Simon Rushworth
Ratt – Stage One, December 4 2009
It wasn’t until we saw Micky Rourke dancing around a deserted bar to Round And Round, during a classic scene from The Wrestler, that we remembered just how much we warmed to Ratt in the 80s. So maybe they tried just a little too hard to ape Def Leppard’s Pyromania and Whitesnake’s 1987 but you’ve got to admire their effort – and their songs.
These boys were prolific at their peak and, for the most part, quality wasn’t diluted as a result of quantity. When you’ve sold almost 20 million records worldwide the prospect of playing Pontins in Prestatyn could leave you feeling slightly underwhelmed but Stephen Pearcy and co. were in cracking form and for the hair metal fans among us this was a real treat.
Back For More – and we were – is a brilliant, brooding AOR anthem and Warren DiMartini delivered his best work of the night keeping the rhythm to this classic cut alive. Way Cool Jnr proved the perfect party hit for a first night festival crowd and by now even the doubters were beginning to get on board. Taking Ratt too seriously has never bee a great idea – taking the band at face value guarantees a night of no-holds-barred rock pleasure.
Lay It Down and You’re In Love, from the double platinum Invasion Of Your Privacy may not register as regularly as Round And Round but both tunes kick proverbial ass – the reverb loop on the latter one of hair metal’s classic sounds. Pearcy still looks and sounds like the genuine article – in fact that voice has become less nasal and more bluesy over the years to give Ratt an extra dimension in the live arena.
And so to the big hit. On this evidence it’s amazing it wasn’t even bigger. Round And Round might have managed to make it as far as number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 25 years ago but it managed to whip Hard Rock Hell III into a frenzy of nostalgic excess. Next year’s new studio album will add credibility to a band still forced to trade on it’s (outstanding) back catalogue and after this expectations must be high.