Backstage Concert Stories Pt. 2 — The Ratt/Jackyl Feud

In honor of our Rockin' the Railroad Festival "Roadie for a Day" contest (which you can sign up to win right here), here's another one of my favorite backstage rock concert stories.

My first professional radio gig was at a legendary rock station in Colorado Springs called KILO.  Back in the day, they used to throw a big concert every summer called KILO Rockfest.  In 1999, the lineup consisted of Megadeth, Ratt, Jackyl and a bunch of bands that nobody has heard from since.  Somewhere between 5 and 10 thousand headbangers attended the show.  Unfortunately, none of them saw the epic confrontation that took place backstage between Ratt and Jackyl.

I'm not sure what the history between those two bands was or is, but they didn't get along. The drama began in the afternoon when Jesse James Dupree from Jackyl found out that his band was playing before Ratt.  He was pissed.  So pissed, in fact, that he threatened not to play.

After he had calmed down for a moment, Jesse proposed a compromise. Jackyl would be willing to play before Ratt, provided that they were given more stage time. Both bands were scheduled for an hour long set.  And festivals are always running late, so time is precious.  Jesse suggested that Ratt's set should be cut short to 45 minutes and Jackyl should play for an hour and fifteen minutes.

That didn't sit well with Ratt's management.  At this point, I'm told that a shouting match broke out backstage between their respective crews and the event organizers.  Finally, Ratt agreed to cut their set short by 10 minutes.  They would play for 50 minutes and Jackyl would get a 70 minute set.  On one condition.

The event was held at a minor league baseball field and the guys from Ratt insisted that they should be given their own private skybox.  The organizers caved in and met their demands.  The Ratt skybox ended up right next to the KILO station skybox.  Needless to say, there were many more chicks in their skybox than ours.  And booze...oh man, those guys partied hard in that skybox.  Quite frankly, it's a miracle they ever made it to the stage because they were hammered.  I remember seeing a one guy from the band almost stumble down the stairs.

In spite of the backstage drama, the show went off without a hitch.  Jackyl kicked ass like they always do.  And even though Ratt looked and sounded terrible, nobody seemed to notice because half of the crowd had been invited to party in their skybox.

I met the guys from Ratt several years later at a show in Fresno, California.  After the gig that night, we were doing a meet and greet with some winners from the radio station I worked at.  During the meet and greet, a thief broke into their tour bus and stole a couple of laptops.  I never saw the thief, but I was told he looked a little like Jesse James Dupree, if Jesse was hispanic and high on meth.