More than 35 years after Night Ranger debuted, they’ve remained a consistent presence on the touring circuit. In this day and age where tapes, and tracks, occasionally help flesh out what fans are hearing in concert, a Night Ranger show delivers the real thing.
“You know, Tom Petty, God bless him, I saw him on that last tour and he said something that I love onstage and it really holds true with Night Ranger,” Night Ranger bassist and singer Jack Blades tells Ultimate Classic Rock. “When you come see Night Ranger, there’s no artificial sweetening involved. In other words, what you’re hearing is coming out of the five people that are onstage. The vocals, the guitars, the keyboards, the bass. There’s no artificial sweetening coming out of any tape in the background or anything like that. It’s all us.”
Night Ranger have a new album, Don’t Let Up. And we have the exclusive premiere of a new video from it for the song Truth, which you can watch below.
Blades explains “…To make the video, we just wanted it to be real. This is who we are, this is how it is. This is what Night Ranger is in 2018. We just wanted to keep it real, keep it honest. That’s the way it is. Keep it truthful. So that’s what we did, and we didn’t do a storyline, but we kept it rockin’, because that’s what Night Ranger is all about right now, just rockin’ and rollin.’”
Blades calls Truth a “straight from the heart and soul” kind of song. “When I wrote the lyrics and we came up with the song, it was like, ‘Just give me truth,’” he says. “That’s kind of what this world needs right now. How about a little truth? I mean, with everything. I’m not just talking about what’s going on currently in politics. I’m talking about in the world as a whole. If people were really true to themselves, if everything was just truth, think how it would be. Maybe it’s a fantasy dream and everything like that, and I’m not saying that we’re pie-in-the-sky dudes, because that’s the last thing that Night Ranger is. But I’m saying that we came up with the song Truth for that very reason of what this world needs right now is some truth.”
They’ll be celebrating their career on the road this fall by performing their first two albums, Dawn Patrol and Midnight Madness, in full at special concerts in Waukegan, Ill., (on Oct. 18th) and in Denver (on Nov. 29th). The two shows will feature “a lot of songs that we’ve never played live,” Blades says, along with others that haven’t been performed since the original tours for those albums in the early ‘80s.
“We started rehearsing them and working them up,” he says. “It was kind of like a walk down memory lane. Which basically is what the show is going to be about. We’re going to be telling stories about what was happening at that very time in rock ‘n’ roll in L.A. in 1983 at the Rainbow with Motley Crue guys coming down, with the Ratt guys on tour with us. It’s going to be nuts.
“It’s going to be so much fun. Some of these songs that we’re playing … [drummer and singer] Kelly [Keagy] and I are looking at each other going, ‘What the fuck were we thinking when we wrote those words?’ It’s pretty funny. But it was captured at a certain moment of time and that’s where we were.”
The band has plans to record audio of the Illinois concert, and Blades hints that they’re already looking at the possibility of doing other concerts where they’d play the two albums in other cities.
Read more at Ultimate Classic Rock.
source: ultimateclassicrock.com
33 Responses
See! (You Can Still) Rock In America! Ah Yeah, s’alright! For real! And that’s the “Truth!”
weak song , they had one song I kind of liked , YOU CAN STILL ROCK IN AMERICA – that was ok
still, these older guys in 80’s rock bands dressing in these ridiculous stereotypical rock uniforms of too tight leather, scarves, ripped up whatever … I guess this is my huge pet peeve and IMO a huge reason younger rock fans are not being drawn in anymore to these 80’s rock bands that didn’t quite make the jump to ” mega star status” – they must look at them as silly… I know I do-
I never cared about or paid attention to image, only the music, that’s all that really matters.
I am usually the same way, but in Sykes’ case, I admit, I am totally superficial. 😉 Thank God, he has the talent to back it up, as well. 🙂
Absolutely, Dana, whether they look like Sykes or sasquatch, it all comes down to the music!
And speaking of music – 3 concerts in 4 nights! Purple Priest in Jacksonville on Wednesday, Scorpions in Tampa on Friday, and Sammy’s Circle last night in the good Hollywood! Right Now, I have a Heavy Metal hangover! 😉 All good, my mini vacation ain’t over yet, almost time to head back down to the casino, cha-ching!! Cheers!! 🙂
Sykes or Sasquatch-lol!!!
Glad you had a great time at all those shows.
Hi Craig,
I was reporting on Lita, when she publicizing her music and autobiography. As for the other female fronted acts, I don’t believe Eddie plays many of the bands you mentioned on his show, and certainly not in heavy rotation.
As for Sykes, if you found the first Blue Murder album to be of average quality, I am not sure that you would really appreciate any of his other material. Personally, I LOVE that record, and think it’s great, but to each their own. Perhaps, you would like the Thin Lizzy album he was involved with, called Thunder and Lighting?
As for me, I readily admit to being stuck in a time warp. Other than Airbourne, I don’t listen to any current rock bands as I haven’t discovered any that excite me.
D
Well, Craig, right now I’m listening to Alice In Chains’ new album “Rainier Fog,” which (coincidentally) will be my next concert in 6 weeks, 6 weeks?! Damn! Eh, it’s alright, my ears need a break, hopefully by then the ringing in my ears will have stopped! 😉 As far as Sykes goes, if you really want to hear him at his best, pick up “Bad Boy Live!” Rock on, paisan!
Doug,
I agree with you, Bad Boy Live!, is GREAT. However, since Craig seems to be unimpressed with Sykes’ Blue Murder material, I was hesitant to recommend that release, because he performs quite a bit of Blue Murder songs, as well as Whitesnake, on that recording.
D 🙂
Damn Doug, you’ve been “Rockin all Around the World” recently! Awesome! Is Ghost coming to your area soon? We’ve got tix to see Ghost in San Diego in November.
Craig, check out John Sykes playing with Tygers of Pan Tang. He performed on their Spellbound and Crazy Nights albums released in 1981 and 1982, respectively. Probably my two favorite Tygers albums. Great “under the radar” NWOBHM band.
Rattle, just the “Sunshine* state! 😉 Not sure about Ghost, other than Airbourne, I really don’t pay much attention to newer bands.
I can’t get the first Giuffria record off my turntable right now; excellent writing augmented by Craig Goldy’s prog rock lead guitar where he seems to be channeling Steve Howe; David Glen Eisley is also one of the best singers in Rock; a combination of Tom Jones and Steve Perry…what a kick ass singer.
That’s true, Dana, I just thought Craig would be more impressed with the “Live vibe.” 😉
Shannon, that first Guiffria album is indeed great! I was fortunate to have Craig Goldy autograph my copy a couple of years ago!
That’s on you, bro. I’ve seen Night Ranger three times in the past two years or so, and – other than the guy that took over for Jeff Watson (Keri Kelli, not his real name, he used to play with Alice Cooper) – there is absolutely none of that. If you don’t like them, don’t go, but they deliver two hours of solid, well-played rock and roll, including a couple covers of the “other stuff” the members did, like Damn Yankees and even an Ozzy song. I didn’t see any “silliness”, just five guys who know how to play their instruments doing exactly that. Jack, Brad and Kelly Keagy looked like normal guys; they weren’t in street clothes, but there wasn’t any of the “costume” stuff you describe. Jack had a scarf on at one show, but he was the singer, and it was an outdoor show at night; can’t hardly blame him for keeping his “instrument” protected (and he sounded great, by the way).
if your a rock band your image what you look like is always going to be tied to your music like it or not –
pick any huge successful band ever and they have a clear cut image of how they want to present themselves – I think it started with Brian Epstein and the Beatles – when your in your 20’s wild young and hungry, you can get away with wearing pretty much anything when your in your 50’s and 60’s trying to hang on to a career and trying to remain relevant you cant – I tested my theory…. I work with mostly 20 somethings many of whom like rock along with the schlock that is todays pop music – I pulled up pics of
most of the 80’s hard rock and metal bands still out there doing it – the overwhelming response from the girls was … “gross” , I got a lot of ” they look like idiots” from the guys I would think this is probably going to be the reaction everywhere- rock needs a shot in the arm not only from new bands but also the vets who have once made great music! new music from these classic bands I have heard is weak and sorry they look silly – nothing wrong with black leather and jeans at any age they should try it
Robert,
Your point is very valid. While talent should surpass image, in the real world, image is everything. In many fields, especially the entertainment industry, two things seem to trump talent, image/great PR and nepotism. To quote Metallica, “Sad, but true.”
D 🙂
Thank God I was “Raised On Radio!” 😉 And besides, we all know the real world is fake! And most people 50 & over don’t really care what 20 something year olds think! They don’t get it because they never lived it, so their opinions don’t really matter! I’ll take good music over “style” any day!
Amen, Doug.
D 🙂
my last thought on my reply , these 20 somethings, their opinion’s do matter and should matter because their money and support is just as green and important as older fans if not more so- these 20 somethings drive the music market today – rock needs 20 somethings both guys and girls to get on board again, they have jumped ship -marketing and brand in 2018 is almost just as important as the music , music is still the most important aspect thank god , but these classic 80’s hard rock bands are not putting out good memorable hook filled music , they better up their game and then pay attention to younger rock fans , who dont buy cd’s anymore they download or stream everything , they are the ones who go see live music and I’m telling you they dont want to see middle aged rock bands trying to look young on stage =there are just a few superstar bands who made their bones in the 80’s and still have their status and built in crowd-and can dress like they did in the 80’s and it doesn’t matter much, that is the minority
everybody else still out there touring need to wise up – just my humble opinion –
Robert, how many 20 year olds do you see at a Judas Priest concert? They are NOT the ones still BUYING music, we are! When Firepower was released, I know of at least 25 friends of mine that actually BOUGHT the CD! The “live” music young people go to see today isn’t a band like Judas Priest, most young people today don’t pay for their “music,” and they’d rather see a fake plastic robot like Justin Beaver! And if Jagger and Tyler still want to dress like they did back in the good old days, who cares! I don’t go to a concert for a fashion show, I go for good solid REAL live music and emotion. Have a nice day…
Actually, the most popular music with the youth today is EDM, if you can even call that music. It’s a guy with DJ equipment mixing beats, sometimes there is vocal track, but most of the time, it is only electronic music. It almost like having a robot dispense music to the masses, talk about eliminating the need of musicians, kind of scary.
Amen, Dana! 😉