STUDIO CITY, CA — Seeing Poison every summer is almost like a mandatory activity. It’s almost exciting knowing that seeing a good rock show is almost like a guarantee every summer. Whether it’s the Live, Raw & Uncut Summer Tour or their recurring Rock Never Stops Tour, you go into every show knowing that you are in for a treat – and your old school hair metal bands are just another treat in the menu.
Jake: This happens to be my favorite part of every single Poison tour, the fact that they always travel with other bands from the 80’s that are worth seeing. A wonderful change of pace from the usual no-name opening bands helps your throat become sore (in a good way!) after singing along to so many songs.
After much headache getting into the venue, and after passing hundreds of women wearing the Bret Michaels’ signature leopard cowboy hat, we made it to the venue just in time to see my all-time favorite vocalist, Sebastian Bach, hit the stage with “Back In The Saddle” off his new album Angel Down and let me just say that guy has got the best pipes of any lead singer in the whole planet – hands down. 
“Stuck Inside” and “Love is a Bitchslap,” both tunes that he sang with Axl Rose on the album were absolutely flawless live and the audience was singing right along with him.
Jake: This shows that rock ‘n roll is alive and well. Most ‘new’ songs usually give crowd members the opportunity to use the bathroom, but not tonight. We knew the words, and we loved every second of it!
Much to the delight of fans, Bach sang old legendary Skid Row tunes, such as “18 and Life” and “I Remember You”, during which he accidentally tripped on an amp and fell right on his back in the middle of the song. He laid down on the floor seemingly stunned, then broke out in laughter, asking his crew if they had recorded it so that they could put that on the DVD. Like the badass that he is, he stood right up and kept singing the rest of the song, laughing at his own self.
Closing with “Youth Gone Wild” the auditorium sang along and belted out the words to a song that once was the anthem of our generation.
Dokken was up next and though I am not much of a fan. I did recognize a couple of the songs but I better let Jake here tell you about them because I think that’s when I started drifting off and decided to stop by the merchandise booth.
Jake: I’ve seen Dokken 3 times over the past month, and this was by far their worst performance. First of all, they shouldn’t be called Dokken. Even though the title is lead singer Don Dokken’s surname, he is the only remaining member from the majority of the band’s life. It just doesn’t seem right.
Well, Mr. Dokken didn’t seem to bring it tonight. The band did a fine job delivering classic hits, such as “Alone Again”, “Into The Fire”, and “Dream Warriors”, but Don lacked the energy needed to deliver a good rock show. Honestly, their performance would’ve fit more comfortably in a smaller club setting, instead of in front of a few thousand rockers that were all hyped up after Bach’s set and were anticipating a memorable night with headliner’s Poison. But despite the negative vibe, the audience still enjoyed the band’s closing song “In My Dreams”
Alas, the band that everyone was waiting for: Poison got onstage opening with “Look What The Cat Dragged In,” bit of a cliche if you ask me, but a good way to open the show, which would be the last night of the tour.
Bret Michaels promoting his Rock of Love 3 show featured video clips of the show between songs seemed to be in great spirits, as he strummed his guitar and melted the hearts of every girl in the front row as he sang his metal ballads.
CC DeVille continues to be a crazy, hyper guitar player doing guitar tricks and licks as pyrotechnics lit up the stage. He would often parade around the walkway behind the stage as Rikki Rockett seemed lost trying to keep the fans from falling asleep during his drum solo, which seemed like a really bad impersonation of Tommy Lee’s solo during the Girls Girls Girls tour. 
Jake: That’s pretty harsh on Rikki! True, he could’ve been a little more original, but he still is an exceptional musician who is great behind the drums. I sort of feel sorry for him, it’s too hard for us to avoid comparing what he does to the notorious Tommy Lee.
You know, as entertaining as it is to see Poison every summer, as I mentioned earlier I wish they would do something different with their shows. I was super excited when they performed “Ride The Wind” off of Flesh & Blood album because I love that song, it was one of the very first songs I learned how to play on guitar when I was in high school. But aside from that, nothing else really changes from year to year. They play the same songs, with the same setup, with the same pyrotechnics, and the same set list. I love Poison, don’t get me wrong, but this time around it’s almost as if I had burned out on them. I know that if things were different it would have been exciting again rather than to see the same show again for the 6th consecutive year.
Jake: With this being the 8th time I’ve seen Poison since 2003, I agree that it would be nice if they mixed it up more often. They have more hits than they ever play live, I would love it if they threw in songs like “Life Love’s A Tragedy” or “Look But You Can’t Touch”. Just once I would like to see a show that was aimed towards fans of Poison, instead of the general public. But still, they continue to throw their hearts out on the stage with their usual hits. The love they have for their music, and the way they always play to the fans shows that they do enjoy what they do. This type of attitude definitely makes it an enjoyable experience. It’s hard not to appreciate the feel-good lyrics to “Talk Dirty To Me”, and you can’t resist raising your fist and dancing with a smile on your face when you hear the opening guitar on “Fallen Angel”. That is why I continue to return to every Poison concert I have the opportunity to see.
Next summer….will I go again? Will I pass? It would be nice to see something different for sure but lately, specially the past couple years, it has been about the bands opening for Poison whom have gotten my attention (and praise) and not the headlining band. At times, friends and I have discussed how the opening bands (such as Cinderella) should be the headlining band instead.
So rock never stops tour 2009……are you ready for it?
Review co-written by Erika Remlinger & Jake Roberts
Photos by Jake Roberts
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