Quiet Riot

Fri/15, Bourbon Street

GET READY TO RAWK!

Veteran heavy-glam metalers Quiet Riot are on the rampage again with a more-or-less original lineup – cue the hair, the headbanging, the tattoos, and the ferocious guitar-solo facial contortions. Dreamed up in 1975 by vocalist Kevin DuBrow and axeman Randy Rhoads, Quiet Riot in its first incarnation lasted until Rhoads's defection to Ozzy Osbourne's band in 1979. After Rhoads quit – sadly, he died in a plane crash in 1982 – Quiet Riot broke up for the first time, having achieved some success in Japan but made little overall impact in its home, U.S. market. After reforming in 1982 the band hit the big time with the multimillion-selling album Metal Health (Pasha), becoming the first metal group to storm the number-one position on the U.S. album charts. The record featured two standout singles: "Metal Health (Bang Your Head)" and a cover of golden oldie "Cum on Feel the Noize," by U.K. band Slade. At this point, a disturbed-looking figure wearing a restraint helmet became the band's mascot. Follow-up carbon-copy album Condition Critical (Pasha) was also a platinum seller, with a pair of singles – "Party All Night" and another Slade retread, "Mama Weer All Crazee Now" – hitting the U.S. Top 40. Unable to regain the heady heights of 1983-84, Quiet Riot split up for the second time at the end of their Japanese tour in 1988, reforming once again in 1993. Last year the band returned to its 1984 lineup and released an album of new songs, Guilty Pleasures (Bodyguard Records), which they claim is as good as Metal Health – an opinion not shared by all of their fans. Simon Stinger opens. 9 p.m., 2765 Clayton Road, Concord. $20. (925) 676-7272. (China Martens)