SAYREVILLE – As they celebrate their 20th anniversary of performing, members of a Sayreville-based band will hold their next show at a chess tournament.
Mikell’s Plot, a seven-piece mix of punk rock, blues, hard rock and heavy metal, will perform at the Parsippany Hilton on Feb. 17 as part of the World/US Amateur Team East Chess Tournament. The band’s performance will take place from 11 a.m.-12:15 p.m. during registration for the event.
Mikell’s Plot is comprised of lead vocalist Michael O’Connor of Sayreville, bassist Andrew Edick of Old Bridge, drummer Eddie Piotrowski of Edison, lead guitarist and backing vocalist Pete Mongiello of Springfield, guitarist and backing vocalist George Rivera of Toms River, saxophonist Doug DeRienzo of South Orange, and keyboardist and backing vocalist John Mulrenan of Howell.
The band formed in Sayreville in 1998 while O’Connor was working for Rivera at logistics services company Nippon Express. After listening to a demo tape that O’Connor made, Rivera suggested that he put a band together. Mikell’s Plot has since performed for the past 20 years, while also facing struggles, notably Rivera’s battle with bone cancer.
O’Connor, who is an amateur chess player, will also compete in the tournament with the team Ferrero Forever, whose other members are Jim West, Ronald Saylo and Joseph Salvatore. According to a press release from Victory Music Buzz, LLC, O’Connor is a Class A Chess player, West is a national master and Saylo is an expert.
The team is named in the memory of Steve Ferrero of North Bergen, a chess expert who competed on the amateur circuit and the editor-in-chief of the Atlanta Chess News, who died in 2013.