Jani Lane Steps in for Jack Russell...

I'm usually upbeat here. I love Glam bands. The music is part of my childhood and also helped me find many like-minded friends as an adult. Still, some things have to be criticized. Some ideas are just so bad, you have to shake your head and go..."What?"

It's been confirmed that Jani Lane will step in for Jack Russell at more than 10 upcoming Great White shows. (Jack is recovering from major surgery after suffering a perforated bowel). At one of the shows Warrant is opening. I'll get to that point in a minute. First, you may recall my post from last week about band's and retirement. Great White was the main topic of discussion there. My good pal Kenny Ozz said he had heard that Jani was stepping in to front Great White but I couldn't find any confirmation of this...until now. So here we are.

Great White + Jani Lane.

In normal days, a one-off of Great White and Jani might be cool. But here's the deal: I am having trouble separating my love for Jani's songwriting with his clear disdain for all other human life. No one with a conscience would continually get behind the wheel of a car and drive drunk. So Jani gets arrested for DUI (again) a couple months ago and was sentenced to jail. Is he out of trouble now? Did he serve due his time? Learn a lesson? Is he sober? Why can't we let him take care of his demons and get well before throwing him back into bars, surrounded by temptation?

I'm a 'live and let live' kind of girl. I say, do whatever you want on your own time and to your own body - but leave me out of it. When you get plastered and get in a car and drive down my street, I have a big problem with that. You're supposed to be in alcohol counseling but you get to go on tour instead? How is that fair?

Now, to the other issue of Jani fronting Great White. Again, a one off would be cool. But 12 dates? Won't people be annoyed if they are advertised a Great White show but don't get Jack on vocals? What about the show that has Warrant opening? How does that work? The guys in Warrant and Jani don't exactly get along anymore. Will one band be ushered  onstage while another waits, hidden in the wings -- separated like kids?

At what point does all this become high comedy? We all know "hair metal" is unfairly mocked. But when you start talking about a replacement singer fronting an opening act that was originally fronted by the replacement front man for the headline act it's all a bit much. Just writing that gave me a little bit of a headache so I hope I got it right. In short, I don't see how Jani will last 12 shows. It's a train wreck waiting to happen.

Here's the tour dates:

Sept 3, 2010 El Paso, TX Speaking Rock
Sept 4, 2010 Galveston, TX Moody Gardens Conv Cntr (with Night Ranger)
Sept 24, 2010 Bolingbrook, IL Tailgater's
Sept 25, 2010 Farmington, MN Rocktoberfest
Sept 26, 2010 Council Bluffs, IA Horseshoe Council Bluffs
Oct 1, 2010 Yuciapa, CA Angel's Roadhouse
Oct 2, 2010 Ramona, CA Ramona Mainstage
Oct 29, 2010 Redding, CA Harvest Festival 2010
Oct 30, 2010 Lewiston, ID Clearwater River Casino
Nov 6, 2010 Lisbon, Portugal "Live in Lisbon"
Nov 12, 2010 Medina, MN Medina Entertainment Center (with Warrant)
Dec 31, 2010 Tower, MN Fortune Bay Casino

I'm sure everyone disagrees with my opinion on this one. Oh well.

Here's a little clip of Jani singing with Warrant while drunk. This was at Rock the Bayou. I've got no problem posting this as I was there and witnessed this spectacle.

Comments

[Jim]

I was at the show in Galveston for Great White/Night Ranger. I'm more of a metal fan, but my girlfriend loves Great White, so....
Anyway, we were front center stage and Jani did a good job. I didn't even realize it wasn't Russell, since I didn't have a clue about Great White. I can tell the difference between Halford and Ripper, but Jani and Russell, not so much.
Jani's voice was strong and he sounded great. He worked the crowd well, really friendly without being too dramatic and over the top (Hey Jack Blades, you listening?)
He did have lyric sheets on the stage and had to consult them from time to time, but overall, it really didn't detract from the show. Considering the short amount of rehearsal time they probably had, the set was pretty tight. He played an acoustic 12 string version of Cherry Pie/I See Red, etc.
I enjoyed the show, and I really hope the guy gets a chance to "redeem" himself.
Night Ranger was a joke, in my opinion. Jack Blades looked like Richard Simmons dancing and mincing around the stage in these ridiculous fairy boots and they played so many covers that I thought I was in a bar listening to a local band.
On an unrelated but "hair band" themed note, I saw a guy that looked really familiar. I asked him if he had been in a band and he said no, but he did perform magic tricks at birthday parties and stuff like that. Really friendly and cool guy. I couldn't shake the thought I recognized him and looked up all the hair bands I could remember til I found him. He was freaking Rikki Rockett from Poison. Haha. I was punked.

[Metalboy!]

Jim, Great White is Metal.

Check out "Stick It".

And believe me, though I don't know Jack Russell, Lane is no Russell in the chops department.

Check Great White's live covers of Zep. He's got some of the best pipes in the biz and Lane duz not.

Also, I appreciate the comment on Blades. Those guys are poseurs, thou I gotta say, me liking "Sister Christian" at the right place at the right time got me kidnapped by NYC "Teendream" hipsters for an allnighter of debauchery once.

I think I had 'em jumpin' around in their underwear about 7 a.m. to of all things Great White's "Rock Me", swear to the Metal Godz! And this was only two years ago, hahaha!!!

[Jim]

I loved the guy on lead guitar. He sounded really good,more bluesy than I expected. My girlfriend has convinced me they're metal. So I bow to your collective wisdom.
Plus I see they once opened for Judas Priest. That's all I need to know.
Next adventure in metaldom is the Anthrax/Megadeth/Slayer concert on the 26th in Houston.
Love the site, btw.

[Moja]

Jani's history aside, he did an amazing job of filling in for JR at the Galveston show this weekend. In fact, he almost got through with the description "flawless", but muffed a verse or two of the final song of the night (Once Bitten, Twice Shy) - to his credit, he owned the screw-up and complimented the small but incredibly vocal crowd for knowing the song better than he did. He was lucid, professional and most of all, outwardly GRATEFUL for the opportunity. I am sorry Jack wasn't present, but I would highly recommend you don't pass up the opportunity to see this awesome band just because of the substitute vocals - keep in mind that this group is a tragedy reincarnate and notwithstanding the missing original line-up, the music lives on in all its glory.

I could not disagree more with Jim's assessment of Night Ranger however... those "covers" you likely refer to, are the two big hits by the Damn Yankees of which Jack is one quarter. The only cover (Crazy Train) was similarly justified in that Brad did fill in with Ozzy on the Speak of the Devil tour. They also played a crazy long (over 2 hours) set by today's standards.

A great show, don't miss these two iconic rock bands if you get the opportunity!

[Rich]

I'll agree with Moja on Night Ranger. I love that band, and Jack Blades has done some great stuff within and outside of Night Ranger. He put out a solo record in 2004 that was pretty solid, with some great musicians contributing such as Neal Schon, Warren DeMartini, Tommy Shaw, Michael Lardie, Brad Gillis and Kelly Keagy. Loved his work in Damn Yankees as well.

Jim, Mark Kendall is the lead guitarist in Great White, and I've always thought that he is one of the more underrated guitarists out there. He's got a great playing style which, along with Jack Russell's vocals, pretty much defines the sound of that band. He's a master of what I like to call the '5 ton notes'.

Speaking of underrated guitarists, I will also throw Dave Meniketti in that group. Y&T is a great band and Meniketti rocks.

[Rich]

Hey Metalboy, hold onto your hat because we've found something else we can agree on. I am also a big John Corabi fan. I loved the record he did with The Scream, and was actually disappointed to see him leave that band for Motley Crue. That Crue record is somewhat underrated since all of the clowns crying about Vince Neil leaving wouldn't give it a fair shake. I'd like to see Corabi get back together with Bruce Bouillet (also of Racer X fame) and make some more music. I thought we might wind up with Corabi fronting Ratt, but I guess they must have felt like they were forced to let Pearcy back in the band if they were going to be allowed to record again. Corporate types in the music industry are, for the most part, complete morons.

[Ferris B.]

All I can say is, lets see what happens. It sounds anti-normal to me, but.... I'm all for giving someone another chance. Btw... I did check out one of his new projects he is working on, called The Ryan Tyler Band from Missouri. A couple of young guys; kids really, that really do have a unique vocal ability. This could be a major plus for Jani's writing career.