Manitoba May Mayhem, 1987

On 5/15/87, Wild Kingdom (they hadn’t added the “Manitoba’s” yet) made their first real road trip into enemy territory and played Boston’s Rat. This was one of about 2,000 fantastic shows I saw in that magical toilet during my extended youth.

Finding these tremendous pictures at the Boston Rock and Roll Photography page in Facebook got me to waxing nostalgic about the gig. Thank you to Wayne Valdez for his kind permission to use these shots.

The Kingdom in their pre-RTB era was a much different animal than they were to become once Ross signed on. The Daniel Rey incarnation was much rawer, less metallic, a bit sloppier, but still lots of fun. This show was still very early on for the Kingdom, by my count it was only show #5.  “The Party Starts Now” had yet to be written, “NYNY” wasn’t yet part of the show, and the remaining 8 album songs would have only made for about a 20-minute set, so we were lucky enough to get raw and rocking versions of “NBT,” “Minn Strip,” “F+L” and “TTM.” Most notably, we got a live version of what remains one of the best of Andy’s lost tunes, “Let’s Get It On.” It features one of his best verses ever:

I’m sittin’ 12 ounces closer to GOD!
I got an ugly wife, and a dirty job.
It’s my constitutional RIGHT!
To have fun every Friday night.
Let’s Get It ON!

That, my friends, is sheer poetry.

As you can probably tell from the pictures, the  energy level at this show was off the charts!!

— Salvi C.