During an appearance on Wednesday’s (January 29) episode of SiriusXM‘s “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk”, Stephen Pearcy and Warren DeMartini revealed the musicians who will join them when they perform a set of RATT classics as one of the headliners of the 2025 edition of the M3 Rock Festival, set to take place May 2-4 at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland.
Playing alongside the singer and guitarist will be former RATT and QUIET RIOT guitarist Carlos Cavazo, former RATT and ROUGH CUTT bassist Matt Thorr and former SLAUGHTER drummer Blas Elias. Thorr and Elias are both current touring members of Pearcy‘s solo band.
Pearcy and DeMartini will headline final night of M3 Rock Festival on May 4. It will mark their first show together since 2018.
Stephen said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “We’re gonna have Carlos out there, which is cool. And I’m bringing in Matt Thorr on bass, who’s pretty much an original RATT guy from 1981, ’82, when Jake E. [Lee] and Warren pulled in. And then we’re taking Blas Elias on drums from SLAUGHTER and my band. And we’re ready to go.”
Added Warren: “When I moved up to L.A. to join RATT, I stayed at a house with Jake E. Lee for a few months, and, it was like a three-bedroom [house], and Jake had one, and Matt had the other, and this other musician had the third. And I was on the couch. But Matt goes way back with [RATT]. I’m actually kind of looking forward to checking that out again. He was playing bass at the time I joined [RATT].”
Regarding why they are not playing the M3 show under the RATT banner, Pearcy said: “Well, I’ll tell you right straight up — it’s not about RATT. It’s about the legacy of our music. And who better to deliver it, because we don’t have all the proper original elements, which would include [late RATT guitarist] Robbin [Crosby]. So we just decided — no. This is great. This is perfect. I mean, we don’t wanna hit a brick wall. We want this nice and smooth. So that’s what we intend to do. It’s not about that — it’s about the legacy of RATT. Period.”
DeMartini went on to say that he is open to playing more shows with Pearcy in the future, assuming that everything goes will with the M3 gig.
“Since we announced the M3 show, other stuff has come up,” he revealed. “When this [M3 concert] came up, I was treating it as a one-off, but everything has a momentum, or it can have a momentum. And in this case, it just feels better and better.
“I’ve always wanted to play these songs to the people, like we always have,” he added. “So I’m totally game to doing more.”
Asked if drummer Bobby Blotzer and bassist Juan Croucier, who were both in RATT‘s classic lineup, will have any involvement in the M3 and other gigs Pearcy and DeMartini plan to play together, Stephen said: “No, no, no. Not on this. No. Like I say, we wanted it to be about the music and Warren and myself delivering it, because it is gonna be a little different. If you were to throw the other guys in the mix, it wouldn’t be exactly what it is now, the opportunity.”
On the topic of what he has been doing in the seven years since he last played with Stephen, Warren said: “What I always did and what I always do. When I’m not sort of dealing with all the stuff that we deal with in life, I drift back into the studio and either start working on something that I hear in my head or refining something that I have going. So it’s been a really nice thing to be able to do all this time, because basically since Stephen and Robbin and I wrote ‘Round And Round’, it’s, like, ‘Okay, you can be a writer if you wanna be,’ so that’s what I do, basically.”
Asked if he missed being on stage and being in front of an audience, Warren said: “Oh, of course. It’s hard to find words to describe the kind of energy that we have with our audience. It’s just fantastic… I did do some gigs with some friends, like the last one was with Billy Gibbons and Sebastian Bach, and we would all play each other’s songs. It was two or three songs each. And stuff like that kind of kept it burning, but this is the real fire.”
As for a possible setlist for the M3 show, Warren said: “I think we need to really look at the whole catalog. I mean, we did — what? — six records with Atlantic, and we’ve done three through other labels. There’s probably a lot of deep cuts that would be just totally awesome for this.” Stephen added: “Oh, yeah. I can think of a few right now — ‘Between The Eyes’, ‘Hard Time’, ‘Eat Me Up Alive’.” Warren continued: “‘Givin’ Yourself Away’ would be cool.” Stephen chimed in: “Oh, that would be cool, actually.”
Last year, Pearcy celebrated the 40th anniversary of RATT‘s classic debut album, “Out Of The Cellar”, by performing it in its entirety and in sequence for the first time.
RATT exploded on to the national scene in 1984 with the release of “Out Of The Cellar”. Featuring an undeniable hook and legendary music video, lead single “Round And Round” hit No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100, while “Out Of The Cellar” reached No. 7 on the Billboard Top 200 and was certified triple platinum. Two more charting singles followed with “Back For More” and “Wanted Man”. RATT started the tour as an opening act, but by the end of the tour had climbed to arena headliner.
RATT returned in 1985 with its second full-length album, “Invasion Of Your Privacy”. Certified double platinum and also reaching No. 7 on the Billboard 200, “Invasion Of Your Privacy” also featured the classics “Lay It Down” (No. 40 on Billboard Hot 100) and “You’re In Love”.
“Dancing Undercover” followed in 1986 as RATT toured North America with a then-brand new Los Angeles band called POISON as the opening act. Lead single “Dance” hit the Billboard Hot 100 and spawned another music video hit with “Slip Of The Lip”, while “Body Talk” was featured in a key scene in the Eddie Murphy film “The Golden Child”. “Dancing Undercover” became RATT‘s third consecutive platinum album and reached No. 26 on the Billboard 200.
1988’s “Reach For The Sky” saw RATT return to the Top 20 of the Billboard 200 album charts, peaking at No. 17. Driven by the bluesy hit and MTV favorite “Way Cool Jr.”, “Reach For The Sky” was also certified platinum and became RATT‘s fourth album in a row to move well over a million copies. “I Want A Woman” was also a successful single and the video captured the excitement and energy of RATT live.
RATT released its last full-length record of the Atlantic era, “Detonator”, in 1990. Music was changing, but “Detonator” was still a success, peaking at No. 23 on the Billboard 200 and going gold. It was the first RATT album to feature major outside songwriting contributions (Desmond Child, Diane Warren) and guests (Jon Bon Jovi, Michael Schenker). Lead single “Lovin’ You’s A Dirty Job” hit No. 18 on the rock chart while the power ballad “Givin’ Yourself Away” reached No. 39.
In 1991, they released the single “Nobody Rides For Free” from the hit film “Point Break”, starring Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze.
In January 2021, Pearcy told SiriusXM‘s “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk” that he was open to the idea of making a new RATT album with all the surviving members of the band’s classic lineup.
RATT hasn’t released any new music since 2010’s “Infestation” LP.