Fans and Friends Remember Jani Lane at Tribute at the Key Club in Hollywood

This review is provided courtesy of fabulous Bring Back Glam! reader Melissa Thompson.

Monday night family, friends, fellow musicians and hundreds of fans paid tribute to Jani Lane, late singer, songwriter and former front man of Warrant. It was an amazing night filled with emotion, laughter, memories, and most of all, great music! In attendance to honor Jani were his family, including brother Eric Oswald and sister Micky Robinson. Also there to pay tribute to their fallen friend were members of Enuff Z'Nuff, Slammin Gladys, Kingdom Come, Sweet, LA Guns, Quiet Riot and Great White. The evening was hosted by Jani's manager and friend Obi Steinman, who told stories of his years with Jani and introduced the bands there to remember him. During the entire evening, three large video screens were showing family photos of Jani, from a child growing up in Akron, Ohio, to stage performances, and moments with his daughters, Madison and Taylar.

First up was Enuff Z'Nuff. Donnie Vie and Chip Z'Nuff took the stage and performed their hit "Fly High Michelle" as well as a heartwarming cover of one of Jani's favorite songs, "Let it Be" by the Beatles.

Next were old friends, Slammin' Gladys, whose first album was produced by Jani Lane in 1992. SG members Dave Brooks, Steve Deboard and JJ Farris performed the songs "Stronger Now" and the Warrant song "Sad Theresa" (Dog Eat Dog). Between songs, singer Dave Brooks dedicated the night to Jani.

Many friends came in from touring to honor Lane in song, including James Kottak (Kingdom Come, Scorpions) who did "Time to Say Goodbye" and Sweet members Joe Retta and Stuart Smith, who did an amazing rendition of "I Saw Red."

Next to come on stage were Jani's family. Older brother Eric Oswald told some great stories about growing up with Jani and sister Micky tearfully read a poem to Jani entitled "If tomorrow starts without me." Eric and Dave Brooks, along with some of the other musicians, dedicated and emotional performance of "Blind Faith," with the entire crowd singing along.

The second half of the show started with LA Guns' Phil Lewis and Steve Riley. Lewis told a great story about how different, as bands, Warrant and LA Guns were, but that the minute he met Jani they were not only fans, but friends. LA Guns then performed "Electric Gypsy" and "The Ballad of Jayne", which for the night was re-named "The Ballad of Lane." Quiet Riot, with members Frankie Banali and Sean McNabb then took the stage to perform "Thunderbird," a song the band has long dedicated to founding member Randy Rhoads, and more recently to lead singer Kevin DuBrow, who passed away in 2007. Last night they dedicated it to their friend Jani Lane.

Last but not least was Great White. Jani toured with Great White last year when singer Jack Russell fell ill and was on the verge of having to cancel 31 dates. Lane stepped up to complete the tour for Russell and the remaining dates were a huge success. A still-recovering Russell came to the mic to remember and honor Jani Lane, then turning it over to the band, with singer Terry Ilous (XYZ) handling vocals on "Mr. Bone," "Save Your Love", and "Rock Me."

All the bands gave great performances, but what followed was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen at show. Jani's most recent touring band took the stage, with Joe Retta (Sweet) on vocals, to perform the most rockin' tribute to Jani with "Down Boys," "Uncle Tom's Cabin," and "Cherry Pie." On "Uncle Tom's Cabin," Jani's brother Eric performed the guitar intro, just as he had done on the original recording. The final number was the most emotional of the evening. An empty stool and microphone stood onstage while Jani's band played "Heaven" with 350-plus people in attendance all singing, lighters held high. There was not a dry eye in the house.

The evening ended with all the musicians on stage for a jam session of some of Jani's favorite songs. All in all it was a great evening and a beautiful tribute to Jani Lane. If he didn't know before how many people loved and respected him, I'm quite sure he does now.

Orianthi Joined Alice Cooper's Band!

One of my favorite guitarists, Orianthi Panagaris, is now playing for Alice Cooper! Orianthi replaces Damon Johnson on the lead guitar duties for the Coop. If you don't know Orianthi, be sure to check her out - she's absolutely amazing.

I saw Alice Cooper live for the first time at Rock the Bayou something like four years ago. Alice's show was my favorite of the entire fest and I made it a point to see him live again as many times as possible. I can't even imagine the new energy Orianthi will bring to the band and the live show. I bet the addition of Orianthi - famous for playing in the Michael Jackson movie This Is It - will draw more people to the Cooper shows, too.

I wonder how long the Cooper-Orianthi pairing has been in the works? After all, the two shared a stage a couple years ago on American Idol.

Book Review, 'A Shot of Poison: An Insider's Tales of One of Rock's Most Outrageous Bands'

Disclosure: the ad for A Shot of Poison: An Insider's Tales of One of Rock's Most Outrageous Bands by Christopher Long at the top of this website is part of a paid campaign.

A few weeks ago, writer Christopher Long emailed. He said he'd stumbled on my site and I might be interested in his book. He arranged for a promo copy to be sent to me and I awaited the book's arrival. When all 240 pages of A Shot of Poison: An Insider's Tales of One of Rock's Most Outrageous Bands (Collector's Guide Publishing, Inc., 2010) arrived on my doorstep I honestly didn't have high expectations. I've read so many music bios that I figured I'd heard every story possible. The good news is that A Shot of Poison actually had some new stories (for me at least).

I think if you're a big Poison fan, this book is definitely for you. If you like Bobby Dall, this book is for you. Long and Dall apparently go way back and that's why there is a big focus on Dall in the book. Turns out, Bobby must be hell on tour. At one point, Long served as a tour assistant for Bobby in 2006 -- let's just say that's a job I'd never want and/or accept. (This was the tour with Cinderella. I was at that tour, were you?)

Long talks about the other members of Poison of course. It seems the author genuinely respects all the members of Poison and gives a little insight into Bret Michaels. Long says that Bret rarely interacts with the other members of Poison while the band is on tour and is pretty much quiet and all-business.

The book is broken down into traditional chapters and then each sub-section within a chapter is chopped up by a little drawing of a needle. For whatever reason, these little needles upset me. I'm still not sure if the needles are 100% in reference to "the shot of poison," Bret's diabetes or a member's possible drug use or something else. Whatever the case, I think I would have used another picture to break apart text.

Speaking of pictures, Long adds many of his personal photos to the book to help the stories come alive. These photos are sort of like looking at a friend's Facebook page - the images are just that personal.

Now, for the honesty. My favorite part of the book is the chapter that deals with Bobby Dall's keen sense of smell. I'm serious. Now you want to read the book, right? You should. It's on Amazon and maybe even at your local library.

New Band Alert: Cheap Thrill

I've got a new band for you, Glam lovers! The band is called Cheap Thrill and they are from the U.K. The band will release a six song EP next month. Cheap Thrill is definitely a mix of classic rock and 80s glam. Sure, the band is rough around the edges but they have great potential!

Check out "Faster Than a Loaded Bullet"

"Blood Shot"

In Honor of Irene: Songs About Hurricanes (and Storms)

Hurricane Irene is bearing down on the east coast this weekend and I hope all my friends are safe! While I'm in Ohio and not really impacted by Irene, I've still got hurricanes on my mind (remember, I've said before that I am a weather junkie... just like Bret Michaels). I decided to create a top 10 hurricane songs play list just for the occasion (it's a bit of dark humor, no offense here people) and these songs are in no order:

10: Rock You Like a Hurricane - Scorpions
09. Like a Hurricane - Roxy Music
08. Riders on the Storm - The Doors
07. Rainy Days and Mondays - The Carpenters (yes, I like the Carpenters. They rule actually)
06. Goodnight Irene - Lead Belly (obviously this song only works for this current hurricane)
05. Ridin' the Storm Out - REO Speedwagon
04. When The Levee Breaks – Led Zeppelin
03. Water's Rising - Lillian Axe
02. Hurricanes and Suns - Tokio Hotel
01. November Rain - Guns n' Roses

So that's my (basically) diverse play list to entertain myself for an hour while I wait for the TV networks to continually refresh and revamp their live hurricane coverage. You've got your metal, your pop, your classic rock and blues. What more do you need?

Motley Made a New Vid for 'Kickstart My Heart'

So Motley Crue made a new video for "Kickstart My Heart" and I'm not exactly sure... why. The band said it was a gift for fans and the new clip is from this summer's tour with Poison and the New York Dolls. I really like the beginning of this clip -- very documentary-like. I don't mind the concert portions either. It's definitely throwback because the original "Kickstart" video is a concert clip from the Dr. Feelgood era. I guess that's where my confusion comes in: why not make a concert clip of a different song? Maybe it is my bias and I can't help it: "Kickstart My Heart" is probably my least favorite Motley tune.

'If You Really Really Love Me'

Steel Panther has a new single. The song, "If You Really Really Love Me" will be the first single from the band's upcoming album Ball's Out. That album hits stores October 18.

Now, I actually honestly enjoy "If You Really Really Love Me." I listened once and laughed. Then I listened again and realized the song is basically a Def Leppard tune. Considering Def Leppard is one of my top five bands of all time, this is good news. Let me know your thoughts.