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Hair-raising rock 'n' roll -- © St. Petersburg Times, May 31, 2001

In a very special 10 Pressing Questions, two hair metal pioneers answer the tough questions about rock 'n' roll cars, chicks with tattoos and the importance of flossing your teeth. Poison lead singer Bret Michaels and Quiet Riot yelper Kevin DuBrow, in separate calls from Texas during their Perfect Hairball III tour, give the lowdown.....

(3) Do you hate the term "hair metal"?

Michaels: You can call me anything you want. I wear my sash proudly as the number one hair metal band in the world. (Editor's note: VH1 voted Poison Top Hair Band of all time). That's one of the things I love about Poison. We love what we do. We're very comfortable in our skin.

DuBrow: I don't care what they call it. (Annoyed) Look, it's a title that makes people feel comfortable and that's fine.

According to CNN and MSNBC, the club lost all power within a couple of minutes -- so in addition to smoke and flames, it was pitch black inside. A recipe for a terrible, terrible disaster.

¤ ¤ credit: robyn | 02.21.03 at 05:47 PM | link--this ¤ ¤

Simply sending ... the fact that you are in my thoughts, my heart. Not having read all of these comments at all...

They are hard days, I guess..

¤ ¤ credit: sue | 02.21.03 at 06:02 PM | link--this ¤ ¤

"why hasn't the issue of "sprinklers" come up yet. I thought that any building that occupies more than 50 people is suppose to be equipped with a sprinkler system. This probably would have save many lives."

Darren- according to the fire chief, they weren't required to have sprinklers, based on their occupancy and square footage. I think those requirements vary from state to state.

They may or may not have helped- the fire started in the ceiling and appears to have stayed there for a while. it was the smoke that killed a lot of the people. If sprinklers are directed mainly downward, they may not have been terribly effective. In fact, they'd have made the floor really wet. If it was a slick tile or concrete floor, people may have started slipping and falling all over each other even earlier than they did. I'm just speculating, of course. Maybe it would've helped. Who knows.

¤ ¤ credit: dave | 02.21.03 at 06:13 PM | link--this ¤ ¤

Local news just did some interviews regarding the sprinklers. Contrary to my prior comment about the size of the building being the reason there were no sprinklers, in addition to the size of the club, the official reason is this:

In RI, all buildings of this sort built after 1975 (I think they said mid-70's) are required to be built with sprinklers. However, this building was built in 1950, and therefore was not required to have a sprinkler system in it.

In regards to the power going out: Yes, the power did go out; however, battery powered emergency lights (those high powered jobs you see in some buildings) did go on, but because of the thickness and quantity of smoke that was in the building, the lights were pretty much useless.

(btw Robyn, I wasn't referring to your post being a joke about the fire, when I posted it seemed as though many of the comments were making the jokes about washed up hair bands)

¤ ¤ credit: chicky | 02.21.03 at 06:37 PM | link--this ¤ ¤

This is sorta off topic, but it's good news so I'm sharing it anyway!

My boss and his wife have just adopted a baby boy! This is the third child they've been told they can adopt, the first two birth moms changed their minds partway through the process. But this one is really happening and they're parents now! Very good news.

¤ ¤ credit: Sunidesus | 02.21.03 at 07:34 PM | link--this ¤ ¤

I watched the video on CNN (someone who was taping the show and made it out alive) It was so bad I had to turn it off halfway thru, but it just broke my heart. You can see people pointing to the stage when the fire started and the band couldn't see it because it was behind them, and they were just oblivious. Then to hear people trying to get out and screaming that they couldn't move....ugh. It just made me sick to my stomach. What a tragedy.

As a side note, I got to see Quiet Riot and Poison 2 years ago in Missouri...fun concert, and they had a lot of fans show up.

¤ ¤ credit: Colleen | 02.21.03 at 09:17 PM | link--this ¤ ¤

I move out of the state and NOW all of the excitement happens. All jokes aside, its really terrible what happened.

¤ ¤ credit: jay | 02.21.03 at 09:52 PM | link--this ¤ ¤

I hope this isn't redundant and I just missed it. I read on BBC that three fire exits were almost completely unused, and that everyone stampeded for the door through which they had entered.

Makes me think and plan any time I'm in a crowded place. Heartbreaking and horrifying.

¤ ¤ credit: Miranda | 02.21.03 at 09:55 PM | link--this ¤ ¤

I was in Chicago on Tuesday and it was amazing the amount of finger-pointing that was done on the local TV stations. The authorities were blaming the owner(s) up to the point of the Reverend Jesse Jackson (what church does he preach at anyway?) having a hand in getting extensions for the owner(s) to work around the safety codes. Ultimately, it is the city officials who must shut down something like this before it happens. The owner(s) if allowed will continue to keep open and admit more people than what is deemed to be safe - after all their goal is not to follow laws and ordinances; their goal is to make money.

¤ ¤ credit: BillH | 02.21.03 at 10:08 PM | link--this ¤ ¤

Oh, one more note on Great White. Their hit you use for the title of this entry, Robyn, is a remake. Humble Pie did it first in the 60's with a skinny little big-hair guitar player named Peter Frampton.

¤ ¤ credit: BillH | 02.21.03 at 10:10 PM | link--this ¤ ¤