Kosta la Vista gets electric in Osprey Patio Concert Series

Local electric blues band Kosta la Vista has become a staple of community events within the Inland Northwest, but the musical career of founder and partial namesake Kosta Panidis goes well beyond Eastern Washington and the Idaho panhandle.

Around the fourth grade, Panidis, like many, was awestruck by a certain global phenomenon.

“I mean I got swept up in Beatlemania like everybody else,” Panidis said.

The Fab Four would inspire him to take up the drums while living in Japan. He became a member of the school band before moving stateside to Glasgow, Montana, where he helped form a surf rock group.

Being part of an Air Force family took Panidis to Greece for a short yet eventful time. While in southeast Europe, he played with a popular band named Elastic Phase. Being one of the few American bands in the country contributed to a quick rise that would take them all the way to live productions on Greek national television, including playing on a program similar to “The Ed Sullivan Show” at 17 years old.

Soon, he would return to the United States and move to California. It was there that music truly became a lifestyle and career for Panidis as he took on residencies with multiple bands at various locations, resulting in him playing most nights of the week.

Along the way, Panidis also took up the bass guitar and moved to Spokane with his family in 1980. Upon arriving in Spokane, he spent a few years relatively removed from music to be a full-blown family man, but it wasn’t too long before he was a member of a band called Java Kola.

With Java Kola, he played a variety of Spokane’s bigger venues and opened for names like the Doobie Brothers, Johnny Winter, Foreigner and Loverboy.

“That band was not very active, but when we were it was shows like that,” Panidis said.

Panidis was also spending his weekends as a member of a band playing rock and pop music at the Mirabeau Park Hotel, but about 10 years ago the manager decided he wanted to make a change to the blues. After meeting with the manager, they came to the conclusion that it wasn’t outright blues to the likes of Muddy Waters that was desired, instead looking for classic rock tunes more based in the electric blues field, such as ZZ Top and Eric Clapton.

Thus, Panidis set out to create a band that would perfectly fit the desires of the Mirabeau, and a group named after a combination of Panidis’ first name and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s famed “Terminator 2” quote, “Hasta la vista, baby,” would be born.

Panidis describes the group as “a four-piece band, but only three guys play any one time.” Panidis takes on the role of lead vocalist and bassist, Pat Bakken plays the guitar, and drummers Terry Brenneise and Sam Neal switch out based on availability.

Prior to Kosta la Vista, Panidis and Bakken were members of a different group named Ticking Time Bomb. Bakken’s sheer passion has always inspired Panidis, and continues to do so after all these years.

“When I play with Pat, it’s his emotional character that comes out when he’s playing,” Panidis said. “He’s playing how he feels, in that song, at the moment.”

From the beginning, Panidis credits just how much fun the group has together to their local success. The band members will even switch around instrumental roles midset and often play requests with no practice beforehand.

“We enjoy each other’s company while we’re playing, we have fun, we’re very spur of the moment,” Panidis said. “We’ll take that plunge and we’ll do it without a net.”

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Kosta la Vista was playing over 100 shows a year, including various local clubs. These days, the group has dialed back on their number of performances while tending to avoid the nightlife in turn for community events and businesses. Upcoming performances include the Browne’s Addition Concert Series, Cheney Summer Concert Series, Smokesmith Bar-B-Que in Sandpoint, and a multiweek residency at the Osprey Restaurant and Bar.

“It’s great to be able to touch and connect with those people in different communities,” Panidis said. “Engaging and connecting with the audience, entertaining them so when they go home you know they had a good time.”