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I watched a painstakingly video of Steven Pearcy totally fucked up on pills and alcohol barely able to function. He's slurring his words, stumbling on the stage, finally sits down on the drum riser. This was during the song Body Talk. The band itself were on point. What an embarrassment for the band members. Pearcy ended up apologizing on their Ratt Facebook page to everyone. Anyone else see it?
Just went and checked it out.
Hadn't really kept up on the band for a couple of years, following the last round of lawsuits over the name between the rest of the band and Blotzer's version of Ratt. So, the first surprise for me watching the recent video was that Cavazo and DeMartini were no longer in the group. You've basically got Pearcy and Croucier, and that's it in terms of anybody left in the group that was in the definitive lineup. I mean, it at least made some sense in 2014 or thereabouts, when Blotzer, DeMartini, Pearcy and Croucier comprised the band, along with Cavazo: obviously Crosby wasn't going to be there, but Cavazo is a capable enough guitarist and had something of a name leftover from his Quiet Riot days - chances are if you liked Ratt back in the 1980s, you'd at least have known who Cavazo was, as opposed to some nameless person, or some guy from a 2nd or 3rd tier 80s band like Black N Blue. So, that 2014 lineup was as close to whole as the band could have gotten, and Cavazo was a good fit, I thought.
As for Pearcy, I would be kind and say he was having an off night - surely any rock vocalist can have one here and there. The problem with Pearcy is that live singing was never his strong suit. That was the case when I saw the band open up for Billy Squier in 1984. It was also the case in 1997 and 1998 from a couple of video boots I saw of those years: Pearcy deteriorated as a frontman. Whatever one thought of Jizzy Pearl fronting the band in the early 2000s, the guy had energy and could sing the tunes. Even back 20 years ago, Pearcy was just...lazy. The voice was going, his lack of enthusiasm was patently obvious...lame, you know? Hasn't gotten much better in the years since, but in some ways that was just a continuation of what was always true for me where Ratt was concerned, in that the high point of Ratt was always the guitar work where live gigs were concerned. They had good tunes, too, and the records were solid. Pearcy has always had trouble delivering the goods live. Less noticeable so in the 1980s, but glaringly obvious now.
From that recent clip, with the departure of DeMartini and Croucier, 'Ratt' has...sort of really ceased to be something you could even call 'Ratt'...it's one step away from being Ratt featuring Stephen Pearcy, which is exactly what it will be should Croucier decide to bail, regardless of who owns the name.
I guess people are willing to make a lot of allowances to recapture some of the spirit of the music they liked so much in the 1980s. For me, when it comes to such things as Quiet Riot featuring Frankie Banali, Ratt featuring Bobby Blotzer, Ratt featuring Stephen Pearcy, Dokken featuring Don Dokken...fuck it, I'd rather see a well-rehearsed tribute band at that point. I get that these aging rock stars need to work, and if people are willing to pay the money to see them, fine. Do so, and by all means enjoy the show. For me, it's just easier to steer clear and leave it to memory.
I mean, it's hard for me to imagine even the most DIEhard Ratt fan can derive enjoyment out of the band with just Pearcy and Croucier left, and Pearcy unable to get the job done. I'd rather just dust off my Out Of The Cellar cd - great rock album - and give it a spin.
Pearcy and Blotzer are complete idiot holes especially Blotzer who is a laughing stock at this point.
The really stupid thing about them is that they could play 20 gigs a year, fairs and so on and make a decent living - easy money.
Ashamed to say I found this quite funny...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kodNnm7fTEg
Which was the one interesting thing, or primary interesting thing, I got out of watching the fairly recent Quiet Riot / Banali-centric / post-Dubrow death documentary. Banali was totally aware of the laughingstock general public perception stigma of playing State Fairs, or County Expos or Ribfests or Metalfests or whatever. But Banali said those types of multiple billed band gigs usually pay very well - much better in comparison to club or theater gigs where Quiet Riot headlined (even when Dubrow was still alive) - and they usually paid in cash on the day of the gig.Quote:
Originally Posted by Seshmeister
But then with Ratt, most of the band members don't even particularly like one another anymore, or are just burnt out on the sight of one another. Blotzer certainly comes across as a meathead, but then so does Pearcy. When Blotzer left in 2015 or whatever it was to start HIS version of Ratt, and the lawsuits over the name started flying, it seemed silly in that these guys are fighting over something that one would imagine has a dwindling box office value, so why squander whatever remaining lucrative years of use the band name has left squabbling and paying lawyers?
Agree on a split, play the gigs, stay away from each other when not performing and keep the dirty laundry private. Treat it like the business that it is and act like a bunch of fucking professionals. That certainly, I'd imagine, beats Blotzer splitting from the group to 'front' HIS version of Ratt to a bunch of club-sized venues, at least in financial terms.
As you say, it would be a decent living playing the fairs and the like. Play enough of those gigs, you make a few hundred thousand a year. Beats being a former 1980s rock star becoming a Starbucks barista while pushing 60 years old.
Those are the figures I've seen. If the idiots could keep their shit together for fucking 3 or 4 weeks a year in a single band they could make $200k - $300k split 4 ways minus $10k for some bozo (I'll do it :)) doing the Robin Cosby stuff.
It's been over 30 years since any of those bands were relevant. Some things are best left in the past.Quote:
Originally Posted by Terry
You have Joan Jett and Cheap Trick playing the fair circuit. Actually saw both not too long ago at the Washington state fair. Still worth seeing.Quote:
Originally Posted by Terry
I don't know why State Fairs are seen as scraping the bottom of the barrel, some of those late 80s bands are playing small bars...
Agreed.Quote:
Originally Posted by Nitro Express
Long as there is whatever demand - or ticket sales - these bands will just keep going.
Some of the older acts can still pull it off and put on a show worth seeing. The problem is, the bands that can't either don't know it or don't care.Quote:
Originally Posted by Nitro Express
It's just the antiquated mindset that if a band isn't selling out the local 10 thousand + seater sports arena, said band are a bunch of losers.Quote:
Originally Posted by Seshmeister
Personally, some of the best shows I ever saw were in clubs or very small theaters. Very few of the great shows I've seen were in open-air stadiums.
The state fair shows have the big stage, PA, and lighting rig. Heck. Rock festivals used to be held at race tracks and fair grounds. It's still a big rock show with a field and grandstand full of fans. Not as big as a huge stadium show but no little club either. Cheap Trick and Joan really play and perform as good as they ever have. The put out and I got my money's worth.Quote:
Originally Posted by Seshmeister
I seen Roth at a club back in 2010. Up close and personal. Club held under 300 people. Same place I saw George Lynches, Lynch Mob, Yngwie Malmsteen, Ted Nugent, Buckcherry, and a few more. Nice intimate setting. Nothing wrong with a smaller set to connect to your fans. Cheap Trick and Joan Jett played a great show a couple years back at Spac. Steven Pearcy and Blotzer does not make Ratt. It's a version of it. When there are only two original members and one totally fucks it all up, I'd be pissed. There are most definitely off nights, anyone can have them. But an off night literally fucked up because of your own ignorance is unforgivable. Pearcy is a tool.
Oh that's maybe what used to be the record industry who thought that way. The bottom line is a good band is a good band. I have friends in Seattle who will go see their favorite musicians and usually they are playing at a winery or some place like that. Not that any of the artists are getting rich doing it but there is some talent out there.Quote:
Originally Posted by Terry
Some of the best shows I ever saw were in Providence, Rhode Island in the late 1980s/early 1990s at local places like The Living Room and The Rocket (later known as Club Babyhead), and half of those shows weren't even name acts. Just local bands who were tearing it up.Quote:
Originally Posted by Nitro Express
Totally. The old, antiquated major label way of thinking in terms of acts on tour, that some of these older acts possibly still buy into because they've been working it that way for so long. Van Halen falls into that category. Mostly because the Van Halens never had to play a lot of State Fairs and the like: they were mostly always able to play arenas or large ampitheaters.Quote:
Originally Posted by Nitro Express
That was the sort of surprising thing about the reunion, in that while the Van Halens probably equate a tour as being a series of large arenas, Roth has had to do his fair share of Ribfests/Clubs/State Fairs/smaller venues as a solo artist from 1999 to 2006. Surprising in that Van Halen have stuck to such a traditional live setting. I was hoping the Café Wha? gig would be the start of the band maybe mixing up the arenas with some smaller venues. Personally, I'd dig seeing Van Halen in a three to five thousand seater. No arena stage production. No elaborate light show. No oversized video screens. No bullshit. Just the band and their music.
Someone has to pull the plug on that trainwreck. I'm surprised people aren't asking for refunds. If I were the band members, I'd be totally embarrassed. They are trying hard to keep their shit in check, I will hand that much to them. Pearcy is gonna end up like Jani Lane.