Concert Announcements And Updates - June 14, 2013, Part 2 of 2

Here's the second half of the latest metal concert news for the Twin Cities area, covering July and August. See Part 1 for the updates for June.

Buckcherry returns to the area for a show on Wednesday, July 3 with Girl On Fire at the Vetter Stone Amphitheater in Mankato.

Cantharone has another show lined up at the Hexagon Bar in Minneapolis with Hate Beast on Thursday, July 4.

Long-running punk band Meat Puppets will play four shows in Minnesota to promote their 14th album, Rat Farm, released on Megaforce earlier this year. They play two shows on Saturday, July 13 – an early 5:00 show at the St. John’s Block Party in Rochester, followed by an 8:30 show at the Twin Cites Roots, Rock and Deep Blues Festival in Minneapolis at Patrick’s Cabaret. The next night, Sunday, July 14 has them at Tycoons in Duluth with Actual Wolf and Enemy Planes.

The day after performing with Sevendust in Rochester, Otherwise has their own headlining show on Sunday, July 14 at Pov’s 65 in Spring Lake Park with special guests Throw The Fight and The Soft Light.

KEN Mode and Virginia doom band Inter Arma play the Turf Club in St. Paul on Thursday, July 18.

Ambassador Gun hooks up with Philadelphia’s Sadgiqacea, Hivelords, and Poney for a show at the Nomad World Pub in Minneapolis on Friday, July 19.

The Meat Puppets’ fourth Minnesota show happens at the What’s Up Lounge in Mankato on Friday, July 19.

Comical metal band Psychostick returns, this time to Pov’s 65 in Spring Lake Park on Friday, July 19 with Outside The Murder and Strate-Jak-It.

Sweden's female-fronted power metal sensations Amaranthe play the Triple Rock Social Club in Minneapolis on Tuesday, July 23 with support from Kobra And The Lotus.

Although they long ago abandoned their early punk roots, Minneapolis’s own Soul Asylum tops the Skyline Music Festival with Big Head Todd And The Monsters, Matthew Sweet, and Gear Daddies to Target Field in Minneapolis on Friday, July 26.

A huge lineup of local bands have organized the Metal For Life event at Neisen’s in Savage on Saturday, July 27—all proceeds will be donated to the Shriners Hospital for Children. Slated to participate are Cantharone, Piranha, Gryzor, Matrekis, Clobberboot, Eldergaad, Dark Mirror, Tomorrow Brings New Blood, Chaostrophe, Deretla, Monogon, and Malice (MN). This event is all ages are starts early at 10:00 am.

Locals Nuisance also play on Saturday, July 27 at the Cabooze in Minneapolis with Slow Spokes, Aeous, We Be Lions, and Up Rock.

Florida instrumentalists Set And Setting play the Hexagon Bar in Minneapolis on Wednesday, July 31. Their debut album Equanimity was released last week through Forcefield and Science of Silence.

Minneapolis-based heavy instrumentalist masters Zebulon Pike rock the Triple Rock Social Club in Minneapolis on Friday, August 2 with Vulgaari, Relentless, and Ashen.

Down in Mankato at the Vetter Stone Amphitheater you can catch rock band Everclear at the Mankato Ribfest on Friday, August 2.

Loverboy plays the Mankato Ribfest at Vetter Stone Amphitheater on Saturday, August 3.

The Monday, August 5 Vampire Weekend show at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis is SOLD OUT.

The Big Night Out Tour with hard rock bands Fuel, Hoobastank, Lit, and Alien Ant Farm comes to Myth in St. Paul on Wednesday, August 7.

The Vetter Stone Amphitheater in Mankato has a big night of 80s metal with Ratt, Sebastian Bach, Dokken, and Lita Ford on Thursday, August 15.

Fresh off their recent show in St. Paul, Bobaflex hits Mankato at Buster’s on Wednesday, August 7 with Royal Bliss.

From The Vault - BON JOVI

I'll embarrass myself a little bit here by admitting that not only have I seen Bon Jovi but bought one of the tour shirts. In my defense this was back during the band's early hair metal days in support of their second album, 7800º Fahrenheit. Bon Jovi had a couple minor MTV and radio hits by this point, but their nearly 30-year hold as superstars didn't begin until the release of their next album, Slippery When Wet.

I caught Bon Jovi on September 19, 1985 at the Five Seasons Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa as the opening band for Ratt. Bon Jovi was clearly on the ascendency as they got a huge crowd response. According to multiple online sources the band's setlist on this tour was "Tokyo Road", "Breakout", "Only Lonely", "In And Out Of Love", "Runaway", "I Don't Want To Go Home", and "Get Ready". I remember "Tokyo Road" being the opener and "In And Out Of Love", but I could swear they played "Silent Night" at this show, too.

Ratt, for their part, was awesome. There might not have been a better time to see Ratt than on the Invasion Of Your Privacy tour. This was one of the first few concerts I had been to so Ratt's huge stage with multiple ramps and bridges across the stage was impressive. Of course, all the band's best music was played - "You're In Love", "Lay It Down", "You Should Know By Now", "Wanted Man", "The Morning After", "Dangerous But Worth The Risk", "Back For More", "You Think You're Tough", "Round And Round", and a massive drum solo from Bobby Blotzer among others.

Bon Jovi performs tonight, Sunday, April 7 in St. Paul at the Xcel Energy Center.

Ratt And Quiet Riot From The Vault

Ratt is playing at the Medina Entertainment Center in Medina tonight in support of their excellent new album Infestation (reviewed here). Their current lineup includes former Quiet Riot guitarist Carlos Cavazo, so I dug through my archives to show some old Ratt and Quiet Riot memorabilia and some memories from these shows.

The first concert I ever went to was Quiet Riot and Eric Steele in 1984 at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines. I was only in eighth grade, so my dad took my brother and me at the urging of my brother. It was my first concert, so how could I not be impressed by Kevin Dubrow's showmanship and antics, such as having Carlos Cavazo ride his shoulders while playing guitar? This was near the start of their Condition Critical campaign, so they played a huge number of tracks from that album and Metal Health. I was hooked on live music for life. Thanks, Dad! My dad complained for days about his ringing ears, and took the picture below. It's not the best live shot, but it conveys the excitement I felt at this show.

Quiet Riot hit hard times quickly, of course, and I didn't see them again until the summer of 1993 in Columbus, Ohio while supporting Terrified, and from how the band enjoyed playing you'd never know about their past troubles. I last saw them in Kansas City in 1997, and they still put on a great show. Sadly, Kevin Dubrow passed away 2007 from a drug overdose, and he never is given proper credit for both his skills as a singer and for enlightening a whole new generation of metalheads like myself.

Another one of my first concerts was Ratt in 1985 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa with a young Bon Jovi as the opening band. Other shows I saw around this time were Deep Purple and Giuffria, Dio and Rough Cutt, Kiss and Dokken, Bryan Adams and Kim Mitchell, and the legendary 1986 Iowa Jam with Aerosmith, Ted Nugent, Dokken, Metallica, and Armored Saint. Ratt was touring in support of Invasion Of Your Privacy, and Bon Jovi had released 7800º Fahrenheit earlier in the year. Bon Jovi got a huge response from the crowd, and you could tell they would become stars. Ratt blew me away playing all of their killer early material, and their stage setup with ramps and tons of lights was impressive to me. In retrospect, this was probably the best time to see both bands. I have old concert shirts from these early Quiet Riot, Ratt, and Bon Jovi tours - I'll post some pictures if I can ever find the storage box! I thought I was so cool in junior high school with my concert shirts because some pretty girls would always ask me about the Ratt concert.

I didn't see Ratt again until 1997 in Kansas City on their first reunion tour with Stephen Pearcy back singing, and I honestly don't remember much about this show. I used to see Stephen Pearcy and Bobby Blotzer occasionally after shows in Southern California, and they were always very friendly. During the time when there were two versions of Ratt touring, the Stephen Pearcy-led version played at The Rock in Maplewood in late 2001 I believe. I hung out with the band that night backstage and on the bus, and everyone was having fun and in good spirits despite the pending legal issues over the name. This was a great show, and Stephen and the band were in fine form. With a great new album and a stellar lineup, Ratt should be geared up for an outstanding show tonight!

Ratt will be appearing tonight, Friday, May 14 at the Medina Entertainment Center in Medina. Support will come from Knight Crawler.

Ratt Album Review

Ratt - Infestation

Loud & Proud, 2010

8/10

Defying all the odds, Ratt has returned with a vibrant, respectable album. The band is always going to have a hard time recreating the magic of the EP and their first three albums, but Infestation can stand proudly alongside their classic back catalog. This is easily Ratt’s best album since Dancing Undercover, blowing away anything since then. Quiet Riot’s Carlos Cavazo is the latest guitarist alongside Warren DiMartini. His playing fits well with the band and he seems to have helped breathe some new life into Ratt. Infestation leads off with “Eat Me Up Alive”, a track that sounds like prime, classic Ratt. “Lost Weekend” is the other song that old fans can immediately latch onto. The remainder of the album explores a number of different sounds without straying too far from their distinctive style, a problem with Reach For The Sky. A more modern, heavy sound is evident on songs such as “Take A Big Bite” and “As Good As It Gets”, demonstrating that their sound can evolve in good ways. Another group of songs, “Best Of Me” and “A Little Too Much”, and “Don’t Let Go”, again harken back to Ratt’s mid-80s sound. The only real stinkers are the quasi-blues stomp of “Look Out Below” and the weak ballad “Take Me Home”. Infestation sounds better and better with each listen, and will definitely take everyone by surprise. Ratt have managed to write an album that lives up to the legacy of their early albums while sounding fresh and relevant over 20 years later. This is a must-buy for all fans of Ratt.

Look for some classic Ratt and Quiet Riot memorabilia to be posted here soon!

Ratt will be appearing at the Medina Entertainment Center in Medina on Friday, May 14. Support will come from Knight Crawler.