Ratt & Winger

[TRrEiTxIxRiE DTrash]

Soto has postponed the Aussie shows now... According to Blabbermouth a touring commitment came up with conflicting dates so they're gonna change it to new dates after his current ones are all over or something like that.

So excited for Ratt though!

 

[Icarus]

Wow. Sydney show was fucking incredible. I loved Ratt, but Winger stole the show for me.

God I love Kip and Reb even more now.

 

[TRrEiTxIxRiE DTrash]

Had a blast!
Have truckie's arm now from driving 10 hours each way in the sweltering hot sun but it was fun!!!

Arrived in the Cross about 3pm yesterday, easily got a motel room (plus parking space) without a booking.... Accomodation + Petrol combined cost us under $100 each so it was a super-cheap trip!!

Met Tonci & Andy and the gang at some pool bar near the venue with cheap drinks which was great, had a blast catching up with them and good to see quite a few people making the trek from other cities to see the show!

Head Inc.... In my opinion too abrasive sounding for that bill (and for my tastes).
Winger - awesome! Great setlist and I heard they hadnt been playing Hungry & Miles Away lately in America but they cranked 'em out here! Kip sounded great and the band played great. Only downfalls were that it was kinda weird when he went to sit down next to the drums to play keys during some songs, and they weren't all that interesting to watch (which as ya know is kinda important for me).
Ratt - awesome too! Everyone knows Pearcy ain't a "good singer" so there'll always be differing opinions there but I love his voice and he sang about as well as I expected and I thought he sounded cool, plus he was 10 times the frontman Kip was and also in much better shape, kinda just looked like an older version of what he looked like in the 1988 Reach For The Sky videos, still slim & trim and with hair even longer than back then but in the exact same style, and had cool pants on. Don't wanna sound like a queer or nothin' though... Warren played great and he is one of my fave guitar players of all time. Robbie & John were just kinda 'there' but did the job well enough, though I've never liked Corabi. The setlist? Amazing. All the hits you'd expect plus a good sprinkling of much less expected tracks... 3 off the EP and a few 'album tracks' I didnt expect such as the underrated "City To City" which I LOVE, "Dangerous But Worth The Risk", stuff like that! And the entire setlist was 1983-91, most recent song being "Nobody Rides For Free" off the Point Blank soundtrack.
Overall - great trip, great nite, 2 great sets from 2 great bands. Very impressed and now can't wait for tomorrow nite to go "Back For More" in my hometown!

 

[TRrEiTxIxRiE DTrash]

Oh yeah, and my pick for the best band? Ratt... But it was close. Winger were more of a class act musically & vocally, but were a miss on alot of other things. Ratt wins for me - much more active stage presence & frontmanship, looked better, better setlist (plus I like Ratt's songs better), and Warren & Reb were both equally great on guitar but I prefer Warren's playing. Overall Ratt had the whole package delivered better, despite the rhythm guitars & bass being a bit muddy at times and the power being blown during Lack Of Communication!

 

[TRrEiTxIxRiE DTrash]

Alright 3 posts in a row haha.

Melbourne show last night was AWESOME!! I thought Sydney was good but last night blew me away!! Firstly, Winger completely blew me away last night. Couldn't believe how good they were... Better than Ratt's set in Sydney (and as above I preferred Ratt in Sydney). The sound was better last night, band got more into it (probably coz the crowd was too), and they were just *perfect*.

But then Ratt came on, and they were actually better than Winger again and waaaaaaay better than in Sydney I thought! 10 times the energy on stage, Stephen & Warren were moving around heaps more and swapping sides and never really stayed in one spot, the sound was so much clearer and the band were really tight, setlist was the same except I think City To City got moved to an earlier spot.. And again I think they just fed off the crowd's energy alot more in Melbourne (and alot more than Winger did too, because Winger don't play as much to the crowd as Ratt do). Big party vibe for the Ratt set and it was excellent!!

I'll try to roughly remember the setlists....

Ok with Winger there was a few new songs I had no idea what they were, plus a drum solo & guitar solo, but the songs I knew were:

Blind Revolution Mad
Eazy Come, Eazy Go
Down Incognito
Hungry
Miles Away
Rainbow In The Rose
Headin' For A Heartbreak
Can't Get Enuff
Madelaine
Seventeen

The Ratt setlist roughly close to the order was:

Sweet Cheater
Walkin' The Dog
Dangerous But Worth The Risk
I'm Insane
You Think You're Tough
City To City
Slip Of The Lip
Wanted Man
Nobody Rides For Free
Lack Of Communication
Way Cool Junior
Back For More
Lovin' You Is A Dirty Job
Lay It Down
You're In Love
Body Talk
Round & Round

 

[Icarus]

Damn I wish I could have gone to the Melb show too