Cleveland Concert Promoter MITCH KARCZEWSKI Dies

September 30, 2007

D.X. Ferris of the Cleveland Scene reports that Mitch Karczewski, owner of Ohio club Red Parrot and former owner of the Flying Machine, died Tuesday. Karczewski was a longtime promoter whose Spotlight Talent had worked with MUSHROOMHEAD and organized the World Series of Metal festivals. At his passing, he'd been working with all-girl rock group LEVEL C.

His wake will be today (Sunday, September 30) at Golubski Funeral Home (5986 Ridge Rd., Parma).

According to Chris Akin, host of "The Classic Metal Show", "Mitch was the conduit for the metalheads of Cleveland getting to see many of the best second-tier metal bands throughout the '90s and into the new Millenium. Odds are that if you saw a great show featuring MANOWAR, TESTAMENT, OVERKILL, STUCK MOJO, BRUCE DICKINSON's 'Skunkworks', ANTHRAX or the MISFITS, your ticket money acted as a thank you to Mitch Karczewski, who brought them to your doorstep. Odds are even better that if your band opened for one of these bands, you dealt with Mitch in a far more personal way than I can explain here. Mitch Karczewski was a good man that played a large part in keeping metal going in Cleveland long after most of the major players kissed it off. He always talked about retiring to a beach somewhere and forgetting about the music business altogether. Hopefully there are white sands and a cool breeze wherever his soul ended up."

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