Above: Adrenaline Mob 2017 (Mike Orlando is second from right).
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It was a shock. An almost unfathomable tragedy. I was just walking into the EpiphoneAbove: Adrenaline Mob 2017 (Mike Orlando is second from right).
It was a shock. An almost unfathomable tragedy. I was just walking into the Epiphone Guitars party at the Nashville Hard Rock Cafe during the summer NAMM show on July 14, when Bobby Cannon of the band Discordia sent me a text that our good friends in Adrenaline Mob were involved in a tour-bus accident.
Adrenaline Mob guitarist Mike Orlando was a finalist in Guitar Player's Guitar Superstar competition in 2008, and the staff was obviously very proud of how his career had taken off. We loved that Mike is one of those ceaselessly enthusiast people who lights up a room with his positivity and energy—even if his stage performances are so darn maniac and intense that he causes our nerve endings go into Defcon Five alerts every time we see him play.
It was unthinkable that something so terrible could happen to this incredibly upbeat guitarist and his band. But it did. The initial news reports were sad and awful.
The band had pulled its RV and a GMC Sierra pulling a gear tailer off the road on Interstate 75 near Micanopy, Florida, to fix a flat tire on the RV, when a big rig struck the vehicles. Of the nine people present in the Adrenaline Mob crew, bassist David Zablidowsky, 38, was killed, six were in either critical or serious condition, and two didn't require medical assistance.
We didn't know where Mike factored into the initial reports until now. He was kind enough to send the following message to his friends and fans at Guitar Player:
"I want to start by thanking all of the GP community who have reached out and sent their thoughts