Nightwing - Al Tavers / History ...

Pete LaBranche - lead guitars / vocals
Denis Spindler - drums / percussion
Al Tavers - lead vocals / synthesizers
Tommy Barone - rhythm guitars
Dave Neff - bass / vocals

At the tail end of the 70's/ beginning of the 80's, Al went to Boston to front the band Nightwing
(later renamed Lookout) out of Central Square in Cambridge. Thrilled as a country boy in the big city, even more of a rush was brought on by the fact that this period was the height of the punk movement there.

Lead guitarist Peter LaBranche founded the band, which was completed with Tommy Barone on rhythm guitar, Dave Neff on bass, and Denis Spindler on drums. Nightwing played the entire Boston area predominately, but sometimes reached out into the suburbs as far west as Uxbridge, Massachusetts (central Mass). They also performed often in Manchester, New Hampshire.

The killer "Madam Eve," a kick-ass manifesto of life on the road and on stage in a rock band - about a gypsy fortune teller predicting fame for a young man in a band through her tarot card reading - was perhaps Nightwing's most memorable tune among a literal slew of excellent originals. Also, "School Girl," a wailing metal grindout (later toned down in intensity and utilized in the Modern Art Band) was a popular favorite of the band's dedicated followers. It's declaration of youth and the times, of androgyny, of daring-do devil-may-care attitudes, reflected the state of the union as Nightwing saw it - the uncertainties of the new decade ahead.

But alas, youthful wanderlust, artistic development in different directions, and a periphery of alcohol and other drugs became the unfortunate and hasty demise of this band. "Fire and Ice," "Keep That Show On The Road," and "She" were among their other often-requested originals.