The world of 80’s glam metal was about as excessive and decadent a time as the music world has ever seen (see any Mötley Crüe video for reference). Deviating from the “party/girls/booze all the time” platform of the moment would’ve been a death knell for most bands, but somehow, the bee-striped Bible-thumping bombast of Stryper ended up going double platinum, with the band dominating MTV and opening up for Bon Jovi and Ratt. Spending most of the 90’s in broken-up limbo, Stryper is back, touring behind a new album, The Covering, full of classic metal covers (Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, and Black Sabbath among them). Given Stryper’s penchant for theatrical production and frontman Michael Sweet’s epic voice atop these classic cuts, missing an intimate Stryper show sounds like hell on Earth. With Witchburn, 7 Horns 7 Eyes. GREGORY FRANKLIN
Wed., March 2, 8 p.m., 2011