"Now she found herself in the fast lane livin day to day
Turned her back on her best friends, yeah
And let her family slip away
Just like a lost soul
Caught up in the Hollywood scene
All the parties and the limousines"
So Saturday night, I saw POISON live and in concert at the Gibson Ampitheater at Universal Studios.
Overall, it was a rocking time. The scene was just awesome at Universal, and that was part of what made the concert itself so much fun. After having now gone to see a few shows at Gibson, I can safely say that the pre-concert stop at the Hard Rock cafe is an essential part of the experience. As fellow hair-metal rocker Liz and I stepped into the Hard Rock, it was like stepping into a party straight outta 1986. Sure, the leather pants were a bit tighter and the feathered hair a bit thinner, but the tunes were as classic as ever. Seeing a bunch of late-30's guys sporting Ratt T-shirts, loudly singing the words to Skid Row's "I'll Remember You" as it blared over the restaurant's sound-system, as the awesomely 80's video played on the monitors overhead -- well, is there any better way to pre-game for a Poison concert? This was the place to be - a mix of aging rockers and new members of The Cause. I saw a surprising number of people my age, some even decked out in over-the-top 80's hairband costume. I saw a mother with two young kids, all three wearing Poison t-shirts. Yes, Poison is now a family affair. It's funny - telling someone like my dad that I am seeing a Poison concert probably sounds kind of dangerous to someone who skipped over the 80's completely. But really, here in 2007, it's a pretty harmless affair other than the copious amounts of cleavage on display and the occasional waft of pot smoke. But during the ballads, there are a heck of a lot more cell-phones being held up nowadays than cigarette lighters.
So anyways ... the concert itself -- like I said, a lot of the fun was just taking in the scene. People in outlandish costumes, Brett Michaels-style faux cowboy hats, vintage concert T's, etc. When we first got to our seats, the opener-opener band, Vains of Jenna was playing, and they were actually pretty rocking. They were a young band but kind of like The Darkness, they were totally modeled after the glam-rock bands of the 80's, and their sound could have been right out of that era. They played really well though, had a lot of energy and charisma, and they even did a kickass cover of Tom Petty's "Refugee." (Poison also covered Petty later in the night with a version of "I Need To Know" - who knew I'd hear two Tom Petty songs at an 80's metal concert!).
Then there was the opener, Ratt. Now to me, not that I'm an expert or anything, and I wasn't really listening to any of these bands in their actual heyday ... but, to me, Ratt is basically a one-hit-wonder band. They're the guys whose one big song, Round and Round, is on all of the Monsters of Rock-esque compilation CD's. But man, little did I realize that apparently, of all the big 80's metal groups, Ratt for some reason has a pretty hardcore fan following. Now why someone would be so into Ratt as opposed to far superior 80's rock like The Scorpions or even Skid Row, I don't know. To me they are on the same level as a Winger or Quiet Riot, maybe even below, since none of their songs have the iconic appeal of a "She's Only Seventeen" or "Metal Health." But a coworker of mine told me that she loves Ratt and was mostly going to the show to see them over Poison. Who knew that such a group of Ratt-heads existed? So Liz and I decided that we'd give Ratt a chance, and see if they lived up to the hype.
My conclusion was this: Ratt is not that great. Now, after reading some reviews of the show, I found out that a.) there have been some lineup changes to Ratt over the years, and I'm not sure if that came into play here (anyone care to fill me in?), b.) Some of the songs they played were newer, 90's-era material that isn't up to the quality of the older stuff, and c.) even the die-hard Ratt fans seem to be acknowledging that this wasn't exactly the band's best performance, and didn't cpare that favorably to their shows from back in the day.
To me, my reaction was a mixture of these complaints. For one thing, the band seemed a little off. The singer's voice was a bit shot, and at times they seemed out of step. Secondly, to me, most of the songs just are not that catchy or memorable, aside from "Round and Round." When they finally played their signature hit to close things out after what seemed like a really long set (they played for a whole hour), they finally managed to get the joint jumpin'. But I (and most of the crowd), was more than ready for the main event.
Now, look, I don't put Poison on the same level as some other, let's call them "classic rock" bands. I'll listen to their greatest hits any day, but beyond that I don't think they have too deep a catalog. And I acknowedge that, behind the long hair and guitars, they are basically a pop band with a slightly harder edge. But man, they do what they do better than most, and luckily for us, they seem to be playing, here in 2007, at pretty much the top of their game. Because, Poison got on stage, unleashed all their hits to the delight of the crowd, did a few excellent covers to boot, brought tons of energy, and basically KICKED MY ASS.
Yes my friends, POISON ROCKED. And they really exceeded my expectations to a degree. I wasn't expecting, for example, a series of intense guitar and drum solos from CC Deville and Rikki Rockett (two names that basically scream "I'm in an 80's hair-metal band!" - either that or "I'm a hairdresser!"). But man, CC took the spotlight at one point and positively wailed on his guitar, showing moves that put the Guitar Hero-lovin' metalheads to shame. I wouldn't have guessed it, but CC is legit. The man can flat-out play, and he's still got it. The same can be said for drummer Rikki R. Seated in a mobile drumset that hovered across the stage before being raised up towards the rafters, Rikki played the drums with Garth Algar-style abandon, bringing down the house with his lighting-quick moves.
As for the songs themeselves ... Brett Michaels, the iconic singer who now stars in his own VH-1 reality show, proved to be more than just a washed up talent looking to reclaim the spotlight. Brett looked anything but washed-up. He was dancing and jumping around the stage, and his voice was in top form, making all the songs sound great. The man can actually sing, and it shows on many of Poison's ballads, but also on the more up-tempo songs, where Michael's clean vocals give the tunes a much more slick, melodious sound than many of his peers.
And from the moment Poison said "go," getting onstage to the sounds of GNR's "Welcome to the Jungle," the hits kept a'rollin'. Unskinny Bop. Every Rose Has It's Thorn. I Won't Forget You. Look What the Cat Dragged In. Somethin' to Believe In. Ride The Wind. Talk Dirty To Me. I Want Action. Energetic and fun covers of That's What I Like About You, Your Mama Don't Dance, and I Need to Know. An encore of Nothing But a Good Time that brought the house down.
My favorite tune by Poison and for me, the highlight of the show, was definitely Fallen Angel. I love that song, to me it is the quintissential Hollywood 1980's Sunset Strip hair-metal song, and man, Poison did not disappoint with that one - in fact they blew it out of the water, and had the crowd whipped into a frenzy, in maybe their best performance of the night. Awesome stuff.
Of course, the ballads were all well done as well. Every Rose was good as was expected, as was Somethin to Believe in, which Michaels took time to dedicate to the troops. Even when, at one point, a generator blew and the lighting rig shut down, Poison went out there and gave it their all, and seemed to be both having a great time and really gelling as a band.
Overall, a great show, highlighted by a crazy scene that took I Love the 80's to a whole other level, and yet, at the same time, it was no mere nostalgia trip, as Poison seemed as energetic and fun as ever.
TV STUFF:
- Just want to give a quick review to this week's edish of ABC's MASTERS OF SCIENCE FICTION. Last week, I raved about the episode and how it was one of the best things I'd seen on TV in a while. This week, I was particularly excited for Episode 2, because it featured two of the most iconic television actors of scifi - William B. Davis and Terry O'Quinn. And I wasn't let down -- both actors did characteristically superb jobs with the material. I've seen Davis in a handful of things since the X-Files ended its run, but this is probably my favorite thing I've seen him in since then. The former Cigarette-Smoking-Man played the President of the United States with a great mix of arrogance, gravitas, and ultimately weakness. I loved Davis' performance here and it was his character arc that in the end provided the episode's best moments. Similarly, O'Quinn was perfectly cast here as a retired military officer who had specialized in debunking apparent reports of UFO activity. O'Quinn has made a career of playing men whose faith is put to the test, and he did another great job here in that same mold.
Basically, the episode concerned a series of seemingly extraterrestrial beings who seem to fall out of the sky across the globe. The beings, all in a mystrious, comatose-like state, are examined and analyzed, but little can be discerned about them, except that those who stare into their eyes fall into an unexplainable state of induced slumber. Soon, the oddness increases exponentially. People who have come into contact with the beings begin to be the conduits for cryptic messages - "We are Watching," etc. The twist comes when it seems that the beings are not exactly extraterrestrial in origin, but divine. Skeptical, Davis as the Prez takes measures to destroy them, while other nations of the world, believing they are witnessing some kind of message from God, are willing to listen and comply with the otherworldly messages.
At first a little slow to pick up steam, I was once again riveted by episode's end. The scale and scope of the story eventually grew to epic proportions, and some of the imagery on display here was very memorable and iconic. Like last week, this was a very political tale, but I again appreciated the skilled storytelling combined with an interesting commentary on the current state of global politics. Like last week, I was amazed to find how relevent and of-the-moment this story was compared to most of what is on TV, especially in the realm of scifi. Sure, it was a bit heavy-handed at times, but again, this episode comes from the old-school - like The Twilight Zone, the writing and acting is very stage-like, melodramatic, written with a literary flair and not necessarily a realistic one. And I love that. I'm sick of "realistic" dialogue in every show. Sometimes I want to just see talking heads yelling at each other in theatrical fashion. Again, Davis and O'Quinn each did great jobs with the material, and this was certainly an interesting twist on the whole government-reacts-with-unnecessary-hostility-towards-benevolent-aliens subgenre of scifi stories. Good stuff - once again, it's a shame that this series can't get better hype or a real primetime timeslot - it's shaping up to be the best television of the summer by far.
My Grade: A-
- Finally, I'd like to express my sadness over the untimely passing of one of the great comic book artists of the modern era, who shockingly passed away this morning at the young age of 44. MIKE WIERINGO was one of the most influential artists of the last 20 years. He helped bring a hybrid anime style to the American mainstream, and countless artists adopted the unique look that 'Ringo brought to comics like The Flash and Fantastic 4. He was one of the first artists whose name I really began to pay attention to as a young reader in the early 90's, and many times I sat down with a Wieringo-drawn issue at my desk and tried to emulate his clean lines and the graceful sense of motion that was embodied in his figures. The amazing thing about his pencils was that they seemed so simple at first glance - they were the kind of drawings that a kid like me at the time saw and thought, "hmm, I could draw like that." But when I actually put pencil to paper, I realized that there was this great intangible quality to Wieringo's lines - each figure was kinetic, active, alive. You saw this in his work on Superman and Fantastic 4, in his remarkable creation Tellos, perhaps the pinnacle of his artwork, and in his years as penciller on The Flash, on which his run with Mark Waid may be THE definitive run on the character, ever. It is sad that this great artist is now gone, especially when he was so young and likely had many more great works left in him.
- Alright, that's all I've got for today. Viva la 80's and keep on rockin'.
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