Concert Passes Here

While the bikes that Buffalo Chip campers ride during the Sturgis Rally may be powered by internal combustion engines, they won’t mind that Tesla is powered by electricity.

Hard rockin’ Tesla is named for Edison and Marconi rival inventor Nikolai Tesla, who is credited with discovering radio and fluorescent lighting.

The Sacramento band started in 1982 as City Kidd and changed its name to Tesla in 1986.  Early in their career, they opened for bands like Dokken, Rail and Eddie Money.

'Mechanical Resonance', named for one of the inventor’s more peculiar theories, was a strong blues based radio friendly rock was a huge hit with mainstream radio, earning them a support slot with David Lee Roth’s ’86 tour.  And those blues combined with driving metal riffs resonated with the Sturgis Rally bikers who come to the Chip for their annual dose of biker music.

The band followed with 'The Great Radio Controversy' album, which catapulted them to higher levels and spawned the ballad “Love Song.”

Tesla broke new ground with “Five Man Acoustical Jam” included covers of the “Truckin',” “We Can Work It Out,” “Lodi,” “Mother's Little Helper” and “Signs” by The Grateful Dead, The Beatles, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Rolling Stones and The Five Man Electrical Band respectively. “Signs” became a major radio hit and a hit with the Sturgis Bike Week crowd at the Buffalo Chip.

Tesla would reunite in October of 2000 in their hometown Sacramento and sold out performances followed.

In September 2001 'Replugged Live' was released and the band was in demand and on the road.  “Into The Now” was released in 2004, entering Billboard charts at 31.

Tesla's DVD, “Comin' Atcha Live! 2008,” was filmed in Seattle, and released in July. Geffen Records recently issued the 'Gold' CD in August and the band hooked up with “Bust a Nut” producer Terry Thomas for the “Forever More” album, which was released in October and has produced the hit “I Wanna Live.”

Concert Passes Here