Winger To Play Waterloo
Winger has about the same reputation as Nickelback: Most people LOVE to HATE them. For Winger, I think it all started with MTV's Beavis and Butt-head. Stewart, the nerd of the group, wore a Winger t-shirt. It all of a sudden became very cool to dislike Winger.
There was also the Metallica video from 1991. It featured Lars Ulrich throwing darts in the studio. The dartboard had a picture of Kip Winger on it. This clip didn't help the Winger stock that year. It also didn't help that "glam metal" was fading as grunge was taking over. Meanwhile, Metallica went on to become one of THE biggest metal bands of all time.
Whether you love them or hate them, Winger is back in Iowa on May 13th. They're opening up for Kansas at McElroy Auditorium in Waterloo. Tickets for the show are available at the National Cattle Congress Box Office.
I saw Winger way back in 1990 when they headlined a tour with Extreme and Tangier. It was right before the band became "Un-Cool." We had a blast and the band sounded great. It was one of my favorite concerts of the summer that year.
24 years later, I saw the band again. This time I was able to go backstage and meet Kip Winger. We had a couple of beers and he was super cool. I made sure not to mention Lars or Beavis....I'm sure he's had enough of that.