I have had the pleasure of going on the first three Monsters of Rock Cruises and I am currently booked on the upcoming fourth one in April 2015. One band that I am still surprised about their absence on the cruise so far has been Warrant. They have all the qualifications – American, MTV stars, late 80’s/early 90’s sound and they are still touring. Maybe there is a story behind why that I have yet to learn. However, I did get my chance to see them live on Sunday September 7th, 2014 as they pulled into the Western Fair in London, Ontario for a one off Canadian date.
Local band Nail started things off as they began to attract the fair goers towards the concert stage area. By the time Warrant arrived the place was packed. My sister Donna accompanied me to the park. She then asked me the infamous question us concert freaks get all the time. “So, how many originals left in the band?” I was quick to mention that the band consisted of the four original players from the heyday of their fame - Joey Allen and Eric Turner on twin lead guitars, Jerry Dixon on bass and Steven Sweet on the drums. The only replacement was at lead vocals once greatly held by the late Jani Lane who passed away in 2011. In the case of Warrant it is hard to complain about a band that wants to continue on despite the fact a member has passed on. I DO in fact have issues where bands have all original members but can’t get along long enough to give the fans what they really want – especially at this stage of our lives and theirs. Skid Row, Queensryche, Great White, Journey, the list goes on and on. (Don’t get me wrong – some of these newer renditions are pretty damn good.....but!). End of rant.
New on vocals since 2008 is none other than the great Robert Mason (Lynch Mob, Big Cock etc.). He truly has a great stage presence and really engages the crowd. He has a very distinctive voice but can pull off the lighter ballads such as "Heaven", "I Saw Red" and "Sometimes She Cries" with perfection. Although their set was short and sweet, clocking in around 1 hour and 15 minutes they managed to squeeze in all the faves and a few from their latest album Rockaholic. Warrant has the claim to fame in my books of having one of my all-time favorite songs from that era (or any other) in “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” and one of my least favorite songs “Cherry Pie”. This show I heard them both live back to back to end the night and in between snapping pics I was actually snapping my fingers and fist pumping to the latter.
The power of loud, live rock and roll can do that to a person.
Here are a few pics from Warrant and openers Nail from the event.....enjoy!!
Thanks Brian
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