Ratt come back for more

Two decades ago rock clubs and concert venues around the world reverberated to the thunder of American glam metal bands like Ratt.

Men with big hair who wore make up and played their guitars loud and fast seemed to have the world in the palms of their hands.

But then fashions changed when grunge wiped the smile off the face of good-time metal.

Which makes it all the more pleasing to report that in 2008 groups like Ratt, Motley Crue and Poison all still treading the boards with their feel-good rock.

Sure, not all are filling the stadiums of old, but last night at JB's, Steven Pearcy and co brought along their own brand of Ratt 'n' Roll, harking back to the early days of the sleazy clubs on Los Angeles' famed Sunset Strip.

For a band that has sold more than 18 million records there was no shortage of classic US 80s hits, including Round And Round, Back For More and Way Cool Junior, Warren DeMartini's guitar work endlessly rhythmic and inventive, Pearcy the pouting, preening frontman

The hair wasn't as big and the make-up was restricted to a bit of eyeliner, but Ratt, celebrating their 25th anniversary, barely let up for a second as they pounded through a set leaning heavily towards their earlier years.

For some of the 20-somethings in the JB's crowd it would have been their first taste of Ratt live. For those of us who used to attend the metal nights at the Midland's famed Highwayman club of old it was as if the last 20 years never happened.