Sydney : 11/13/2007
What would it have been like to be in glam rock band in the mid 80’s livin and playing on the sunset strip in sunny southern California? It would have been a 24-hour dose of Glam rock. The hair, the honeys, the clothes, Gazzaris, The Roxy, The Whiskey, The Rainbow, Troubadour, LA country club, the list goes on. All you had to do was look through the L.A. rock press and you would see a never-ending array of Glam/leather/metal bands playing each night, i.e. Pretty Boy Floyd, LA Guns, Guns n Roses and of course Ratt. Well, to a certain extent Winger. And Ratt and Winger lived it and still are still carrying the torch.
I saw these guys at the Metro in Sydney last week and it was a blast, and excuse the cliché, from the past. Winger came out looking less like a pretty boy band and more like Guns n Roses but still retained the 80’s stage moves. They began running through their hits, “easy come easy go†“miles away†and “seventeenâ€Â. I am a little curious about that last one, isn’t a 17 yr old chick a minor in the US? Anyway, Kip’s voice was as good as it was back in their heyday; he still has that rock charm. Reb Beach played great and with a bit more edge than he did in the late 80’s. His unaccompanied solo was the highlight for me. It was well constructed, sounded huge with no boring bits. Pure flash. After about an hour set, Ratt came on. The line up was Stephen Pearcy, Warren De Martini, Bobby Blotzer and two new members, Robbie Crane and John Corabi. They played their hits with more attack than the recording i.e. ‘Way cool junior’ ‘I want a woman’ ‘Wanted man’ and of course ‘Round n Round’ as the encore rocked hard like it was Guns n Roses playing it but still retained the slickness. Stephen Pearcy moved around stage like a 20 yr old on stage, pretty good for a guy that’s 48. Warren played his heart out and doesn’t seem to be influenced by what is in fashion in regards guitar playing, which is what I wanted to see. The majority of the audience were in kindergarten when that style of guitar playing was in so it was good to see a good reaction from them to Reb’s dive bombs and tapping,
The show was pure escapism. It is rare to find this enthusiasm or ‘inspiration’ in rock bands of the noughties. All in all, a great show by both bands and I recommend that you go out and see ‘any’ Glam rock band of the late 80s and early 90’s that come to your town. Just do it.
Here's the encore song. Round n Round
"I Want Some Glam RockingZ in My StockingZ!!!"