Brandon, a fan sings Cherry Pie for Jani Lane!
Wow. What can be said. Or better yet, what can’t be said. Here is something. Jani Lane did a great job and we should all be proud of him for keeping it together. That CAN"T be said.
Hey Sludge,
Just wanted to give you the story of what happened at last night’s Metal Mania Stripped show in Lakeland, Fl. Another horrible appearance for Jani Lane and a huge letdown for his fans. But this time I filled in for him! Here’s what happened, this may be long but I want to cover everything –
I’d been reading on the Sludge about what’s been happening with Jani at the recent shows but never in a million years did I think I would see him meltdown first-hand.
Beginning of the show, the MC comes out to announce the first act and Jani Lane immediately walks out on stage followed by his guitarist, Mike. He looks pretty good. It seems like he’s kept off a lot of weight since Celebrity Fit Club. Jani sits at the edge of the stage and turns to Mike and says "How ’bout ‘Uncle Tom’s?’" Jani sings the first couple of words, the stops. The crowd finishes the verse without him. He jumps off the stage and sits down in the first row facing the guitar player. He starts the next verse and it’s the same thing, stops singing and the crowd finishes it for him. After 30 seconds of "Uncle Tom’s", Jani says to Mike, "Let’s do ‘Purple Rain.’" Same thing – sings the first few words of each line, stops and the crowd sings the rest. All of this while he’s sitting in the front row giving us a great shot of the back of his head. The crowd now starts to yell at Jani to "FINISH THE SONG!" and begins to boo. Jani jumps on stage halfway through "Purple Rain", turns to the crowd, puts his hands up and mouths the words "That’s it." With that he turns and he exits stage-left, leaving Mike still standing there.
Mike seems to be taking this pretty well – just shaking his head and smiling. He goes up to the mike and says "Before I go, does anyone here have the balls to come up here and sing "Cherry Pie"?
My girlfriend immediately shoves me and tells me to get up there, so me and another guy stand up and work our way to the stage. As soon as I hop up on the stage, Mike kicks into "Cherry Pie". I sang the verses and both me and this other dude sang the choruses. I’ll leave it to other Sludgeaholics to tell you whether we sounded good or not, but I had a blast. The crowd seemed to get a huge kick out of it and went nuts when we finished the song. I shook hands with Mike and he thanked me for getting up there.
The rest of the show was great, Kip Winger and Reb Beach were next and Kip made a comment at one point apologizing for Jani saying "He’s a good guy, he’s just got some problems he’s gotta work out. But he’s a good guy." Kip then dedicated "Rainbow in the Rose" to Mike, Jani’s guitarist. It seemed like everyone felt bad for Mike and every act made at least one comment about "this tour not coming to an end soon enough."
Stephen Pearcy was next and at one point during his set the drummer from Firehouse and Kip Winger join him on stage to do a cover of Zeppelin’s "Ramble On."
Firehouse put on a great set, as usual, and Don Dokken closed the show. Dokken and Reb Beach played a really good set. Reb went through about 4 guitar changes from breaking string after string, which became a running joke through the set. All the members of each act (except Jani) joined Don and Reb on stage for an extended jam of "It’s Not Love."
At one point during the show I ran into Mike (Janis guitarist) in the lobby and talked with him for a few minutes. He was a really cool guy and thanked me again for getting on stage. He didn’t seem to know what Jani’s problem was. He doesn’t see Jani until it’s time to walk out on stage, if he shows up at all. What Jani does before the show is anyone’s guess. He did say that the tour started off really well, but, because of all the bullshit, it seems that Jani’s been moved up to opening act. The meet and greet afterwards was cool. Don Dokken was a really nice guy, as were Bill Leverty, Kip Winger, Reb Beach and Stephen Pearcy and a few of the other band members.
Even though it was fun to get up a sing "Cherry Pie" I was still extremely disappointed with Jani. I’ve seen him with Warrant a dozen times and always had a great time. Why he’s pulling this stunt at these shows I have no idea but I’d love to find out. Drugs, alcohol, a divorce, anger at something about the tour – who knows. But if anyone does – please let us know because he was the main reason I went to this show and he let everyone down.
So, as Jani Lane would say, "That’s it."
-Brandon (Orlando, Fl)
Here is an e-mail about this show.
—– Original Message —–
From: Shane
Sent: Monday, November 21, 2005 8:12 AM
Subject: Jani Lane Metal Mania Tour-Lakeland, FL
I went to the Metal Mania tour in
Lakeland, FL on Saturday, the last night of the tour. I had seen the all the negative comments about Jani on the tour, but was still hopeful he would actually perform and I was excited to see everybody else on the tour. Jani opened the show. He came out with his guitar player, Michael (super nice guy, I felt sorry for him, having to put up with all of Jani’s shit, I could tell he was embarrassed to be onstage with Jani, cause he knew what was going to happen). Jani came out, sat down on his stool, and said he didn’t feel well, but was going to perform anyway. He then proceeds to chat with Michael about what song to do. They decide on Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Michael starts playing, sounds great. Jani decided not to sing, he couldn’t do it. After starting and stopping several times, Jani jumps down into the front row, sits down and decides he wants to sing Purple Rain. He sang a couple verses, got back on stage, said he was done and walked off. There was maybe 300 people at the show. Can Jani really be this stupid?? People pay $30 to see you perform, you travel on a very nice tour bus and you can’t even sing for 20-25 minutes. That sucks and VH-1 sucks for not keeping Jani’s sorry ass on stage to sing. How can Jani call himself a musician if he can’t even perform at a concert? Jani is a joke and Warrant rocks for getting rid of his sorry ass. Kip Winger was awesome, Stephen Pearcy was great, Firehouse rocked big time and even Don Dokken was great. Over all the show was great except for the crackhead opening the show.
Thanks, Shane in Tampa, FL
These comments below and this picture are from the Wolrd Famous Metal Sludge Gossip Board. We’re pretty sure that this photo has been altered by some photoshop.
Jani Lane according to some fans has given a
real shitty performance on several of the VH1 stops.
Overall a great show, but Jani was up to his old tricks. He came out, said he felt like shit, then started in with Uncle Tom’s Cabin, but tried to get the audience to sing along. Then he sat down in the front row and sang part of Purple Rain. After guitarist Michael Raphael tried to talk him into continuing, Jani just walked off. This was the last night of the tour, so you’d think he could suck it up for six or seven songs.
For those of us looking forward to Jani playing it was a bummer. Many of the other bands made light of Jani during the evening, but it’s obvious Jani has issues. I hope
he straightens out, but I can see why Warrant is touring with Jamie St. James.
Posted By: longhair5.0
Jani Lane is nothing but a self-centered, pampered, slouch.
I know…..he is an alcoholic/addict…..it’s not his fault…BULL SHIT
He probably thinks he did a great job just making it to the last show of the tour.
Jani Lane cares about nobody but himself.
He got a lot of people’s hopes up once again….this time more than ever, thanks to VH1…….and he let everybody down, most of all himself.
He will soon be remorseful…..but, it won’t be for the fans….it will be for his own sorry ass.
Posted By: TexAzHair
Jani is through. He already humiliated himself on national TV and by coming back in less than a year and being right back where he was before just shows that he is hopeless.
Posted By: sparkdaddy
This is from a different Florida show but still it appears as though this also was a let down for the fans. What a shame.
—– Original Message —–
From: Juan
Sent: Monday, November 21, 2005 8:05 AM
Subject: Metal Mania Stripped Tour Stop in Clearwater,FL
Dear Metal Sludge,
I just wanted to give you guys an update on the Stripped tour. Yes, Jani Lane did make an appearance. First off he comes out apologizing that he can’t see anything due to the fact that he lost his glasses. Uncle Tom’s Cabin is played all the way through but has several stops along the way. After the song Jani Lane sits at the edge of the stage and stay there for the remainder of the set. He then played some song called "Soul Searchin" or something that was actually pretty good. The usual Heaven and I Saw Red medley. Then he played Purple Rain and after was mumbling something about wondering if anyone has taken Jesus as his Saviour or something. Closes out with Cherry Pie. He leaves with no goodnight or anything. A little hard to watch but not as bad as I was expecting.
Then came Kip Winger who was awesome but my only complaint was that Reb Beach did absolutely no soloing during the Winger Hits, what the f*ck the solos for the song were amazing. Again no real surprises usual hits. And Again no goodnight they just walk off the stage.
After Winger, Stephen Pearcy came out, by this time the place is about half empty. He comes out and does Ratt songs but also a couple of covers a Edgar Winter song and a Zepplin song (which was way out of his range). They close with the terrible new version of Round And Round. For as long as he has been around the front man rock star thing he still can’t get right.
Firehouse was probably the best band of the night. C.J. is amazing live as is the rest of the band. They played one new song Crash. A tragedy that it will never be heard on the radio. They gave a goodnight, a bow at the end of the set and let us know they would be back later next year. True Class Acts.
Finally Don Dokken. Now as much of an ass bag as he is claimed to be Dokken had really great songs. They were showcased that night and he even played the almost never played song Dream Warriors. Yes his toupe looks ridiculous, yes jis jokes were extremely lame, and yes he is starting to look like an old woman. But none the less he rocked. Also Reb Beach did a solo for each song that really smoked. When its all said and done great set by these guys. A strange side note. Midway through the set Don says "I was asleep for the whole show did Firehouse, Kip, Stephen all kick ass?" What no mention of Jani??
All in All a great night of music the only downers was no meet and greet, Jani Lane was a little embarrassing to watch. From a sincere place Jani, Get well and stay well.
Love the site guys, keep sludgin’
Juan K.
Brandon a "fan" from Florida filling in for Jani Lane!
Kudos to Michael Raphael (guitar) for sticking it out through all of this.
How about an Fu Award & Super Balls at the same time. An FU Award for Jani Lane, and a Super Balls Award for Brandon from Florida who got up and sang "Cherry Pie" after Jani walked off stage again. Again! This is like the 3rd or 4th time in 3 weeks. This tour was another chapter in the story of Jani Lane and his ongoing disrespect for himself and all of those around him. Can it get any worse? And the answer is yes. Promoters will give him another tour, another string of dates that will guarantee him thousands of dollars a night, and he will likely do the same thing over and over again.
Jani was given the support or co-headlining slot in front of Don Dokken for this tour. While Stephan Pearcy, Kip Winger, and the band Firehouse would go on before him every night. After a few episodes of Jani Lane bullshit it is rumored that the other bands wanted Jani off the tour. It is also rumored that they did not want Jani on the "band" bus anymore, and that he was on the "crew" bus. And it seems to be fact that Jani was reduced to opening the show and going on first every night after his stupidity got the best of him.
P.S. Rumored usually equals the fucking truth!
What a joke, what a waste, and what a fucking asshole. Oddly enough it’s almost unfair to blame all of this on Jani. He has many people around him who have enabled him over and over, and this is where it takes them everytime. So, there are a few people are directly responsible for his actions. Shame on all of them.
No one is jealous of Jani Lane. Who would want to be. No one is bitter cause Jani sold millions of records and still makes a lot of money for his work. But there are many who are angry at his opportunities, and how he wastes them. One at a time. And yes his actions affect many others in the very industry that he currently frolics around in like a fucking tool.
And you can all read between the lines as to who is writing this too. If you can’t figure it out please read Takin’ Out The Trash. This article speaks volumes about what it’s like to be Jani lane.
Hey Jani, the hatchet will never be burried until you bury it yourself.
Metal Sludge
Bigger, Better, Balder
Metal Sludge The Power and the Glory
