QUIET RIOT has announced the first batch of shows for its upcoming 2022 tour season, which is set to begin on Friday, February 18 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. The concerts will feature bassist Rudy Sarzo who recently rejoined QUIET RIOT after an 18-year absence.
Rudy was one of the members of QUIET RIOT‘s “Metal Health” lineup. He played bass on the classic LP, which sold over ten million copies and spawned the hits “Cum On Feel The Noize” and “Metal Health” and on the follow-up record “Condition Critical”.
Sarzo appeared in the most notable music videos in the MTV age and toured with the band until 1985 and again from 1997 to 2003. During his years out of the band, Sarzo was a member of OZZY OSBOURNE, WHITESNAKE, DIO, BLUE ÖYSTER CULT, QUEENSRŸCHE and THE GUESS WHO.
Joining Sarzo in QUIET RIOT‘s current lineup are guitarist Alex Grossi, vocalist Jizzy Pearl and drummer Johnny Kelly.
Drummer Frankie Banali, who joined QUIET RIOT in 1982 and played on “Metal Health”, died in August 2020 after a 16-month battle with pancreatic cancer. A month after Banali‘s death, QUIET RIOT announced that it would carry on.
Grossi was in the last version of the band, from 2004 through 2007, before founding singer Kevin DuBrow passed away, and was asked by Banali to return in 2010.
“We can’t wait to get back out there and see everyone,” says Grossi. “The first few shows with Rudy back have gone over really well and the audiences are very excited to see him perform these songs again.”
Adds Sarzo: “I’m excited to be back home and celebrate the QUIET RIOT legacy, which began 40 years ago next year with the recording of ‘Metal Health’, the first heavy metal album to reach #1 on the Billboard top 200 albums chart.”
Initial dates are as follows, with many more to be announced in the coming weeks:
Feb. 18 – Uncasville, CT
Feb. 19 – Redmond, OR
Feb. 20 – Great Falls, MT
Mar. 19 – Coachella, CA
Apr. 01 – Auburndale, FL
Apr. 29 – Bullhead, AZ
May 07 – Dodge City, KS
May 20 – Pompano Beach, FL
May 22 – Nashville, TN
May 26 – Morton, MN
Jun. 01 – San Diego, CA
Jun. 03 – San Bernardino, CA
Jun. 04 – Hollywood, CA
Jun. 24 – Milwaukee, WI
Jun. 25 – Aurora, IL
Jul. 09 – Xenia, OH
Jul. 15 – Ft. Wayne, IN
Jul. 16 – Roanoke, VA
Jul. 22 – Tucson, AZ
Jul. 23 – Las Vegas, NV
Jul. 30 – Beaver Dam, KY
Jul. 29 – Kansas City, MO
Aug. 20 – Crownsville, MD
Aug. 21 – Des Moines, IA
Aug. 25 – Niagara Falls, NY
Sep. 09 – Hinkley, MN
Sep. 10 – St. Charles, IL
Sep. 15 – Hutchinson, KS
Sep. 16 – Hudson Falls, NY
Sep. 17 – Salamanca, NY
Sep. 18 – Warrendale, PA
Sep. 23 – Reno, NV
Oct. 08 – Shelton, WA
QUIET RIOT went through two vocalists — Mark Huff and Scott Vokoun — before settling on Pearl in 2013. Pearl announced his exit from QUIET RIOT in October 2016 and was briefly replaced by Seann Nichols, who played only five shows with the group before the March 2017 arrival of “American Idol” finalist James Durbin. Pearl returned to QUIET RIOT in September 2019.
For a complete list of upcoming QUIET RIOT shows, visit QuietRiot.Band.
Sarzo discussed his return to QUIET RIOT in a recent interview with Adika Live!. He said: “My decision, in addition to [it] being Frankie‘s request that I return to the band, was a decision that I had to meditate on it, because it is that important. Not meditate whether it was the right decision to make or not — no, that wasn’t the point — it was to meditate about the timing of it. Because it could not be an abrupt decision that you drop everything you’re doing and you change the band.
“Regina [Frankie‘s widow] and I, we sat and we talked about it, and we said, ‘Okay, the best thing to do is to let everybody fulfill their commitments.’ Because I have commitments to the band that I’ve been playing in for the last five years, THE GUESS WHO. And I wasn’t about to tell them, ‘Hey, I’m outta here, guys. Good luck.’ I’ve never done that. So I have commitments with them. And QUIET RIOT has commitments with [longtime bassist] Chuck Wright. And we felt that the only thing that we can do, really — [we felt] that all these commitments must be fulfilled so our agreements with everybody is fulfilled.”
Rudy went on to say that he has been “making the transition” and “embracing again the whole QUIET RIOT consciousness” by going “back and playing the songs” again. “And actually, it’s been wonderful because, I’ve gotta tell you, to be able to go back to something that you did 40 years ago with the musician I am today, I’m looking at the songs a little bit different, as far as my own contributions,” he said. “Of course, it’s not gonna be something that is gonna turn into completely something else, but there are certain note choices that I can improve on.”
Photo credit: Julie Bergonz
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