So Here's The 'New' RATT Live

Well this is kind of ugly, but whatever. The "new" RATT debuted last night at a casino in Kansas. To be fair to the new guys, the weak link here is Stephen Pearcy. I mean, everyone on stage is a professional musician, so the notes are correct. But the feeling is wrong and it's just not RATT. For me to see RATT without Warren DeMartini just makes no sense.

I'm sorry to be negative on this beautiful summer Sunday, but this is just depressing. I think I'll go back to planning my bathroom remodel. This video put me in a sour mood. Picking out paint colors and tile always cheers me up.

Tell The World: The Very Best Of Ratt

Comments

[Metalboy!]

Horrendous!

And to borrow a phrase, “low energy”, and that’s putting it politely! ... Man, Pearcy is hurting bad here, unable to sing complete sentences worse than Wince Neil (get straight, boy!), Croucier is untintemtionally hilarious to watch but even he sounds like he’s struggling, though perhaps that’s only because he had to sub in lead vocals a couple of times here as Pearcy couldn’t even choke the words out. The other guys, God Bless ‘em, I get it ... They gotta get a paycheck from somewhere. Just wish they coulda found better gigs. The one dude was in Britny Fox but that was a little more understandable than this charade. “Shame, Shame, Shame”

[Steverox]

There simply are no words.....

[Dj]

I'll give Pearcy some credit, he sounds decent enough to pull of a greatest hits set list but not much else, plus if you're going to see Ratt live SP has to be the one singing..but still this Ratt band has gotten out of hand. They can't keep any sort of lineup together for more than a year, and now Warren is gone. Ratt at this point almost seems like a Stephen Pearcy solo band, but if the Ratt name is up front on stage and on the tickets, it's going to sell to a lot of the casual fans. Infestation was a great album, and I wish they could have kept that lineup together, they could be up there in today's touring standards with Def Leppard or Poison playing amphitheatres if billed correctly.

[Badland]

I think Arcade sounds better than this and thats not saying much.

[Him]

I am going to eat a smallish piece of a slim slice of humble pie. They don't sound as bad as I was expecting. Then again, I wasn't expecting much. The guitarist sounds good (at least he does when he isn't trying to sync up with the other guitarist). There. I said it.

But, if you read a few other sites on the net, some people still seem to be giving this more of a pass than it deserves. And, to my dumb ears, they don't sound as good as Blotz's traveling circus from a few years back. Sure, they have two. Blotz had one. But when that is your metric for making decisions about a band, you are arguing about other things.

I have a question though: does Pearcy look bloated to you? I mean that seriously. The man has always been known for being rail thin. But he seems to be packing a bit in the mid-section (for him, that is). I only mention this because, and I hope I am wrong (I wish him no ill will even if he is foisting it upon fans right now), it might suggest that his new sober path in life was, alas, just a minor diversion. If so, that is a shame. Now, granted, this isn't the vino bloat that Bach is carrying around these days. But I found it odd when I watched the video. And this also isn't some lame attempt to make a joke based on the fact that people's metabolisms slow down as they age. If I wanted to do that, I would provide a link to Neil's recent live car crash. Which is also, to be fair, a shame.

I will make one joke though (picking up on what Metalboy! said): the only way that Croucier should be acting that way is if he is as blind as he looks sporting those lame ass sunglasses! He should be carrying a tin cup filled with pencils.

So I stand, barely, corrected. Not the biggest car crash in the world. But still not just a slight fender-bender on their way to proving the new breed should keep pumping out songs.

[Mike]

Brutal.

[Brian C.]

To go from the epic battle over who owns the name, with the majority of support behind Stephen, Juan and Warren (and longtime member Carlos) vs. Blotz and his band of clowns.....to this?!? It is a shame.

Now it is Stephen, Juan and THEIR band of clowns.

The whole fight was meaningless. Any credibility GAO ed throughout is now. COMPLETELY GONE!!

[Bob]

Metalboy!, my good sir, mad props for "Wince Neil."...that was genius. also, secondary props for working in the "Shame shame Shame" song title. funny and topically accurate at the same time. Nicely done. And Him, I know you're joking, and I am 100% good with that, but I will say that, thank goodness, the days of blind people having to settle for a meager existence selling pencils are long behind us. Hopefully that outmoded stereotype takes the same path sooner than later.

[fletch]

who holds the balloons

[Bob]

Btw, for those of you with SiriusXM, Eddie Trunk interviewed Pearcy today. Before you go an listen to it on-demand, be forewarned, Pearcy was very evasive when Trunk asked him any questions about what happened that resulted in this new lineup. the only thing he said of any interest is that DeMartini wasn't fired, and that it was his choice to leave. Other than that one nugget, don't waste your time. the interview was so boring, I literally dozed off in the middle, and no, I hadn't smoked any weed first. :) I get that it's pearcy's prerogative to say, and not say, whatever he wants, but the conversation was about 40 minutes of Pearcy just not answering most of Trunk's questions.

[Him]

You are 100% right, Bob. I own that mistake. And I apologize for making a joke that was not funny. There were numerous ways I could have gotten my point across. I chose an offensive one. My bad. Thanks for taking me to task. I deserved it.

[Bob]

Him, my friend, thank you for saying that, but I wasn't offended. I know you meant it in jest. I battled a lot of stereotypes to become successful, and I'll just be glad if/when future blind people don't have to fight so hard against those stereotypes just to have a decent life. That's all I really meant by that. Anyway, I hope you, and all the other BBG-ers have a wonderful day.

[Him]

Thank you for that note, Bob. It means a great deal to me.

[Coco Blamee]

SP can do no wrong with the band. His singing is miraculous and JC is unbelievable. This new set of guitarists respect WD. WD may just be tired and frightened. He tried but the remaining four should reband and complete a new LP. SP should consider retiring his solo records in favor of two more RATT ones with the FAMOUS FOUR! Give WD and JC the space to create new music with SP. SP might build trust with them.