PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – The rock band Great White has finalized the first 11 dates for a national tour to raise money for victims’ families and survivors of a nightclub fire that killed 100 people.

The 1980s band, whose pyrotechnics are blamed for sparking the Feb. 20 blaze at a nightclub in West Warwick, plans to donate proceeds to The Station Family Fund, a nonprofit group in Rhode Island that assists fire survivors and victims’ families.

The tour dates were confirmed Tuesday by Charrie Foglio, a band manager. Foglio expected at least 41 cities to be included in the tour, which will run from July 22 through October.

The schedule of confirmed shows includes: July 22, Sterling, Colo.; July 23, Colorado Springs, Colo.; July 25, Salt Lake City; July 26, Denver; July 31, Omaha, Neb.; Aug. 1, Sioux City, Iowa; Aug. 2, Jane, Mo.; Aug. 7, Sturgis, S.D.; Aug. 8, Medina, Minn.; Aug. 9, Cedar Rapids, Iowa; and Aug. 10, Marionette, Ill.

The band does not plan to play in Rhode Island.

Lead singer Jack Russell and guitarist Mark Kendall are the only original band members expected to kick off the tour. Original guitarist Michael Lardie will join the tour in early September.

Guitarist Ty Longley, who had been with Great White for about three years, was killed in the fire.

“Their only light is getting out on the road so they can help these people and attempt to bring some good out of this, if there is such a thing,” Foglio said.

The bands L.A. Guns and XYZ were dropped from the tour because Great White, as the headliner, would have had to get insurance for all three bands, Foglio said.

“Our main effort is, we want to keep the money going to the fund, we don’t want to spend it on insurance or bus or anything else,” Foglio said. Instead of taking a tour bus cross country, the band is flying from place to place to cut costs, Foglio said.

The band hopes to donate $5,000 to $15,000 a week to the fund, according to Victoria Potvin, president of The Station Family Fund.

The band’s financial troubles kept the tour from getting off the ground as soon as expected. Ed McPherson, an attorney for the band, has said Great White is still paying off debts from its last tour, which ended with the fire. Band members also are named in civil suits stemming from the blaze.

Investigators have said the fire started when sparks from Great White’s pyrotechnic display set fire to foam surrounding the nightclub’s stage. The flames engulfed the club within minutes.

A criminal investigation is pending.

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On the Net:

http://www.mistabone.com

http://www.stationfamilyfund.org

AP-ES-07-01-03 1726EDT

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