The expression, of course, is from the 1980s, and while some people might associate the hard rock band with that decade, Tesla is definitely not a nostalgia act.

Except for a period in the late 1990s when the band went on hiatus, Tesla has been consistently delivering its unique blend of bluesy rock since 1984. Its seventh studio album, "Forever More," consisting of all new original material, will be released on Oct. 7.

While Salt Lake City became the opening date out of convenience, Keith said it's the perfect place to start a tour. "There's a reason Aerosmith wrote about you," he said, referencing the line from the song "S.O.S.": "Salt Lake City, salt-lickin' biddies. . . ."

The event came about because of the success of Tesla's world tour of 2007, the first one for the band in 16 years. "It was very surprising," bassist Brian Wheat said of the multitudes of Europeans and Japanese who came to see them. "We were blown away."

No one had forgotten about the band and its six albums, which included two big hits: "Love Song" and "Signs," the latter an acoustic cover of Five Man Electrical Band's hippie anthem.

No one had forgotten, Wheat said, because the band stuck together, and with the exclusion of guitarist Tommy Skeoch, consists of the original members. (That's in contrast to a band like Foreigner that tours with only one original member.)

"We're like brothers," Wheat said. "We spend more time together than we spend with our own brothers."

The brotherhood has formed years of near-constant national tours, which produced a rabid fan club called the Tesla Troops, similar to KISS's Army.

Tesla's opening band, for the first leg of the tour, will be Western Michigan's Pop Evil, a post-grunge band with a single, "Hero," creeping up the modern rock charts.

It will be the band's first trip to Salt Lake City, and "it will be a rockin' education," said Pop Evil's lead singer Leigh Kakaty.

What sets Pop Evil's music apart is the ethnic diversity of the band members, said Kakaty, the son of an East Indian father and a Canadian mother. "Traditionally rock singers don't look like me," he said, adding that other members of the band have Latino, Turkish, American Indian and Polish roots.

"Come early" is Kakaty's request. "We come from the state of Kid Rock," he said. "We don't just get up and play. It's an open invitation to enter our world."

And, like Tesla, the band will be entering the world from the launching pad of Utah.

David Burger writes about popular music. Contact him at dburger@sltrib.com or 801-257-8620.