Warrant in 1991 - Warrant in 1995

[ParaDime77]

1991 - Lafayette, Louisiana. Blood, Sweat and Beers Tour - l watched the tour live opening night in Bismarck, ND and the vibe was the same. Palpable. Crowd was pumped and the band’s were working hard. Sometimes l forget how solid Jani was as a singer. Had a great range. When l was a young teen, I thought many other singers were better. Watching this video, you would think the band would assume this popularity would last forever.

https://youtu.be/efLHsN-hw5Q?si=Acd3Fq0iNRuSpDf3

1995 - New York - Ultraphobic Tour. By the sounds of the crowd this is a club show (not certain where exactly.) Band is still employing a keyboard player, Jani is sounding good per usual. Some member changes by this point. Did the others leave by choice or were they on the chopping block to reduce cost? The decline had to be really something for a lot of these bigger groups who had huge success 4 years earlier, working arenas. Playing clubs, low turnout and trying to keep expenses down. Did Warrant have an opener on the Ultraphobic Tou?

https://youtu.be/6PVCQbyK8Jc?si=SSjmnVU8VDe4x5_8

[Tommy2Tone84]

I never thought Jani was very good live. I enjoyed CJ Snare and Pete MAGA Loran on Blood, Sweat and Beers more than I did Jani. I enjoyed Firehouse and Trixter live more than I did Warrant. I’ve never understood the fainting and fawning over Jani on here.


I kinda thought Jani was a piece of shit when he let Steven Sweet go. I’ve enjoyed the band more with Steven and Joey back than I did when Jani was leading the band of scabs for all those years.

[Bono Nettencourt]

I never thought Jani was very good live. I enjoyed CJ Snare and Pete MAGA Loran on Blood, Sweat and Beers more than I did Jani. I enjoyed Firehouse and Trixter live more than I did Warrant. I’ve never understood the fainting and fawning over Jani on here.

Overcompensation from sexually confused dudes who liked a chicks band.

[SW]

I never thought Jani was very good live. I enjoyed CJ Snare and Pete MAGA Loran on Blood, Sweat and Beers more than I did Jani. I enjoyed Firehouse and Trixter live more than I did Warrant. I’ve never understood the fainting and fawning over Jani on here.

Overcompensation from sexually confused dudes who liked a chicks band.

Homophobe running from thread to thread. Confused much?

[Rocker4Real]

I remember Jani going on rants at shows in the late 90s about how they are Glam and proud of it and the other bands ran off.

[Mister Freeze]

Didn't see them in 1991, but caught them a year later right when Dog Eat Dog came out. This was before the album tanked, playing a 5,000-seat radio festival ahead of what was expected to be a big tour. They were great. Super polished. Arena-ready. Saigon Kick opened and had a lot of buzz (and felt like a changing of the guard to come, music and image wise).

Warrant imploded less than a year later. Jani "quit" then came back. Wonder how other shows on that tour went. I'm sure some of you Sludgers saw 'em.

From there, I saw Warrant a bunch of times at House of Blues and other small clubs. Still good, but a touch sloppier. (I think Steven Sweet on drums is the difference there.) Jani was always a good front man. Slowly watched him bloat up over time, whine about the current music scene, play up the underdog role, ask audience members for lighters and cigarettes, do an Eddie Vedder impression during "Cherry Pie", and at one point, show up in a mohawk while playing second fiddle to Dokken at a parking lot hair metal festival.

[MetalSludgeCEO]

I never thought Jani was very good live. I enjoyed CJ Snare and Pete MAGA Loran on Blood, Sweat and Beers more than I did Jani. I enjoyed Firehouse and Trixter live more than I did Warrant. I’ve never understood the fainting and fawning over Jani on here.


I kinda thought Jani was a piece of shit when he let Steven Sweet go. I’ve enjoyed the band more with Steven and Joey back than I did when Jani was leading the band of scabs for all those years.

"""""""""""""""I never thought Jani was very good live.""""""""""""""""

Wrong!

Jani was an absolute KILLER frontman... worked a crowd as good as anyone... whether it was a club of 200 or several thousand!

Jani was great on stage (of course when he wasn't sh!t-faced) but also was relatable, and likeable off stage with the fans.

Not every rock star is likeable off-stage... and we could list a bunch!

$tEvil

[LitaStrauss]

I never thought Jani was very good live. I enjoyed CJ Snare and Pete MAGA Loran on Blood, Sweat and Beers more than I did Jani. I enjoyed Firehouse and Trixter live more than I did Warrant. I’ve never understood the fainting and fawning over Jani on here.


I kinda thought Jani was a piece of shit when he let Steven Sweet go. I’ve enjoyed the band more with Steven and Joey back than I did when Jani was leading the band of scabs for all those years.

"""""""""""""""I never thought Jani was very good live.""""""""""""""""

Wrong!

Jani was an absolute KILLER frontman... worked a crowd as good as anyone... whether it was a club of 200 or several thousand!

Jani was great on stage (of course when he wasn't sh!t-faced) but also was relatable, and likeable off stage with the fans.

Not every rock star is likeable off-stage... and we could list a bunch!

$tEvil

This. 100%.

I have no idea what somebody is looking for in a front man if you don't think Jani was great. Even if somebody doesn't like Warrant, you can't deny his stage presence. This entire board should be shut down if people keep having ridiculous opinions like that.

[PhrozenInferno]

Didn't see them in 1991, but caught them a year later right when Dog Eat Dog came out. This was before the album tanked, playing a 5,000-seat radio festival ahead of what was expected to be a big tour. They were great. Super polished. Arena-ready. Saigon Kick opened and had a lot of buzz (and felt like a changing of the guard to come, music and image wise).

Warrant imploded less than a year later. Jani "quit" then came back. Wonder how other shows on that tour went. I'm sure some of you Sludgers saw 'em.

From there, I saw Warrant a bunch of times at House of Blues and other small clubs. Still good, but a touch sloppier. (I think Steven Sweet on drums is the difference there.) Jani was always a good front man. Slowly watched him bloat up over time, whine about the current music scene, play up the underdog role, ask audience members for lighters and cigarettes, do an Eddie Vedder impression during "Cherry Pie", and at one point, show up in a mohawk while playing second fiddle to Dokken at a parking lot hair metal festival.

Fucking hell man. Brutal trajectory.

[Hair I Go Again]

There were nights where Jani was great. There were nights where he wasn't. To imply that he was always only one or the other is inaccurate.

[greengoblinrulz]

I was also at the 91 kickoff in Bismarck
Always thought Jani was as good as it got "as a frontman" working the crowd

[lesty]

I see warrant open for poison on the flesh and blood tour.
I was a fan of both bands, and really liked the flesh and blood
Record. It was an arena and I was in about the 6th row on the main floor.
I remember Warrant sounding amazing - great sound, right band, well rehearsed and just a great vibe.
Poison came on, and we left half way through their set.
Maybe it was an off night, but they sounded so bad. I was bummed too, because I was excited to hear stuff from their latest album played live.

And it was tough seeing bands go from arenas to clubs in the span of a few years. Hell - even Motley went from selling out arenas to playing clubs on the Corabi tour.

[Kid-Wicked]

I never thought Jani was very good live. I enjoyed CJ Snare and Pete MAGA Loran on Blood, Sweat and Beers more than I did Jani. I enjoyed Firehouse and Trixter live more than I did Warrant. I’ve never understood the fainting and fawning over Jani on here.


I kinda thought Jani was a piece of shit when he let Steven Sweet go. I’ve enjoyed the band more with Steven and Joey back than I did when Jani was leading the band of scabs for all those years.

"""""""""""""""I never thought Jani was very good live.""""""""""""""""

Wrong!

Jani was an absolute KILLER frontman... worked a crowd as good as anyone... whether it was a club of 200 or several thousand!

Jani was great on stage (of course when he wasn't sh!t-faced) but also was relatable, and likeable off stage with the fans.

Not every rock star is likeable off-stage... and we could list a bunch!

$tEvil

This. 100%.

I have no idea what somebody is looking for in a front man if you don't think Jani was great. Even if somebody doesn't like Warrant, you can't deny his stage presence. This entire board should be shut down if people keep having ridiculous opinions like that.

i second/third both of these opinions. jani was great

[War_in_D]

Anyone see Warrant headline a theatre tour in early 1990 with Danger Danger opening? I've always wanted to know more about this. I caught the show in Winnipeg, Canada, with my brother. Best I can recall is that it was January or February, because it was fucking cold.

Anyway, what a fun night it turned out to be. Warrant were on their third single (Big Talk) and were already wildly popular in the US. Maybe not so much yet in Canada, because I bought the tickets late in the day they went on sale and ended up with dead centre, front row seats. We knew nothing of Danger Danger, but they were a great surprise. Ended up buying their album the next day.

Before ending their set, Warrant announced which bar they would be hanging out at after the show. I still regret not going there after...I was a stupid pussy who had to work the next morning.

So, was this a big tour of theatres? Was it a cross-Canada thing? My recollection of that time was that Warrant were opening Motley shows, so this theatre thing must have been brief.

The next chance to see Warrant in Winnipeg was January of 1991, where they were to open for Poison. I was so excited for this pairing. I had never see Poison and thought they were going to blow my mind just like their videos. Well, Warrant got kicked off the tour just before the Winnipeg show and we ended up with Don Dokken. Barf. It was weird, because I loved Dokken proper...but Don by himself just didn't do it for me.

And Poison were terrible the night of the show...

[Tommy2Tone84]

I never thought Jani was very good live. I enjoyed CJ Snare and Pete MAGA Loran on Blood, Sweat and Beers more than I did Jani. I enjoyed Firehouse and Trixter live more than I did Warrant. I’ve never understood the fainting and fawning over Jani on here.


I kinda thought Jani was a piece of shit when he let Steven Sweet go. I’ve enjoyed the band more with Steven and Joey back than I did when Jani was leading the band of scabs for all those years.

"""""""""""""""I never thought Jani was very good live.""""""""""""""""

Wrong!

Jani was an absolute KILLER frontman... worked a crowd as good as anyone... whether it was a club of 200 or several thousand!

Jani was great on stage (of course when he wasn't sh!t-faced) but also was relatable, and likeable off stage with the fans.

Not every rock star is likeable off-stage... and we could list a bunch!

$tEvil

I saw Warrant three times and I have to disagree. I saw them headlining an arena at their absolute peak, I saw them in a theater squashed between Slaughter and Dokken opening for Alice Cooper and I saw them in a dive bar.

I liked Jani’s songs and didn’t mind his voice. But I never thought he was the greatest frontman or even all that good of a frontman and I never thought he was some John Lennon of hair metal.

I saw Poison and Warrant about six months apart in 1991 and it was no contest. Poison were absolutely the better band. As much shit as Bert gets on here, he was a much better frontman and performer than Jani ever was. Let’s not get into comparing Jani to Vince Neil, Dee Snider, Joe Elliott, Jon Bon Jovi, Klaus Meine, Stanley/Simmons, Coverdale, Vestryche, Tom Keifer, Axl, Sebastian, Kip Winger, Dizzy Dean, or even Mark Slaughter at the time. There is no comparison. Jani just wasn’t that good. He was a drunk and
pretty lazy based on what I saw of him over the course of a decade. He was also a whiner when it came to his glam metal past.

I’ll repeat what I said earlier and stand by it: Firehouse and Trixter slayed Warrant on that ‘91 tour.

Firehouse always slayed it live. They kicked ass and took names.

Trixter were rad and alot of fun with great songs. Steve and PJ were great players and sang good backing harmonies. Whilst Pete didn’t have the biggest range I thought he had a cool voice. I remember he and PJ head banging and flailing their hair a lot. Good memories and fun times.

I liked Warrant. I was a fan but they weren’t as good as alot of other bands at the time.

[Tommy2Tone84]

I remember Jani going on rants at shows in the late 90s about how they are Glam and proud of it and the other bands ran off.

I remember that too and he was FOS