Poison at Madison Square Garden 3/20/87 VIDEO

[Sleek]

Wowowowow. This is the only first tour video I have seen. It looks like dogshit, but this was the Look What the Cat Dragged in tour at Madison Square Garden when they were opening for Ratt.

https://youtu.be/0Vv415OOuL4

...and MOST importantly for this as a historical document, I am visible in it I run out at 4:39 to wipe up some shit off the stage...

I mean, the band is on fire too, but that is some FIRST-RATE stage towelling.

[Vince Neil Eats]

Thanks for posting that! That was a fun watch. Such a raw band….even to this day.

[Brainy Lane]

A+ job on the stage wiping!!!!

The video has Ratt’s opening song.
Really cool stage setup and a lot of energy from Pearcy. Juan is ridiculous on stage. Lol

[AlexVonHaig]

Reminded me of Kramer as a US Open ball boy

[Black Stuff]

Reminded me of Kramer as a US Open ball boy

[Black Stuff]

A+ job on the stage wiping!!!!

The video has Ratt’s opening song.
Really cool stage setup and a lot of energy from Pearcy. Juan is ridiculous on stage. Lol

the sidejuander lives hahahhhaha

[HueyRamone]

I mean, the band is on fire too, but that is some FIRST-RATE stage towelling.

Ratt was able to headline Madison Square Garden?

[Anthrax442]

Fuck yeah, wipe that stage.

Regarding that Ratt clip at the end, I don't think I've ever seen Pearcy that animated. I wonder if having Poison open really pushed them to show some more energy.

[MetalSludgeCEO]

Wowowowow. This is the only first tour video I have seen. It looks like dogshit, but this was the Look What the Cat Dragged in tour at Madison Square Garden when they were opening for Ratt.

https://youtu.be/0Vv415OOuL4

...and MOST importantly for this as a historical document, I am visible in it I run out at 4:39 to wipe up some shit off the stage...

I mean, the band is on fire too, but that is some FIRST-RATE stage towelling.

Sleek... sometimes my brain is like a sieve but... I do recall your posts about being on the road with them.

Were you on the tour when they supported Quiet Riot, late summer - early fall 1986?

I was at the final show, which was in Steven's Point Wisconsin, at a College of sorts... Great White was supposed to be on the bill as well, but did not play.

It was a local, Poison, and QR... Poison killed it, and Bret went off on QR telling the crowd how they were getting F'd every night, etc...

The next day QR played Milwaukee, and while I did not go, some friends did and said Poison did not play as they were kicked off the tour.

If you were there... any scoop on what took place leading up to that final show?

$tEvil

[Sleek]

I was there.

The band that was on the bill but did not play should have been Keel. They were on the tour before Poison, and we saw their last show when we came out, the night before the first show with Poison. (At the Boathouse in Virginia). They were like: "See ya. Have a great time on the tour, wink wink" and then fucked off for home.

...probably because the tour was miserable. Quiet Riot had just released QRIII, which was a failure in pretty much every way an album can be. Attendance was...not great, and the kids pretty much just didn't care for QR, with a lot of them leaving after Poison every night.

This led to QR, or at least DuBrow (I never got a sense the other guys much gave a fuck) fucking around with shit, first trying to hone QR's show with more lighting cues and bullshit or whatever, then by restricting Poison's access to lights, sound, whether we could hang a backdrop, etc. We would joke that it would get down to one light and one mic at some point.

Still, the crowds reacted to Poison better...so over time it got to the FUCK YOU point, which was what happened. QR just didn't have much to offer, because Poison gained nothing from playing with them, and figured we were better off headlining clubs (which was pretty much what the QR tour had turned into anyway) and getting 100% of everything.

I used to have a Stevens Point Beer sticker on one of my guitars for decades.

[Velvis]

Fuck yeah, wipe that stage.

Regarding that Ratt clip at the end, I don't think I've ever seen Pearcy that animated. I wonder if having Poison open really pushed them to show some more energy.

I don't think I have ever seen old school live RATT footage, wow was Juan spazzy and holy shit Robbin is like a foot and a half taller than all of them.

[MetalSludgeCEO]

I was there.

The band that was on the bill but did not play should have been Keel. They were on the tour before Poison, and we saw their last show when we came out, the night before the first show with Poison. (At the Boathouse in Virginia). They were like: "See ya. Have a great time on the tour, wink wink" and then fucked off for home.

...probably because the tour was miserable. Quiet Riot had just released QRIII, which was a failure in pretty much every way an album can be. Attendance was...not great, and the kids pretty much just didn't care for QR, with a lot of them leaving after Poison every night.

This led to QR, or at least DuBrow (I never got a sense the other guys much gave a fuck) fucking around with shit, first trying to hone QR's show with more lighting cues and bullshit or whatever, then by restricting Poison's access to lights, sound, whether we could hang a backdrop, etc. We would joke that it would get down to one light and one mic at some point.

Still, the crowds reacted to Poison better...so over time it got to the FUCK YOU point, which was what happened. QR just didn't have much to offer, because Poison gained nothing from playing with them, and figured we were better off headlining clubs (which was pretty much what the QR tour had turned into anyway) and getting 100% of everything.

I used to have a Stevens Point Beer sticker on one of my guitars for decades.

Ahh, interesting...

I had only just a short time before this heard of Poison, as they got a few little blurbs in Rock Scene, Faces, etc... but my friends and I were definitely looking forward to seeing them, not QR... which in the end, I barely remember the QR set.

Once I arrived with my buddies and my GF and her friends, there were a few hot girls handing out Poison flyers when we walked in the door. Of course, I immediately started to eye a brunette in an orange jump-suit... and once my GF ran off with her friends, I started rapping to the girl, who told me she was with the band, from California and her name was Danielle.

We then watch the Poison show... and my first thought was, "These guys are like Motley meets Van Halen, only younger" and I dug their show.

After the Poison show ends, my buddies and I are waiting for QR to come on, and my GF comes up, "Hey, we met the band... Rikki is so cool..." blah, blah, blah.

She then tells me, "I told him I need another pass for my friend", and Rikki asked her; "Is your friend hot?", and my GF says: "Yes! Totally hot!", so he gives her the extra pass.

So now she drags me back-stage and walks up to Rikki and says: "Hey, here is my Hot friend", and Rikki looks at me like; "huh?" Lol.

Now the twist...

We're all standing around talking back-stage and suddenly the hot girl named Danielle in the orange jump-suit comes up to Rikki, and we're all chatting.

It turns out, Danielle is Rikki's GF, and my GF (Jolane) is the one who got me the pass, by flirting with Rikki, all the while, I was flirting with his GF handing out flyers! What are the odds? Lol.

After the show, Rikki actually invited me, my GF and a few of us other locals back to his Motel room, and it was a tiny little dive Motel for sure. We all hung out for a few hours until the wee hours of the morning, and Danielle at some point says to Rikki; "He favors Bret a lot"... ha! The beginning of the curse for what it's worth!

We also asked Rikki about the fact that Bret was telling QR to "F#@k off" over the P.A. at the end of their set, as we weren't sure if there was real bad blood or if it was part of the show, like a sketch or something... and he said; "Nope! They've been screwing with us nightly, cutting our sound-check, or changing our set time last minute" etc..

He also said he wasn't sure what was going to happen next... but... we all know... they went home, shot a new video for the next single, and it was off to the races!

Do you remember Danielle?

$tEvil

[Sleek]

Yes. She was gorgeous and a complete sweetheart.

Rikki was...a juggler tho. He had like, 5 steady GFs, all of whom were super hot in different ways. One was a rocker chick, one was sort of Euro-glam, one was blonde, etc. I swear to god sometimes the door would be closed 30 seconds after one left and the next showed up.

He had fantastic taste. They were all great people as well as just being hot.

I would have been at that same hotel somewhere...cannot remember if Robbie was still out at that point, but he may have been there somewhere too.

[Chip Z'Hoy]

This thread is cool! Enjoying reading it. Not adding anything, we just don't have heart icons to hand out.

[Mister Freeze]

I'm handing out hearts too.

I can read about Sleek and Stevil playing rounds of "do you remember that one hot girl?" all day long.

[Tommy2Tone84]

I concur Chip and Freeze’s sentiments. I could read this kind of stuff all day.

Can this become a regular thing? Story time with Sleek and Steve.

That QRIII tape had two good songs on it. Condition Critical wasn’t any better.

I had lost interest in QR by 1987

[Whatever Happened To…]

Also loving this thread!

[Earl Skakel]

Fuck yeah, wipe that stage.

Regarding that Ratt clip at the end, I don't think I've ever seen Pearcy that animated. I wonder if having Poison open really pushed them to show some more energy.

What song was that? I didn't recognize it

[MetalSludgeCEO]

Yes. She was gorgeous and a complete sweetheart.

Rikki was...a juggler tho. He had like, 5 steady GFs, all of whom were super hot in different ways. One was a rocker chick, one was sort of Euro-glam, one was blonde, etc. I swear to god sometimes the door would be closed 30 seconds after one left and the next showed up.

He had fantastic taste. They were all great people as well as just being hot.

I would have been at that same hotel somewhere...cannot remember if Robbie was still out at that point, but he may have been there somewhere too.

I do remember that C.C. was VERY sick... like the Flu or something.

But, that did not stop him from putting on a show... and one thing I recall is C.C. running full speed and throwing himself into the guitar cabinets knocking them over...

The crew would come out, stack them up and the next song, C.C. would stage-dive (with guitar on mid song) shoulder first into the same stack knocking it over again! Ha!

I also recall meeting Bobby and Bret for about 5 seconds but they were not focused on random 'Rocker Guys', but rather,,. the local girls, lol

Bret walked off the bus and I saw he had like 3 cans of beer in his hands. and I said; "Hey, give me a beer", and he said; "This is all I got!"

Why I asked for a beer, I have NO clue, as I didn't drink, ha! But... perhaps I was trying to make small talk and hang out like a nerd.

$tEvil

[daveg]

Fuck yeah, wipe that stage.

Regarding that Ratt clip at the end, I don't think I've ever seen Pearcy that animated. I wonder if having Poison open really pushed them to show some more energy.

What song was that? I didn't recognize it

Looking for Love from DU

That was some amazing footage of both bands. Would love to see more of the Ratt show as they looked to be on Fire as well.

This tour was one of my biggest tour "regrets" to not make it to. They were playing in Binghamton, Ny and my parents refused to let us go.

As for QR, I can't believe they even tried to headline for the QRIII album. They had 2 flops in a row, nobody thought they were cool in any kind of way.....and if Keel wants nothing to do with you, then you have some problems

[FreddyFender]

As for QR, I can't believe they even tried to headline for the QRIII album. They had 2 flops in a row, nobody thought they were cool in any kind of way.....and if Keel wants nothing to do with you, then you have some problems

Dubrow's ego.

But yeah, that's a great point. Could have let a bigger band absorb most of the production costs and trued to win back fans.

Instead they spent a truckload of money on the QRIII album and videos, of which they had to pay back Pasha records out of the 10 cents per album or whatever they were getting, and then promote it playing club-sized venues. Disaster.

[FreddyFender]

As for QR, I can't believe they even tried to headline for the QRIII album. They had 2 flops in a row, nobody thought they were cool in any kind of way.....and if Keel wants nothing to do with you, then you have some problems

Dubrow's ego.

But yeah, that's a great point. Could have let a bigger band absorb most of the production costs and trued to win back fans.

Instead they spent a truckload of money on the QRIII album and videos, of which they had to pay back Pasha records out of the 10 cents per album or whatever they were getting, and then promote it playing club-sized venues. Disaster.

[pieceofme]

I would never have guessed that guy running on stage at 4:39 would become a Brit Pop fan.

[Sleek]

Dubrow's ego.

But yeah, that's a great point. Could have let a bigger band absorb most of the production costs and trued to win back fans.

Instead they spent a truckload of money on the QRIII album and videos, of which they had to pay back Pasha records out of the 10 cents per album or whatever they were getting, and then promote it playing club-sized venues. Disaster.

I meannnn, this was the end of their road. They did like 10 more shows then kicked DuBrow out of the band, only 2 American shows after Steven's Point, then some Japan/Alaska/Hawaii.

According to setlist. FM, they only played 32 gigs for the entire QRIII tour, so somebody realized it was fucking over with after those Poison dates.

[lesty]

Wowowowow. This is the only first tour video I have seen. It looks like dogshit, but this was the Look What the Cat Dragged in tour at Madison Square Garden when they were opening for Ratt.

https://youtu.be/0Vv415OOuL4

...and MOST importantly for this as a historical document, I am visible in it I run out at 4:39 to wipe up some shit off the stage...

I mean, the band is on fire too, but that is some FIRST-RATE stage towelling.

Sleek... sometimes my brain is like a sieve but... I do recall your posts about being on the road with them.

Were you on the tour when they supported Quiet Riot, late summer - early fall 1986?

I was at the final show, which was in Steven's Point Wisconsin, at a College of sorts... Great White was supposed to be on the bill as well, but did not play.

It was a local, Poison, and QR... Poison killed it, and Bret went off on QR telling the crowd how they were getting F'd every night, etc...

The next day QR played Milwaukee, and while I did not go, some friends did and said Poison did not play as they were kicked off the tour.

If you were there... any scoop on what took place leading up to that final show?

$tEvil

This must have been right before their show in Minneapolis when they got kicked off the tour.
We had tickets to the show specifically to see Poison (which for some reason was booked at a dinner theater in Bloomington called The Carlton instead of a regular music venue). Anyway - we heard the day of the show that poison just gor booted from the tour and we were devastated to just see QR play a lackluster set. Don’t remember if there was a different/new opener or not.

[Sleek]

I would never have guessed that guy running on stage at 4:39 would become a Brit Pop fan.

It's all just guitar pop with anathematic choruses and funny haircuts, innit?

[FreddyFender]

I meannnn, this was the end of their road.

No - it was the beginning.

[Sleek]

Oh come on...when your band is too grisly for even Chuck Wright, it's over

[FreddyFender]

I just looked to see if the Shortino QR lineup ever played any shows outside of Japan, and found this fucking GEM.

Shows played
Japan - 6
Columbia - 3
Guam - 1

[Earl Skakel]

Fuck yeah, wipe that stage.

Regarding that Ratt clip at the end, I don't think I've ever seen Pearcy that animated. I wonder if having Poison open really pushed them to show some more energy.

What song was that? I didn't recognize it

Looking for Love from DU

That was some amazing footage of both bands. Would love to see more of the Ratt show as they looked to be on Fire as well.

This tour was one of my biggest tour "regrets" to not make it to. They were playing in Binghamton, Ny and my parents refused to let us go.

As for QR, I can't believe they even tried to headline for the QRIII album. They had 2 flops in a row, nobody thought they were cool in any kind of way.....and if Keel wants nothing to do with you, then you have some problems

Thanks I just couldn't make it out. I would love to hear a RATT Live Album from say 84-87, there has to be a decent soundboard quality of that era right?