September 19th, 2007 – “New Jersey, you rock my world!” Mike Peters shouted to raucous fans Saturday night. Peters, front man of the Welsh band the Alarm was clearly pleased with the reception given his 90-minute set at Nomahegan Park, 25 miles southwest of Times Square.
The singer, who at 48 appears cuddly despite spiked blond hair and a green camouflage jacket, was performing with the band in a free, generously amplified, 12-hour concert. Also on the bill were Lov, Foundatinas of Wayne, the English Beat and still sprightly at 80 Chuck Berry.
For the Alarm, however, the gig was a warm0up for a more high-profile show three weeks away.
Billed as the highested-altitude acoustic concert in history—18,000 feet above sea level—“Everest Rocks” promises a 14-day trek combining fundraising, cancer education, camping with rock stars, digital downloading and of course, self-promotion. The group—including “Slim Jim” Phantom of the Stray Cats, Glenn Tilbrook of Squeeze and Alex Coletti, a producer behind MTV’s ‘Unplugged” franchise—will begin the journey from Kathmandu on Oct. 11.
“Cancer is not a death sentence any more,” Peters said in an interview before the New Jersey show. HE was holding his gidgety, affectionate four year-old Dylan. ‘My motiviation is to inspire people to take control of their lives.”
First diagnoses
In 1995 Peters was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma—a cacncer of the immune system. In late 2005, he was found to have chronic lymphocytic leukemia, a cancer in which bone marrow overproduces a type of white blood cells. He’s undergone chemotherapy and takes Rituximab, a drug approved for treating non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The cancer is currently in remisson.
“I feel more alive” he said. “Whenever you get a second or theird chance, you appreciate it more.”
Founded in 1978, the Alarm was known for inspirational if enigmatic anthems (“Come on down and meet your maker, come on down and take the stand”) and its members’ big hair.
In 2006, a mutual friend introduced him to James Chippendale, a 39 year-old leukemia survivor who runs a privately held brokerage, Dallas-based CSI Entertain,ent Insurance. They became friends and discussed fulfilling a dream of Peters’—climbing Mt. Everest. As they invited other friends, talk turned to transforming the trip into a fundraiser for the Nepal Cancer Relief Society. Eventually they decided to create the nonprofit Love Hope Strength Foundation to support cancer treatment.
Evening Jams
They’ll jam each night of the trek and stage a concert at the base camp, about two thirds of the way to Everest’s six-mile-high peak. The music will be available at the nonprofits Web site and on Apple Inc.’s iTunes.
Non-rockstars wishing to join the trek are required to raise at least 15,000. After expenses, proceeds go to the relief society, which operates the Bhaktapur Cancer Hospital, about 10 miles east of Kathmandu. About 40 sherpas will carry guitars and equipment.
Peters said he stays fit caring for Dylan and Dylan’s younger brother Evan, born in January. A longtime runner, he competed in the New York City Marathon in 1985, finishing in aobut four hours. The Arlm first performed in New York in 1983 at Pier 84 with U2.
Peters acknowledges Everest holds publicity valur for the Alarm, of which he remains the only original memember. Radio play has been so scant that, in 2004, it released a single, “45 RPM”, under the name of a fictional tenneage band, the Poppy Fields. After the song hit the U,K, charts, Peters acknowleged the ruse.
All Grown Up
“We’re not kids anymore” he said over the weekend. “We’re not old enough to be classic and we’re not young enough to be hip”.
Tim Leonard, a 41-year-old sportswriter at the Record of Bergen county, is an ardent Alarm fan who’s even attended “The Gathering” a music festival Peters hosts in North Wales. Leonard is skeptical of the Everest event.
“It’s hard to make a difference without having the platform of U2” he said. “Obviously there’s self-promotion involved. But I have to beleve it’s sincere because of what Miek has been through”
