Slaughter and Stephen Pearcy @ Braun’s Concert Cove, Akron, New York 8-2-13

Braun’s Concert Cove, a venue located on the outskirts of Buffalo, NY put together a great package for music enthusiasts from the 1980’s metal scene this past Friday night. The engagement featured Slaughter, who are currently doing some sporadic dates throughout the US and Canada, and on this date only, Stephen Pearcy of Ratt opened up the show.

Pearcy, who recently came out with an autobiography titled “Sex, Drugs, Ratt & Roll: My Life in Rock,”treated fans to a rare solo show. Pearcy really let the music do the talking as he said very little in between songs. At times he struggled with his range but for the most part knew his limitations and delivered the songs as close to how the fans remembered them. He was having fun and seemed to enjoy the positive feedback he was receiving from the crowd. A wide selection of Ratt songs were played and a Judas Priest cover was thrown in for good measure. My only beef with his set is that I’m a big Arcade fan (his side project in the mid 1990’s away from Ratt) and only one cut made it into the set list here. I wish he could have dropped off a few more Ratt songs for Arcade but otherwise, I would have to say it was a solid set from Mr. Ratt & Roll himself, Stephen Pearcy.

The headliners, Slaughter, waited forever to take the stage for some reason. The city has an ordinance in place for an 11pm curfew and with the band taking the stage at 10:15, they were going to test that limit for sure. Led by original members, vocalist Mark Slaughter and bassist Dana Strum, the band jump started the set with “Wildlife.” They sounded a lot better than the last time I seen them a few years back.

On just the entertainment factor alone, seeing both drummer Zoltan Chaney and bassist Dana Strum go completely berserk on stage makes witnessing a Slaughter show an interesting and memorable experience. Mark Slaughter donned the 6-string for “Spend my Life” and “Real Love.”

Again, it must be noted due to the time the band went on, at 11:00pm, they were told they had to wrap up and had only one more song to play, so they decided to spilt the 2 biggest songs they recorded “Fly to the Angels/Up All Night” into one. I must admit, the songs flowed seamlessly into one another as they did about half of each. It was disappointing that the band didn’t manage their time better and had to rush through those songs that everybody came to see them perform.

It was a nice double bill though and Brauns’ Concert Cove did a nice job on booking this one.

Stephen Pearcy Set List:

Lay it Down (Ratt song)
You’re in Love (Ratt song)
Lack of Communication (Ratt song)
Wanted Man (Ratt song)
Slip of the Lip (Ratt song)
Dancing with the Angels (Arcade song)
Way Cool (Ratt song)
Sweet Cheater (Ratt song)
U Got It
I’m Insane (Ratt song)
You Think You’re Tough (Ratt song)
Body Talk (Ratt song)
Headed to the Highway (Judas Priest cover)
Back for More (Ratt song)
Round and Round (Ratt song)