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FuelFest celebrates cars, revs up the Valley

BY CHRISTINA FUOCO-KARASINSKI

GetOut Editor

Cody Walker and Tyrese Gibson were catching up at Red Lobster when the conversation turned to Cody’s late brother, Paul, of “The Fast and the Furious” franchise.

“First, I was so offended that he had never been to Red Lobster,” Gibson said with a laugh. “Cody said, ‘I don’t know what to order, dude. What are the hits here?’”

After a little ribbing, Cody told Gibson about he and Chris Lee’s plan to host festivals surrounding all-things cars called FuelFest.

Gibson said count me in.

After a pandemic-dictated halt to the 2020 event, FuelFest is coming to Wild Horse Pass Motorsports in Chandler on Dec. 4. They want it to succeed so much Cody Walker is flattered that Tyrese Gibson is joining him in FuelFest. (Special to GetOut) that Gibson said he feels vulnerable.

“I’ve only said this to a chosen few,” Gibson said. “Cody and I are very vulnerable when it comes to this whole thing about FuelFest. We were talking about Paul and to have this idea and to put this idea out there, we don’t want it to fail. We want this to be successful. We want people to know about this.

“We want to get the word out so people can show up. We want them to hit the road and come out to a really legendary day that you won’t forget.”

Now in its third year nationwide, FuelFest blends the enthusiast’s passion for the automotive world with celebrities, live music, food, drinks and art. The show features more than 600 top custom, exotic, rare and exclusive cars and trucks. There are car and drift exhi-

see FUELFEST page 30

‘Christmas Eve’ is the star of TSO’s show

BY ALAN SCULLEY GetOut Contributor

Last year, Trans-Siberian Orchestra was forced to cancel its signature annual project – the holiday tour of U.S. arenas that typically draws more than 1 million fans. To help fill the void, the TSO team put together a livestream concert. Scaling the show from an arena where TSO deploys a spectacular light show and all manner of pyrotechnics and special effects to something that works on a TV or computer screen was a challenge, but the livestream, which featured the 1996 “Christmas Eve and Other Stories” album, went over well.

And in a way, the livestream took TSO back to its beginnings, before founder/ songwriter, the late Paul O’Neill, was financially able to create the visual concert extravaganza fans now know and love. The livestream also revealed an important truth to Al Pitrelli and Jeff Plate, the musical directors for TSO’s two touring ensembles. “If you go back to our first show in ’99, Jeff and I, I think we had, I don’t know, seven or eight cities on the tour,” Pitreilli said. “We had a box truck, two buses and a fog machine. The curtain came up, the lights went down, and we played the songs from top to bottom. It wasn’t the sensory overload that it grew up to be. It was a beautifully written story that Paul O’Neill put pen to paper back in ‘95, and we started recording in ‘96.

“The people fell in love with the characters. They fell in love with the story,” he continued. “They fell in love with the

sentiment of it. Because at the end of the day, at the center of Paul’s story is about missing somebody, and everybody misses somebody, especially around the holidays. “I think during the livestream, it showed me, in particular, two things,” he said. “One is that people, they love the story. It didn’t have all the special effects. There’s no physical way we could do that. But the band played amazing. The singers brought the characters to life. I heard after the fact that we sold almost 250,000 of those things. From a financial standpoint, I could care less. It The Trans-Siberian Orchestra offers a feast for the ears and eyes in their Christmas show. (Special to GetOut) didn’t matter to me. What really made me emotional is that people wanted their tradition. Albeit virtually, we were all joined together.” Now, Pitrelli and Plate are taking the two touring ensembles of TSO back to

bitions, and drag racing.

FuelFest will feature a live-action drift course that runs the entire length of the venue. Spectators can catch race cars drifting all day at FuelFest. The event will showcase precision driving skills in the FuelFest Drift Pit.

A portion of the events proceeds benefit Reach Out WorldWide, the nonprofit founded by Paul and continued by Cody, who is 15 years younger than his brother.

The organization was founded in 2010 by the late actor/producer after a massive earthquake devastated Haiti and Walker was inspired to organize a relief team that responded to the disaster. ROWW’s mission is to fill the gap between the availability of skilled resources in post-disaster situations. ROWW completed four deployments in 2020 and continues to operate where needed. To date, FuelFest has raised more than $100,000 for the charity, Cody said.

“It’s a massive car festival, as we say,” said Cody, who recently moved to the Valley. “But it’s not just a car show. People are going to experience the whole shebang—drag racing, American muscle cars, exotic cars, European cars, crazy off-road vehicles. There’s something for everyone at the show.

“They can see the sights, smell the fuel, the burning rubber and just have a good time. The weather is going to be amazing, especially in December in the Valley.”

Arizona is important to Gibson as well as the singer-songwriter recorded the album “Black Rose” in a vacation rental in Paradise Valley. While he was here, he met one of his idols, Muhammad Ali, after receiving the “craziest text in the world.”

“My life changed forever in Arizona,” said Gibson, whose album hit No. 1. “I definitely have a different level of appreciation.” Cody was flattered when Tyrese agreed to be part of FuelFest.

“Obviously, Tyrese and my brother go way back — all the way back to ‘2 Fast 2 Furious,’” he said. “We’ve all had a passion for cars and our careers are surrounded by cars. I’m heavily influenced by my brother and the whole car culture. It’s what I live and breathe every day. “I knew Tyrese and I could put on something really special and unique for car fans and ‘The Fast and the Furious’ fans to come and experience with us together. It’s such a home run in so many ways to be able to do what you love and give back at the same time.”

Gibson echoed Cody’s sentiment.

“My thing has always been taking the culture and the energy and the fanbase of ‘The Fast and the Furious,’ which has had this worldwide cult following for 20 years, and turning it into an event.

“Paul Walker — everyone loves him. I miss him every day. He’s my brother, but Cody’s real brother. I want to take all of this energy and allow the fans to experience something that feels like ‘The Fast and the Furious’ without it being a movie premiere. Cody came up with this idea and it was a no brainer to be involved. Your background doesn’t matter — your religious or sexual preference. Cars and car culture is a universal language.”

Gibson explains the festive is “escapism” at its finest. After all, everyone wants to be in or own a nice car with “nice smelling leather,” and brightly colored with cool rims.

“We all know guys will go broke and literally have no gas money, but they will be more committed to rims and tires and souping up their engines,” Gibson said with a laugh.

“They want to compete and win and beat everyone in their neighborhoods. Every man has a hotrod covered up in their garage. They may be married for 40 years and have 10 grandkids. But they take the car cover off and start that engine and they’re rejuvenated.”

TSO from page 28

arenas across the country.

Knowing fans will turn out en masse for the shows continues to leave Pitrelli and Plate feeling surprised and gratified. After all, when O’Neill founded the project, he envisioned something entirely new and unproven in contemporary music.

For one thing, TSO would combine a rock band with an orchestra playing concept albums/rock operas with cohesive story lines. Instead of building an image around a singer, guitarist or conductor, the ensemble would use multiple singers and a range of instrumentalists who would remain largely anonymous to listeners.

How to market the group was a big question. The albums would require big budgets, and to be financially viable, the tours would need to play arenas from the start — something no music act had done.

Nevertheless, Atlantic Records got on board with O’Neill’s vision and signed TSO. The label has been rewarded as the trilogy of Christmas albums became hits that continue to rack up new sales every holiday season. The first release was “Christmas Eve and Other Stories.” Spurred by the hit single “Christmas Eve Sarajevo 12/24,” it has sold 3 million copies. The other two holiday rock operas that make up TSO’s Christmas trilogy: “The Christmas Attic” (1998) and “The Lost Christmas Eve” (2004) have topped 2 million copies sold.

In addition, the group has released a Christmas EP, 2012’s “Dreams of Fireflies (On A Christmas Night),” and three full-length non-holiday rock operas – “Beethoven’s Last Night” (2000), “Night Castle” (2009) and “Letters from the Labyrinth” (2015). In all, the group’s CDs and DVDs have sold more than 12 million copies and the Christmas tour plays to 1 million fans each year.

This year, as in 2019, TSO’s show will feature the “Christmas Eve and Other Stories” album as a first set, followed by a selection of other material in the second set. That 1996 debut album was played for a dozen years when TSO started touring, then was set aside to feature the other albums in the Christmas trilogy on subsequent tours. Bringing back the album that began the TSO journey has been special for Pitrelli and Plate.

“Yes, this is my favorite show,” said Plate, who joined Pitrelli for the teleconference. “I’ve said all along, I think this story is really the star of the show. This is what kept bringing people back every year was when people connected with the story and realized it’s about them. It’s about everybody.

“This is just how people, just word of mouth, kept coming back. These audiences kept building every year. This (was) our first venture with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, ‘Christmas Eve and Other Stories,’ so this has a lot of meaning. It’s very special for all of us. The songs, the story, (everything) about it, I think is fantastic.”

Cody Walker is using some of the proceeds for Reach Out WorldWide, a nonprofit founded by his late brother. (Special to GetOut)

FuelFest

When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 4 Where: Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park, 20000 S. Maricopa Road, Chandler Cost: $15 To $300 Info: Fuelfest.com

Trans-Siberian Orchestra: “Christmas Eve and Other Stories”

When: 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 5 Where: Footprint Center, 201 E. Jefferson St., Phoenix Cost: Tickets start at $44.75 Info: 602-379-2000, footprintcenter.com

With JAN D’ATRI

GetOut Contributor

Ricotta pancakes are delicately addictive for family, friends

Big family breakfasts and family gatherings, like the Sunday morning mega brunch menu with hefty helpings of comfort food, are back in a big way.

So are wonderful memories of breakfast favorites from my own family’s kitchen.

I will never ever forget the first time I tasted my momma’s ricotta pancakes. I was about 6 and I had just taken a bite of the best thing I had ever eaten. I’d have to say that to this day ricotta pancakes are still on my all-time favorites list of great recipes. Now these were not just pancakes. I used to think they were feather light mouthfuls of angel air! I still do. You’ve never had, nor will you ever have something so delicate and addictive. The ricotta pancake will melt in your mouth and leave you begging for more, just like i did, long after momma clicked off the gas range and threw the skillet into a sink of hot soapy suds. (just one more, momma, pleeeze?)

But it wasn’t to be, until the next time she had leftover ricotta either from her Sicilian Cannoli or her famous cheese ravioli. When that happened, we waited for those two golden words, “Ricotta Pancakes!”

For years this recipe was on the back of the precious ricotta container. Now you have once again, a precious rescued recipe!

Ingredients:

3 eggs ½ lb whole milk ricotta ½ cup flour 2/3 cup milk 2 tablespoons powdered sugar 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon pure vanilla

Pinch of salt

Real maple syrup, a dollop of butter, and scant powdered sugar for topping

Directions:

Separate eggs from yolk. Beat egg yolks, sugar, salt, milk, baking powder and ricotta together. Gradually add flour. Whip egg whites to a peak and gently fold into egg mixture. (This is a real key to the success of the pancakes. You want the batter to be light and airy.) Use batter immediately. On griddle or frying pan, (butter the griddle then wipe off with paper towel) pour enough mixture to make a pancake one or two at a time. Cook for one minute or until bubbles form. Flip and cook until light golden brown. Roll up like crepes and serve with hot maple syrup and butter. Sprinkle lightly with powdered sugar.

Serving size approximately 4

Note: It’s best to serve the Ricotta Pancakes as they come off the griddle. Trust me; you won’t have a problem finding takers! Please let me know if this becomes one of your favorites, too!

Watch my how-to video: jandatri.com/recipe/ricotta-pancakes.