Ugly Kid Joe at the Rust Belt -- May 22.
Monday, May 22, 7:45 p.m.
The Rust Belt, 533 12th Avenue, East Moline IL
Double-platinum-selling musicians whose smash hits from the '90s include As Ugly as They Wanna Be and America's Least Wanted, the hard rockers of Ugly Kid Joe headline a May 22 concert event at East Moline venue The Rust Belt, their 2022 album Rad Wings of Destiny inspiring Tom Cornell of CGCM Rock Radio to rave, "Showing perhaps more subtlety than all those years ago, but still maintaining the fun and silliness in small doses, they still know how to rock and entertain."
A fun-loving, hard rock/funk/alt-metal group from Southern California, Ugly Kid Joe found nearly immediate mainstream success with the double-platinum selling efforts As Ugly as They Wanna Be in 1991 and America’s Least Wanted in 1992, the former noted for being the first EP to ever go multi-platinum. Following the album releases of 1995's Menace to Sobriety and 1996's Motel California, the band ceased operations in 1997 but re-formed in 2010, and released Uglier Than They Used ta Be in 2015. Seven years would pass before the arrival of the group’s fifth full-length effort, 2022’s raucous Rad Wings of Destiny.
A spoof on glam-metal outfit Pretty Boy Floyd, Ugly Kid Joe formed in 1989 around vocalist Whitfield Crane, guitarists Klaus Eichstadt and Dave Fortman, bassist Cordell Crockett, and drummer Mark Davis. The group’s knack for crafting infectious pop-metal with touches of funk and a bratty, parodic sense of humor was evident on their debut single “Everything About You,” which was a top-10 smash and helped their EP As Ugly as They Wanna Be become a national sensation. They went Top 10again with a straightforward cover of Harry Chapin’s “Cats in the Cradle,” which appeared on America’s Least Wanted.
After their 1997 split and over the next decade, the band members played in various post-alt metal outfits. Yet as the first decade of the new millennium came to a close, there were rumblings of new Ugly Kid Joe activity – rumors that came true in 2010 when the group reconvened for a tour. Recording soon followed, and the fruits of UKJ’s labor was Stairway to Hell, an EP that appeared in the summer of 2012 and was expanded to a full-length in 2013. Two years later, the band released its long-awaited fourth studio album of all new material and the group’s first in 19 years: the crowd-funded Uglier Than They Used ta Be. Rad Wings of Destiny, meanwhile, found Ugly Kid Joe teaming back up with America’s Least Wanted producer Mark Dodson, and earning raves such as Louder Sound stating that "everything they do, they do exceedingly well."
Ugly Kid Joe headlines their East Moline engagement on May 22 with additional sets by Fozzy and Pistols at Dawn, admission to the 7:45 p.m. concert starts at $29.75, and more information and tickets are available by visiting TheRusrtBeltQC.com.
