Frankie Whyte Opening For KISS

Toronto's Frankie Whyte And The Dead Idols have landed a seemingly impossible dream gig for an indie band that hasn't even released a full-length album: the supporting slot for KISS's Canadian tour dates.

"It's totally mind blowing," says vocalist/guitarist Frankie Whyte. "When I hear them on the radio and stuff I'm, like, 'There's no way we're opening for KISS...'"

The quartet combine Joan Jett's in-your-face attitude with gritty 1970s-infused rock 'n' roll — a perfect KISS appetizer. The band have been getting production help on new material from Our Lady Peace's Duncan Coutts and it was Eric Lawrence, Coutt's manager, who had the hook-ups.

"I guess someone from the KISS camp called the Our Lady Peace manager, and we know him through Duncan, but we're not signed to him or anything, and they basically asked 'Do you know any young bands that would be good for the opening slot?' and he said 'You know, if you want the best fit it's Frankie Whyte And The Dead Idols,' so now I'm forever indebted to that guy and Duncan," Whyte says.

Frankie Whyte is no newbie to hair metal champions. At 16, she began taking guitar lessons from Ryan Roxie, who played in Alice Cooper at the time. She'd meet up with him when he was in town and he'd teach her how to play leads. L.A. Guns also took a shining to FW & The DI and the band have supported their Toronto gigs, including an upcoming show at The Reverb on July 1.

The good news follows a winter of misfortune for FW & The DI. Whyte broke her arm in a snowboarding accident that left her unable to play guitar for four months and the band lost two members.

"I was like, 'This fuckin' blows,' but in my head I was like, 'You have to be positive and look on the bright side.' So you continue down that path and emit positive energy to each other in the band and the people around you and it doesn't matter how fucked over you are by someone else. If you can look past that, good things will come.

"I didn't even predict that this kind of good thing would come, I didn't even see it. Then we got the phone call and I was, like, 'There is a fuckin' reason for this shit,'" Whyte said.

Whyte and guitarist Danny Cavalcante have added bassist Zach O'Rourke and drummer Jay Manara to the band. They're currently in the studio working on tracks for a new EP as well as the re-release of last year's Hollywood Ending EP.

You can see Frankie Whyte & The Dead Idols in the following cities:

June 30 Burlington, ON @ The Legendary Red Rooster Cafe
July 1 Toronto, ON @ The Reverb w/ L.A. Guns
July 10 Sarnia, ON @ Centennial Park (Sarnia Rogers Bayfest) w/ KISS
July 13 Montreal, QC @ Bell Centre w/ KISS
July 18 Halifax, NS @ Halifax Commons w/ KISS
July 19 Brantford, ON @ Jackhammers
Aug. 4 Whitby, ON @ Johnny B's
Aug. 13 London, ON @ Norma Jeans
Aug. 27 Burlington, ON @ The Legendary Red Rooster Cafe
Aug. 30 Ottawa, ON @ The Rainbow