Why is their most recent greatest hits album called Tell the World when it doesn’t have that song on it?

Nostalgia tours are always a dicey thing.  You always run the risk of seeing a group where someone (usually the singer) has completely lost it, making you embarrassed to be there.  This is why I was on the fence about seeing Ratt and Extreme at the outdoors Crossroads venue in Kansas City this past Thursday.  I think it was the summer of 2001 when I went to go see a “Voices of Metal” show at the Missouri State Fair that had Stephen Pearcy in the lineup.  It was bad - possibly the worst show I have ever seen.

On the other hand I saw Extreme twice during their heyday and they were really good.  I don’t think I would have gone to just see Ratt, but the chance to see Extreme again convinced me.

The venue itself isn’t too bad.  It’s attached to a restaurant with a great beer selection so I was able to grab a piece of pizza and a beer before the show started.  I think I read somewhere that the concert area holds around 1500 people, so it’s a decent size.  I would estimate around 700 people were there that night.

One of the interesting things about these ‘hair metal’ shows is that you get a lot of people dressing up like they did 20-25 years ago with varying results.  A few guys still had their long hair and the women brought out their tight fitting outfits and ultra-high heels.  The floor of the venue is covered with wood chips so it was amusing to watch them try to walk with their heels on.  The other thing is that a few people brought their kids which I always hate - it reeks of a dad trying to prove to his kids how cool he is.

Something nice about Crossroads - things were priced incredibly reasonable.  Sodas were $2.00, my slice of pizza was $3.75, beer was $3.00.  I’m so used to being screwed when I go anywhere these days it’s nice to see something like this.

Anyway, the show started around 8:00 with openers Swirl, a hard rock band from LA and whose sound fit in nicely with the rest of the nice.  They were still a little rough around the edges, but they had a lot of good songs.  They were good enough to warrant picking up the album.

They played maybe around 40 minutes and after a quick stage setup Extreme took the stage.  Despite the relatively small size of the crowd, they put on an incredibly good show.  Their sound was great and they put a lot of effort into putting on a good show.  Gary Cherone’s voice still sounds as good as it used to and Nuno hasn’t lost a step in his playing.  Based on my memory, here’s what they played (not in order):

Decadence Dance
It(’s a Monster)
Star
More Than Words
Play With Me
Rest in Peace
Am I Ever Gonna Change
Cupid’s Dead
Hole Hearted
Take Us Alive
Get the Funk Out/Wanna Be Startin Something

Pretty good set list and the highlight was the cover of “Wanna Be Startin Something” at the end of the set.  It’s one of those things that wasn’t expected and the band just nailed the song.  ”Take Us Alive” was another unexpected but great choice since it’s probably the best track on their latest album.

Extreme’s set went a little over an hour and Ratt went on stage.  The first couple of songs (”Tell the World” and I don’t recall the other) were really rough.  Stephen Pearcy’s voice sounded terrible and it was down low in the mix.  However, after that rough start the sound improved quite a bit.  That being said, the sound didn’t get that much better.  The band as a whole was pretty sloppy and Pearcy’s voice is in pretty rough shape.

Some of the songs I remember them playing:

Tell the World
Lay It Down
City to City
I Want a Woman

They also played the entire Out of the Cellar album in order, except for saving “Round and Round” for last.  Their entire set lasted about an hour and a half.  Their performance wasn’t as bad as I expected, but not as good as the last time I saw them as a band (maybe around 1999 opening for Poison).

I’m glad I went, but I doubt I’ll be going to see Ratt again unless they have another good opener.  It’s too bad because they have a lot of great songs and there’s potential there for a great show.