It’s well known fact that legendary Jani Lane was a terrific vocalist but his alcohol addiction issues always created a problem for Warrant.
This was addressed by current singer Robert Mason in a new interview with ’80s Metal Recycle Bin.
Robert had replaced Jani almost at a moment’s notice, explaining the reason why the remaining Warrant members decided to replace Lane in the early days of Warrant’s reunion tour.
Here’s what Robert said (via Ultimate Guitar):
“Well, it was this summer of ’08, And I was in a band that was asked to go out and play at Rocklahoma… Warrant was headlining that show, and I show up and I see Joey Allen the night before they were supposed to play… And I see Joey with a beer in one hand, and his head in the other hand, like worried. [We] had our little reunion, catching up on stuff, and he says, ‘Man, I honestly don’t know where my singer [is], I think he’s in rehab, I’m pretty sure he’s showing up at the show, everybody tells me he’s gonna be at the show.’
“And he started telling me about how Jani had fallen back into some old habits and wasn’t really keeping it together. And I could see how dismayed he was. And… he comes to me and says, ‘Dude, how many of our songs do you know?’ So I show up the next morning to their soundcheck and meet the whole band, say hi… and I watched them do soundcheck without Jani. He wasn’t there. He did roll in that night, did a pretty damn good show, but the truth is, he was fresh out of rehab. And I guess the seed was planted that night.
“We all flew home, I heard from Joey not long after, he’s like, ‘You know, man… I hate to say this, but if there’s a possibility that… if we run into a really bad time [and] I need you to cover for the show, would you?’ And without even really thinking about it for more than a minute or two, I just responded and said, ‘Yeah, sure. Keep me posted. I mean, I want the best for you guys, but sure, keep me posted.'”
Robert further revealed the moment he realized he got an opportunity to join the band.
He got a call just days before Warrant’s gig with Alice Cooper.
Robert said:
“A couple of weeks later… It was not the greatest situation. The other four guys were really frustrated, and they said, ‘Man, we’re going to send Lane home because we want him to get healthy. Can you do a show? Can you join the band? And I said yes. ‘Okay, we have one rehearsal, flat, Burbank, our show’s in five days. You can have one rehearsal, [we’re going] to do 17 or 18 songs, opening for Alice Cooper. Hey, but the good news is it’s in Tucson! [laughs]
“So, I did my first gig at AVA Amphitheater, opening up for Coop… No [other] band has that legacy, that I’m very proud of. And I do my absolute damnedest to pay tribute to the legacy that fans know. And remember songs that my friend wrote. And so, I do my damnedest to do that every night. But it’s cool to have records out and be able to turn people on to new songs and it’s still Warrant. It’s just what Warrant sounds like now.”
1 comment
12-16-2023 in Sugarland TEXAS my wife and I just finished watching 1 of my favorite bands of all times who my wife and I have never seen before. WARRANT really sounds good with their vocalist who replaced tge original singer.i really enjoyed seeing warrant before we all get to old.the 3 other bands steelheart,Lita Ford, winger all played great.i specially wanted to see WARRANT.im glad that I could see all 4 different bands together .I hope the band WARRANT has a merry Christmas and a happy new year plus if yall see the other bands yall played will tell them that I wish all a merry Christmas and a happy new year. GOD BLESS YALL.BE SAFE ON THE ROAD,I’m James the golf ball guy from TEXAS.i work in the golf ball recovery business.