THE HOUSE OF BROKEN LOVE: In the latest in a series of nightclub calamities that have taken place across the country in the last few weeks, a fire that engulfed a rock club in Rhode Island last night has resulted in the deaths of at least 26 people.
On stage at The Station, a nightclub in West Warwick, was long-forgotten '80s hair-metal band Great White, who performed the Reagan-era hits "Rock Me," "Once Bitten, Twice Shy," and "House of Broken Love." The fire started as a result of the band's customary pyrotechnics display, which apparently caused the club's mostly wooden interior to catch fire, leading to a mass dash for the exits. Among the missing, according to reports, is the band's guitarist.
Great White is certainly the last musical act I ever expected to make headlines again- I guess now they know how Anthrax feels. I can't see this resulting in a Great White revival of any kind, although I do know we're about to see numerous media exposes of "nightlife out of control," as well as renewed legislative pushes to crack down on drug use and other illegal activities at nightspots nationwide (even though drugs had nothing to do with any of the recent tragedies). But what I really want to see is Hunter S. Thompson or John Strausbaugh or someone else do a long investigative piece on America's Grade-Z concert circuit- isn't Great White the kind of once-popular band that, in Strausbaugh's words, "now plays to half-full audiences of punters at gambling resorts"?