Tell the World
Wednesday, June 20, 2007 at 01:19AM Last night in Cincinnati, I saw Poison/RATT/Vains of Jenna in concert. I had high hopes for the show, and I wasn't disappointed.
Naturally, Eric and Heather were along for the ride. We flew down the Interstate, trying to beat the clock in an attempt to catch Vains of Jenna.
Riverbend Music Center typically starts shows promptly, and we knew VOJ were set to perform at 7 p.m.
By some miracle, we made it the venue at 7, but had to fight with ticketing issues. I had a media/photo pass that I had to hunt down. By the time everything was straightened out, we missed most of Vains of Jenna, but we did hear their signature tune "Don't Give A Damn" and the Swedes looked right at home on the big stage. I'm told they only performed about 25 minutes.
Check out this picture: lead singer Lizzy DeVine wipes his brow. It was about 1400 degrees last night in the crowd, so I can imagine just how hot it must have felt on stage. VOJ also had some minor technical difficulties. As we were finding our seats, Lizzy said he was out of tune. Still, the band played as hard as they could. I say good for them.
Next up was RATT!
This I most excited about, as I've never seen RATT in concert. This is almost a full reunion tour with Stephen Pearcy singing vocals again. Remember, original bassist Juan Croucier refused to participate in the tour. Taking his place is Robbie Crane.
RATT sounded great during their hour-long set, but they played some deeper cuts than I was expecting. Of course, they still performed "Way Cool, Jr.," "Wanted Man," "Back for More" and "Lay it Down." Pearcy sounded especially good on "Body Talk" and "You're in Love."
They naturally closed with "Round and Round."
I kept hoping for my favorite "I Want a Woman" but it didn't happen. Maybe at Rocklahoma.
Check out this picture: Warren DeMartini playing a solo during RATT's set. Watching Warren play was pretty amazing and regular readers of this site know how I feel about John Corabi. He sounded pretty great too. Others said they thought RATT was either "boring" or "just o.k." I would disagree and say this is a gross understatement.
Then it was time!
I used my photo pass to get up close and personal to the Poison boys. Bret and Co. looked especially glam last night and I love that their show incorporated fire and other pyro.
Poison opened their set with "Look What the Cat Dragged In," followed quickly by "Ride the Wind." These are my two favorite Poison songs, so this made me very happy.
When the rest of the band took the stage, singer Bret Michaels actually rose from a "faux stage" of sorts. This got the crowd going in an immediate frenzy.
The band then went into a long set of covers from the new album Poison'd. Guitarist C.C. DeVille performed his solo song "I Hate Every Bone In Your Body (But Mine)," and Rikki Rockett gave a nice drum solo. At one point, his kit moved and lifted from the stage. It's nothing as elaborate as Tommy Lee does with Motley Crue, but it was still cool and the crowd seemed to like it.
Poison naturally performed "Every Rose Has Its Thorn," "Fallen Angel" and "Unskinny Bop." They closed with "Nothin' But a Good Time" and dropped a sea of confetti on the six thousand or so concert attendees.
I saw Poison last year with Cinderella, and I must say this was a much more entertaining show from start to finish. I love Cinderella, but VOJ and RATT made for a more interesting ticket, and Poison had elaborate stage props. Last year they relied on a video screen to project images of naked ladies. That's cool but I need a little fire, too.
At the very end of the show, Bret said "We'll see you all next summer."
Does this mean a Poison Summer Tour 2008 is already in the works?
Tomorrow on Bring Back Glam! an interview with tour openers Vains of Jenna!
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