Vains of Jenna, RATT, Poison Concert Review
History does not repeat itself!
Last night, My Wife and I attended the Vains of Jenna, RATT and Poison Concert. It has been a long time since I have seen Stephen Pearcy play live with RATT, and I was really looking foward to the show.
Once upon a time, in 1986, Poison opened up for RATT at this same site. Poison was a new band, and hungry. They were out opening up for RATT in support of their new disc, Look What the Cat Dragged In. They were good that night, but RATT completely blew them off the stage.
Fast Forward to 2007, and last night’s show.
Vains of Jenna opened the show, and were decked out in their fully glam outfits. I have only listened to a couple of their songs prior to last night, so I was not very familiar with their music. They mentioned the last time they played in Cincinnati, and the incident at Rhino’s in Eastgate. They dedicated their song, “Don’t Give A Damn” to the club manager there. They also did a cover of the Tom Petty song, Refugee. I enjoyed their short 30 minute set. I will be seeking out their CD soon.
At about 8 P.M., RATT took the stage with their new linuep of Robbie Crane on bass, John Corabi on rhythm guitar, Stephen Pearcy on vocals, Bobby Blotzer on drums and guitar god, Warren Dimartini. RATT played most of their hit songs, and a few songs that made me wonder what they were thinking. I was surprised to hear anything off of their self titled record from 1999, but they played more than one song off of this disc. The crowd reaction when these songs were played was similar to mine. What the *#@% was that? Considering that they only have an hour long slot, why they would waste their time playing these lesser known tunes, that quite frankly, are not very good. I will say that the band was good, but no where near as good as the original lineup. I didn’t think Stephen Pearcy sounded as good as he used to, and Bobby Blotzer, actually messed up the drum beat in one of the songs. Dimartini’s playing was the highlight in this time slot.
I have seen Poison play live several times in the past and my expectations were low. I had high hopes for RATT, and they disappointed me somewhat. I have seen Poison play with a bunch of different bands, insert name here, and never thought they were as good as some of the acts they have toured with. Last night, they totally changed my mind.
Poison took the stage at around 9:30 P.M. and from the very beginning, I knew they were going to be great. They played a few songs off of their new covers disc, Poison’d, as well their hits over the years. Regardless of how I feel about their covers album, the songs they played live sounded great. This was an extemely high energy show, and everyone in the band played extremely well including Bret Michaels. There were a few surprises in the show that drummer Rikki Rockett had up his sleeve that made me think about the Motley Crue, Girls, Girls Girls tour.
This was one of the best Poison shows that I have ever seen, and I have seen quite a few. Poison blew RATT off the stage, and had smiles on the faces of just about everyone who the packed house last night.
If they come to your town, go check them out! You wont be disappointed!
I thought Poison was just going through the motions out here. RATT was better than expected, but VoJ is hungrier than both…and it shows. These kids from Sweden are exactly what the genre needs right now!
Thanks for the reviews. My first concert was with Ratt and Poison in 1985 and now I get to take my 17 year old son to the show in the same venue I saw their show in Irvine, California. I have seen Ratt and Poison many many times over the years including when they used to play the clubs. I saw Pearcy open for WASP and he seemed a little lost without the Ratt boys. At least half of the originals are back together.
I went to the Poison/Ratt show in Cleveland in June and thought Ratt was very good. Stephen and Warren were excellent. My only disapointment was the sound. Every time Ratt did one of their hits, like back 4 more or lack of communications, you’re in love, etc, the volume seemed to drop way down. i dont know if it was jus ttechnical problems or if Poison’s road crew did that on purpose because thats a old trick to keep the opener from up staging you, but that was my only disapointment. Poison puts on a great show and they are very polished live. but…can anyone really say that poisom’s best songs are better than ratt’s?
if you put round and round, back 4 more, lack of communication, lay it down and you’re in love up against talk dirty to me, every rose, fallen angel, ride the wind, etc, then Ratt win’s hands down. i also think that the guy’s in Ratt are much, much better musicians, but brett is by far a better entertainer than pearcy, although pearcy is a good frontman and vocal stylist, he is just a different style than brett. all in all, i was pleased with both bands and i thought the show was worth every penny.
I saw Poison and Cinderella with Winger a few years back and I must say, they all rocked. A couple of years later I saw Steven Pearcy with his solo act and must say the voice has changed alot and didnt sound as good. I love me some ratt songs too. I just hope the voice has gotten better. Thanks for the heads up on the tour so far. Don’t forget to catch Queensryche this summer. Now you want to talk about voices….. Look no further. “Queensryche” America’s band.
I’ll start off by saying that I’m only 15 years old. So, my opinions are probably not the same as the adults reading this. I mean I’m just a teenager so I wasn’t exactly around when Ratt & Poison first came out. But, I must say that I have seen Poison more than once & I knew what to expect from them.
I saw Vains of Jenna, Ratt, & Poison on July 3rd in Myrtle Beach, SC. I had no clue who Vains of Jenna were. But from the time they got on stage until the second they left I was jumping around screaming. They were amazing. I mean I had no clue who they were & I didn’t know any of their songs yet I found myself cheering. They definitely blew me away. Since that concert I’ve bought their cd & they are one of my favorite bands now.
This was my first time seeing Ratt but it wasn’t my dad’s first time seeing them. He said that they were amazing when he had seen them before. I’m familiar with their music because my dad plays their cds a lot. So, I knew Ratt would be good. And, I thought they were good.
When Poison hit the stage wow I went CRAZY. That was my 5th time seeing Poison. I’m always one to jump & stuff at concerts but wow. Poison was just so amazing & I think they are only getting better. I screamed my head off & jumped around all night long. I was in the front row so I caught some guitar picks & touched their hands. Also, Bobby Dall invited my family & I backstage after the concert so that was unbelievably amazing. That concert was definitely a night I’ll never forget. It as by far the BEST concert that I’ve ever attended & I’ve gone to over 20 concerts in my life at such a young age. I’m actually going to see Vains of Jenna, Ratt, & Poison again in Fayetteville. That’s how amazing it was.
Definitely go buy tickets! : )
I can’t believe someone was goofing around with a Blackberry at a rock concert. Crazy!
The crowd was definitely there for Poison, that’s for sure. I was appalled when the guy in the seat in front of me was checking his e-mail on his Blackberry during Ratt’s set as I was busy dancing and singing along. I think Poison is great, but Ratt really does it for me.
i’m glad ratt is doing songs from the self titled album from 1999!
I saw the show on 6/29/07 in the obscure Upstate NY venue Tag’s Summerstage (Big Flats, NY) near Elmira. Vains of Jenna was tight, worked the crowd with funny/sarcastic humor a la young Mick Jagger and looked like the bastard-offspring of Poison. But they played good and hard–not a powwer-pop band by any stretch. They have a future if they don’t fall prey to drugs.
RATT was RATT–hard-charging effort but middle-of-the-road results. IMHO, Steve and Warren were on top of their game but the other three looked and played like neo-goth meth-heads.
But POISON absolutely killed–I was never an “Unskinny Bop”-era fan…frankly, more interested in the latter-day tabloid/VH1 exploits of Bret and CC! However, I knew they had all cleaned up their act and they played note-perfect from start to finish–they gave much love to the crowd which was returned many times over–go see this American band if they’re comin’ to your town, they’ll help you party down!!