“I didn’t listen to their hair-spray. I listened to their music.”
— Riki Rachtman on why he hates the term Hair Metal
June 3rd 2026 — Riki Rachtman is getting ready to hit the road this summer on his ‘One Foot In The Gutter‘ tour that will see him hit roughly 2 dozen cities going coast-to-coast… but before he loads up his tour van he stopped in for a round of rock n’ roll talk on the Idiots In Bars podcast.
The former Headbangers Ball veejay and Cathouse founder sits down with IIB co-hosts Chris Stevens, Brady Brandwood and Rayen from Nerd Locations to discuss a potpourri of subjects including his recent divorce announcement, singing with 3/5’s of Guns N’ Roses at the Troubadour in Hollywood and the aforementioned summer tour that kicks off in early July.
The podcast starts off hot and right out of the gate Rachtman tackles the recent news about his marriage ending.
Back in December of 2021 Rachtman married Ink Master tattoo artist Lea Vendetta but on May 26th the couple announced that they were separated and decided to end their 4 1/2 year marriage.
Rachtman took to his Facebook just 3 days later writing: “Yes Mistakes were made. I’m learning a lot about myself. Some good some bad. Like Ozzy said I’m going through changes. I’ve decided I will not post anymore about my separation or divorce“, then the following day the current North Carolina resident wrote, “Loved doing this show & ya we hit all the topics” along with a screen capture from the Idiots In Bars podcast.
Rachtman opens up and shares some thoughts on the couple’s recent announcement including stating; “I did talk about it and I have been talking about it, and I would never ever, ever say anything mean about Lea. And I did a lot of stuff wrong in this relationship.”
The guys also discuss the rise and fall of 80’s music and the incoming 90’s grunge movement which helped exterminate much of what preceded it. Then the term ‘Hair Metal‘ is brought up and Rachtman who is no fan of the label says; “I didn’t listen to their hair-spray. I listened to their music.”
The California native covers plenty of what you’d expect to hear from a guy who was in the thick of it in Hollywood during the 1980’s, including time spent hanging around the bands like Guns N’ Roses, his various hair-styles, dealing with haters and his opinion is that his former home city of Hollywood / Los Angeles is dead.
Rachtman is getting ready to hit the road this summer for his One Foot In The Gutter tour and we’re sharing all of the dates below.
July 7 Greenville, SC – Radio Room
July 8 Nashville, TN – City Winery
July 9 Tupelo, MS – Backline Music Hall
July 11 Eagle Pass, TX- Cooters
July 15 San Diego, CA – Holding Company
July 16 Hollywood, CA – Whisky-A-Go-Go
July 18 Danville, CA – Village Theater
July 19 Reno, NV – Club Underground
July 21 Portland, OR – Hawthorne Theater
July 22 Seattle, WA – El Corazon
July 25 Colorado Springs, CA – Sunshine Studios
July 26 Denver, CO – Oriental Theater
July 28 Chickasha, OK – Legends
July 29 Kansas City, MO – Knuckleheads
July 30 Lincoln, NE – Bourbon Theater
July 31 Iowa City, IA – Wildwood
August 1 Keokuk, IA – L’Treyns
August 3 Warrendale, PA – Jergels
August 5 Buffalo, NY – The Caz
August 8 Philadelphia, PA – City Winery
August 9 New York City, NY – City Winery
August 10 Boston, MA – City Winery
August 13 Sutton, WV – Elk Theater
Listen to the full interview with Riki Rachtman on the Idiots In Bars podcast shared below along with a tab menu that will help you search the various subjects from the show.
0:00 Don’t Call it Hair Metal
3:15 Concert Posters and Band Flyers
5:44 Decline: Metal Years
7:36 One Foot in the Gutter 2026
12:16 Riki’s Social Media
13:07 Getting Divorced
16:18 Haters and Comments
17:28 Touring and Relationships
18:56 The Grunge / November Rain Theory
23:57 Giving Bands a Start
24:54 Riki’s Many Looks
26:08 Riki’s Advice to His Younger Self
27:59 Reinvention
29:52 Singing with GnR at the Troubadour
34:17 Reflecting on Age
34:53 One Foot in the Gutter
38:26 Performing Stand Up
41:57 Getting Ready for the Road
43:42 Hollywood and Los Angeles are Dead
Riki Rachtman @ WebSite – Tickets – Facebook – Instagram – TikTok – Store – YouTube –
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