Review for June 23, 1987
The reviewer really seemed to like them!
Click to enlarge in a new window
RATT'S
HEAVY METAL TOO HEAVY TO BE FUN
CONCERT
REVIEW
by CARRIE STETLER,
The Morning Call
Five thousand heavy-metal fans came to the Allentown Fairgrounds last night to worship at the altar of the Los Angeles rock gods of Ratt. Ratt has written some dark, slick, wall-of-amplifier songs about different modes of lust. Many accuse the band of overproduction, but on vinyl, Steve Piercy's snarly vocals and the sheer weight of the band's sound can be impressive.
In concert, however, it isn't. In concert Ratt is leaden, performers stomping about the stage without grace or humor and playing with a commanding force that is more tiresome than it is powerful. As far as stage presence goes, Piercy, Ratt's rugged lead singer, seems to model himself after hard- rock dieties like Robert Plant, though Plant, in the heyday of Led Zeppelin, moved with lithe, overblown sensuality while Piercy is all stony posturing and lip-pursing. With his long dark curls and muscular body, he looked like a Roman sculpture brought only halfway to life. It seemed an effort for him to gyrate his hips, which look more like they are carved out of granite than flesh and bone.
Ratt created an unappealing distance between themselves and the audience. Piercy's stage patter sounded vain and removed, and he frequently tried to coax the audience in to sing-alongs despite the fact that Ratt's songs aren't really the kind you'd want to sing along with and even if you did, there isn't a high school student alive who could duplicate the pitch of Piercy's surly, nasal shriek. These antics, combined with turgid drum, guitar and special effects solos made you feel like you needed a wrecking ball to get to the heart and soul of this performance.
On the other hand Poison, the opening band for Ratt, has two singles out right now - ''I Want Action'' and ''Talk Dirty to Me'' - that are tailor made for crowd sing-alongs. Lead singer Bret Michael's hammy congeniality was more than enough invitation for many fans to belt out a few choruses. Poison, while not as smooth-edged as Ratt (their live performance is loosely rambunctious and almost borders on sloppy), displayed a playful warmth and spontaneity that made their set much more enjoyable than Ratt's.
Michael rolled around on the ground and tossed his hair; the drummer occasionally donned sunglasses and different hats and the bassist sat at the foot of the stage grinning, smoking, winking and chatting with audience members. They looked and sounded more like a flashy, energetic garage pop band while Ratt came off as a bunch of serious, excessive heavy-metal showmen.
