WARRANT ROCKS CROWD OF 3,413 AT SHOW ME CENTER ON FRIDAY

If an audience could ever be put in the palm of a hand, the hard rock group Warrant would surely have the 3,413 people, who attended the band's concert at the Show Me Center Friday night, well in its grasp.

The quintet from L.A. drowned the crowd with fine waves of double-bass drum beats, explosions, swirling lights, powerful bass and guitar rhythms, and acoustic, passionate ballads.

Warrant's 17-song set opened with a relentless performance of four songs that included the hit, "Down Boys," from the band's last album, "Dirty, Rotten, Filthy, Stinking Rich."

On that song, multiple explosions filled the air on the intro before the song which sent the crowd into an uproar. The musical intensity continued with songs "32 Pennies" and "Mr. Rainmaker."

All night long, lead singer Jani Lane had the crowd at his command. His party, yet what some might consider vulgar, attitude kept everyone wondering what would happen next.

Songs "Uncle Tom's Cabin," "I Saw Red," "Love in Stereo," "Train, Train" and "Blind Faith" were solidly performed and showed how the band can play loudly and then softly.

Those last two songs were truly impressive to hear. "Train, Train," a '70s classic from the band Blackfoot, was played flawlessly and Lane was able to get the audience to raise its hands at his cue.

Before the song "Blind Faith," Lane sat down on a speaker and told the crowd about his displeasure with rap bands using taped music.

"What you see is what you get," said Lane, in reference to the fact that the band does not use taped songs. Then, the band proceeded to do the song acoustically while sitting on stools.

An old Queen standard, "We Will Rock You," and "Sure Feels Good To Me," and "Heaven" followed. On "Heaven," Lane performed on a stage at the opposite end of the Show Me Center. Again, he had the crowd singing along and people waving their hands back and forth.

While Lane was getting back to the main stage, guitarist Joey Allen played a guitar solo. What was so refreshing about the solo was that he did not try to put on a Eddie Van Halen clone clinic. He played a hard, solid solo that was highlighted at the end by the theme from the TV show "Dragnet."

Warrant concluded its 16th show on their first headlining tour with "Cherry Pie" and the ZZ Top classic, "Tush."

"Cherry Pie" was probably the biggest disappointment of the night. Lane looked exhausted as he struggled through the lyrics, making up new ones as he went along.

But what was most impressive was that Warrant called out the two opening acts, Firehouse and Trixter, to join it in playing "Tush. The song lasted a good seven minutes as all the musicians kept the blues jam going.

Of the two opening bands, Firehouse looked the most impressive. They played a thunderous six-song set that included their hit, "Don't Treat Me Bad," and their new release, "Love Of A Lifetime."

Lead vocalist C.J. Snare filled the air with his tremendous voice. His vocal range came through on their two hits, but he was also able to charge up songs like "Over Night Sensation," "Lover's Lane" and "Rock On The Radio."

Firehouse's musicianship is tight and made for the open stage. They were in control of what they wanted to do and the crowd was supportive.

What Firehouse had done to build up the crowd, Trixter came out and proceeded to burn down. For the majority of their show, they just were not intense enough with the crowd, and lead singer Peter Loran was not as effective at getting the crowd going as Snare and Lane were.

Musically, they played fairly solid but they lacked clear background vocals. The last three songs of their eight-song set, "Surrender," "Line Of Fire" and "Give It To Me Good" were the best they played and received the most crowd support.

What guitarist Allen of Warrant avoided, Trixter guitarist Steve Brown welcomed, and that was the Van Halen clone syndrome. Many times during the show, he tried to act too much like his childhood idol. Once he gets older (he's only 19) and gains more confidence, he will probably become a more original player.

The most interesting Trixter musician was drummer Mark Scott. He looks a lot like "Animal" from the "Muppet Show" when he plays his aggressive style. He was also good with the crowd. Singer Loran should learn some techniques from Scott's extroverted personality.