perform the ANGEL song "Tower" at the Backstage Bar And Billiards in Las Vegas, Nevada. Punky and Frank, along with other former members of ANGEL, appeared at the 2016 Vegas Rocks! Hair Metal Awards at the Eastside Cannery Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. The group received the "Glam Rock Legends" award in honor of their contributions and influence in music. Accepting the award were Meadows, DiMino, Gregg Giuffria, Barry Brandt, and Felix Robinson. This marked the first time all surviving ANGEL bandmembers — bassist Mickie Jones passed away from cancer in 2009 — had been on stage together since 1980. Formed in 1975 by Meadows and Jones in Washington D.C., ANGEL straddled the fence between the prog-rock pomp of YES and ELP, the orchestral hard pop of QUEEN, BOSTON and ELO, and the riff-heavy raunch-rock of KISS and AEROSMITH. They were discovered by KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons while performing at a nightclub and were eventually signed to the same label as KISS, Casablanca. Released in the fall of 1975, the band's self-titled debut was promoted with a number of live appearances on the great American arena circuit with the likes of AEROSMITH, BLUE ÖYSTER CULT, JOURNEY and RUSH. The group's gimmick — the members were all dressed in white — got them labeled the "anti-KISS" by rock critics, and their spectacular stage show was so over the top that even Simmons & Co. were said to have been inspired by it. ANGEL started to fall apart in the early 1980s after Casablanca pulled the plug on the group due in part to disappointing album sales. In 1981, Robinson and DiMino left to pursue other projects. Meadows and Giuffria tried to keep ANGEL going and came close to landing a record deal with CBS. But it didn't pan out, and ANGEL finally disbanded.
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