Blood, Sweat and Beers, 21 years later

Last night, I went to see Trixter/Firehouse/Warrant on their 21 year reunion tour.  I had a great time, but the evening was full of memories - good, bad and other.

Trixter... I have kept in my brain for 20+ years. Their self-titled album from 1990 was the anthem for my late teens, and much of my 20s. I love that album as much as I love Slippery When Wet. I think, quite possibly, I do have a thing for Jersey boys. *sigh*

Review of the show:
Trixter --
- Impressed that Pete Loran can still hit those notes, and still has a great voice. I still remember him 21 years ago, limping around on stage in a cast from a dirt-bike incident.
- Steve Brown and PJ Farley apparently hit puberty since their first tour, and cannot hit those notes.
- PJ Farley has, quite possibly, the most impressive abs I've seen in a LONG time.
- Mark Scott is as fun as ever
- Thanked Jani Lane for making the original tour such a success

Firehouse --
-- WOW, CJ Snare!! After all those years, and at 52 yrs of age, you have a hell of a voice!!
- They should have been the headliner
- I was impressed how many songs from FireHouse that I remembered and still loved
-- I do not, however, remember that CJ was also the keyboard player.
- Did not mention Jani Lane

Warrant -
-- The new lead singer is like David Lee Roth and Jani Lane had a love child
-- He did Jani proud, I think, but did not thank Jani (see above)
- Isn't the same.
-- Really, an album called Rockaholic?!?!? That's... wrong... on so many levels.
-- I will never hear Heaven again and not want to cry.
-- Jerry Dixon, still, and forever, looks like he doesn't want to be there

Review of the venue:
-- Small
-- Weird, quirky location in the middle of nowhere (Chesaning, MI anyone?)
-- Volunteer staff? Odd. Friendly though
-- Buggy
-- CHEAP. $8 each for 8 drink wine tasting?
-- HOT. How can something 5 hours north of me be 15 degrees hotter?
-- Massive technical issues. CJ's mic even went out, Pete's did at one point, and in general, too many technical issues

All in all, Trixter and Firehouse didn't disappoint... Warrant was good, but will never be the same to me without Jani. I would have been fine, had Jani still been alive... but with him gone, so much of it just brought back memories.

I ended the weekend by seeing Rock of Ages again with my traveling companion, the man who introduced me to Trixter 22 years ago. It seemed... fitting.