ANGEL'S KANE ROCKS CHICAGO
8 MAY 2004. SOURCE: ZAP2IT

The bands play on in the BUFFYverse.

Adam Busch, who played the evil nerd Warren on BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, has a pop/folk band called Common Rotation. James Marsters, who played Spike on both BUFFY and ANGEL, has a rock band called Ghost of the Robot. And Christian Kane, who has a recurring role as confliceted lawyer Lindsey McDonald on ANGEL, has a country-rock band called Kane.

For Kane, the television and music worlds collide this weekend, as Kane - the band and the actor - head for a triple bill of events. First up, Kane (the actor) sings The Star-Spangled Banner and God Bless America at Wrigley Field on Sunday, 9 May, to kick off a Chicago Cubs game.

"I'll probably be very nervous," he says. "There's a difference between playing to anything between 250 and a couple thousand people to the 30,000 or 40,000 people, whatever that stadium holds."

And, of course, the fans aren't there for the music.

"Shoot," Kane says, "those cats don't care if I'm out there or not. They just want to start the game. I love the Cubs. I grew up on the Cubs. I grew up in Oklahoma, so if the Cubbies were playing, that's what we were watching, especially on WGN. So I am a Cubs fan."

Then, the next weekend, Kane (the actor) appears with ANGEL star and good pal David Boreanaz at the ANGEL/BUFFY Fan Event on May 14 to 16 at the Holiday Inn O'Hare International in Chicago.

Fans of the actor who are in town for the convention could then see Kane (the band) in concert on Saturday, 15 May, at the Pickwick Theatre, an Art Deco movie palace in Park Ridge, Illinois, not far from Chicago.

"I think David's going to introduce us onstage," Kane says.

The band doesn't yet have a record deal, but its CDs can be bought online through the official website.

Offstage, the music also flowed on the ANGEL set.

"James and I plug our guitars into these little amps and go back and forth playing each other's songs," Kane recalls. "It was so funny, because James is rock to punk rock, and I'm country to Southern rock. It was like, 'Listen to this one.' We were just playing music, and it goes to show you how univeral music really is.

"We had time to kill in downtown Los Angeles, it was just me and him the whole night one time, sitting there in each other's trailers. That was a lot of fun."

In between his Cubs and convention appearances, Kane can also be seen as Lindsey in the penultimate episode of ANGEL, airing Wedneday 12 May, at 9pm ET. He also appears in the series finale, airing one week later.

Before it was all over, Kane realised a wish and got a ripping sword fight with Boreanaz in the 100th ANGEL episode, called YOU'RE WELCOME, which aired in February.

Kane recalls, "I went to the writers and said, 'You know what, I just got done doing this film called SECONDHAND LIONS, and I went through two-and-a-half months of sword training.' The writers went, 'Hmmmm,' and I could see the wheels spinning.

"So they had me and David throwing swords at each other. That was pretty cool. We should have more. There should be at least three sword fights in every episode."

But, Kane didn't love Angel referring to Lindsey as a "tiny Texan."

"I got pissed at that. I cam up to the director and said, 'This is bullshit.' He looked at me and said, 'It's not me, Joss [Whedon] did it.' Joss likes to take shots at me. He's like, 'I can't build this character up too much without cutting his nuts just a little bit.'

"David doesn't call me that in real life. He knows I'm from Oklahoma. I was born in Texas, but I'm a Sooner. The 'tiny Texan' thing is for the birds. I'm stronger than David, bigger than David, I'm just shorter. But, in real life, if me and B. got into a fight we'd better pack our lunch. The kid knows how to throw. He's a bad boy. He's got a temper. We both do."

Apparently, Kane enjoys on-set fighting with Marsters as well. "Me and James have a good time. It's fun to work with James, because when we throw each other around the room, he's like, 'Are you OK?' 'Yeah, I'm OK. You can go harder if you want.' 'I can?' By the last take, we're slamming each other into everything. I absolutely love it."

Kane recalls being on set in February when word came down that ANGEL wouldn't be picked up for a sixth season.

"It was me and James and J. August Richards and Boreanaz, we were the only ones on set when Joss and [producer] Kelly [Manners] came in to give us the shitty news that they weren't picking us up again. It was bad. It was a dark day on the set.

"It was like, 'Let's go out like a bang,' and with Joss' writing, that's just what happened. We're not dead in the water here. We're leaving pretty much on top. When we leave, everybody's going to be pissed." BACK TO THE TOP