Poison Concert Review June 5, 1999

How do I do this?! How do I sum up one of the most wonderful nites of my life in an email?!

I guess I should start at the beginning... The concert was LA Guns/Great White/Ratt/Poison. They played in that order. It was an outdoor venue and there was pretty much NO shade in weather that had a humidity factor of upper 90's. AKA The weather was hot, humid, and hellish! (The 3 H's of Indiana summers!) Those 3 H's are why I've NEVER gone to an outdoor concert before this! It took Poison to get me out there sweatin' my booty off! (I have low heat tolerance...)

First, I had never seen LA Guns and really didn't know what to expect. I gotta tell ya, even being in the horrid heat of Indiana and in the SUN, they were workin' it hard up there! They were energetic and really quite good! I was very impressed!

Then Great White was on. The sun was starting to finally go down enough to give a little shade to GW. This was my 3rd time seeing GW. They were good, as always. And I admired Audie Desbrow (the drummer) as always! He is very good! On the "Twice Shy" tour (1st time I saw them), he had the coolest drum rack ever in the history of mankind!!! I was drooling all over myself about *that* one. Too bad I haven't seen it again since then... Anyway, they played 2 songs off their soon-to-be-released album. The songs were "Wooden Jesus" and "Rollin' Stoned." Good tunes!

I had never seen Ratt and, no offence to any Ratt fans, but I wasn't that horribly impressed by them. I think part of the problem might have been that the mixing wasn’t quite right. Stephen was too hard to understand and his voice came across almost screeching. Again, diggin' on the drummer. Bobby Blotzer did a fine job!

(Can you tell yet that I'm a drummer?)

Then... POISON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My 3rd time seeing Poison, and for the 3rd time, they opened w/"Look What the Cat Dragged In." Not that I'm complaining!! I LOVE that song! It's my fave off of "Look..." But they don’t play my fave off of "Open up..." which is "Back to the Rocking Horse" enough. *pout* No, not really pouting! HOW could I *POSSIBLY* pout about ANYTHING when seeing Poison?! (Have I mentioned I love Poison?)

I think the set was a little shorter than it normally would've been, but Bret has strep-throat or tonsillitis or something and dr's orders were actually that they were supposed to *cancel* shows till he got better, so again, NOT complaining! I appreciate how much he's done just not to disappoint fans. And he sounded GREAT! I never woulda known he was sick!

There for a minute, I thought they were gonna do "Bastard Son of a Thousand Blues" or "Poor Boy Blues" cuz Bret had the harmonica out, but no luck... ~faux pout again~ *G* I must share... During "Look But You Can't Touch" Bret was bein' quite the comedian. "And she said 'Bret, you got a small dick, thin legs, and you ain't lookin' so good.' So I stuffed my pants pretty good tonite to try to fool her. It ain't much, but I have fun with it." LOL!!! The whole place was just DYIN'! (Have I mentioned that I LOVE Poison?!)

Bobby has cut his hair off (which I've actually known for quite a while, but am sharing for all those who didn't know yet). He was the same Bobby though! Actually, he seemed a little more energetic than the other times I've seen Poison. Woo-Hoo! He really looked like he was having a fantaSHtic time!

And CC!!! **GASP** Be still my beating heart! Apparently, he had a drug problem a few yrs ago and got kicked out of the band. ~actual pout~ But now, he's clean, and he looks sooooooo good!!! He looks so HEALTHY!! Now, I always thought CC was the hottie of the group. I know... blasphemy. Bret's supposed to be the one everyone wants, but I was always just attracted to CC for some reason!

Now, back in the day (as in during all the last albums) CC was a dresser. Meaning, he dressed himself in a LOT of clothes! My friends and I commented on how you could never get a butt shot of CC cuz he always had long shirts on! You were lucky to even get a bicep! Well, the boy came out w/his hair cut and down, lookin' OH-SO fine!! And he was wearing a sleeveless shirt that was cut at the bottom so we could even see a little tummy and back! YES! A butt shot!! I was happy about THAT! Then, they all go offstage (I believe for Rikki's drum solo?) and when he came back, his shirt was OFF!!! *GASP!* *PANT* *DROOL* He looks SOOOO healthy! I found out he runs 4 miles everyday! I am so proud of him! He has totally turned over a new and *wonderfully* healthy leaf! And to be quite honest, I wanted to lick his wonderfully toned stomach till it was twitchin'... Is that wrong? *G*

His playing was great, and he was a crazy man, as usual!! Actually, I think he was even a little crazier than the other times I saw him! What does this tell us kiddies? That you don't have to do drugs to have a helluva good time!

There was a keyboardist with them. I kinda found it odd to have keyboards being played through the whole schpiel, but it wasn't intrusive at all! Very well done!

And Rikki... What can I say other than SWOOOOON?!?!! Now, I don't swoon for Rikki in the same way I swoon for CC. I swoon for Rikki in a way that many wouldn't consider swooning. See, Poison was my first concert ever. This was back in '88. I always had rhythm, but I thought drumming would be sooo BORING! "boom, chink, boom, chink." ~bleh!~ Boring! Then Rikki did his drum solo. WOW! I was *COMPLETELY* blown away! "WOW! Drums can kick ass!!! They can be actual FUN!! I WANT TO DO THAT!!!" And so I *did* do that. I saved my money and pinched my pennies till I had enough to buy a very old, very crappy set of Rogers with a hi-hat, crash, and ride cymbals. I took my lessons and ended up playing w/a few groups of people. Never had a paying gig or anything, but I truly did have the best time of my life during this time. And Rikki *TOTALLY* was the inspiration that launched it. (BTW, speaking of "launch," Rikki IS a rocket scientist! Drummers kick ass!)

I don't get a chance to drum much any more, but as odd as it might sound, being a drummer gets in your soul. It becomes part of who you are. I am a drummer. Am I currently playing? No. Does this make me not a drummer? No. So basically, Rikki has influenced who I've become. I just adore him... *SWOOOON* He also is very into animal rights! YAY! Drummer w/a conscious! Plus, did I mention he IS a rocket scientist?! Smart man! I love smart men... *SWOON*

And I'm a smart, vegetarian drummer too! Weeee!!!

Alrighty now! So, the concert was over at 11:00. We're asking for who we were told to ask for, but no one knows what or who we're talking about!! ~grrrr~ Someone, come on! I'm supposed to be meeting Rikki!!!

My friend Rob was told that so far, members of Rikki's fan club had gotten to meet the whole band!!! Can we say "Orgasm"? I was wearing my awesome Poison shirt that I had gotten made years ago. It has the Poison logo at the top and the 3 album’s names (the ones made w/C.C.) under that, done real cool.

Anyway, so we finally are told to sit down in the front couple rows and wait cuz they have to shower off and come off the rush a little, which I can *totally* understand!

So Rob and I are in the front row, kinda in the middle-right. And after quite a while (not that I'm complaining!) Rikki, Bret, and Stu (keyboardist) came out!!! Rikki and Bret both started out on the right, and Stu went over to the left and started. Since no one really knew him, he moved pretty quick. Stu and Rikki got to us almost the same time. Which was WAY too much for me to handle! OVERLOAD!!!

Stu said he liked my shirt and asked where I got it. I told him I had it made and he said "cool" or something. I had him sign my shirt. He asked my name and he wrote "Vicki, great shirt! Stu Simone" He didn't write special messages to anyone else around me! I feel so special!! I asked him if he was a full-fledged member now or just for the tour. He said he was just for the tour "kinda like the 5th Beatle." I told him something like "yeah, but you're probably a lot more useful (or something) than the 5th Beatle!" And we laughed. WEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!

Then Rikki was right there! Rob tells him, "this girl is your biggest fan" or something letting him know I LOVE him!!

So he comes over to me and goes to shake my hand. I said "Hi. May I kiss your hand?" I just wanted to so much! I mean, his hands hold the drumsticks!!! He kinda chuckled and said yeah, so I kissed his hand!! Then he says "well since you kissed my hand, now I have to kiss yours." *GASP* *PANT* I told him somewhere around then that I might have trouble forming complete sentences and he laughed and smiled! I asked him to sign my shirt and told him he could sign anywhere he wanted, to move stuff (I was wearing my sticker-patch and laminated membercard) if he wanted, whatever. He was like, "Well, I *have* to sign the boob!" I said "I can understand that!!" So he signed on the top of my left boob and a couple other things that I'd brought.

Then I told him how they were my first concert ever and that I thought drumming would be so boring w/the whole "boom, chink, boom, chink" but how his solo was just incredible! How it was so good, I realized how FUN drums could be and that I started playing drums and it led to the best time in my life. And I thanked him. And he thanked me too (I think) *G* and was just so nice to me the whole time. I just adore him! He was really nice when every once in a while, I'd just stop and grab my heart and take a deep breath! I think I made him chuckle! But that's ok, cuz he looks so great when he's smiling! Plus, that means I'm making Rikki HAPPY!! Woo-Hoo!!!

I had to let him go to others, but I think I did ok. I forgot to tell him I'm a vegetarian, that I appreciate how active he is for animal rights, that I enjoyed making it into the finals of the first CyberVixen contest, how his Kick Rocket was so cool, how much I loved the Sisters of Mercy comic, and to ask what Unskinny Bop meant. (In the comic, every time he'd tease us in the editor's place about "oh, next issue we'll tell you" "Oh, this issue we're out of room" etc) I mean, I know what it MEANS, but I wonder where it came from. There's gotta be a story behind it. I may have forgotten a lot, but I *was* able to make sentences! My best friend asked me "With subjects AND verbs?" "Yeah! I think I even managed a few adjectives!" He was so close to me, I felt like I should back up! It's like with royalty or something, I didn't want to be crowding him. I just respect him soooooooo much!!

Anyway, then Bret got to us. He got to Rob first (cuz he was coming from that direction) and Rob asked him something and Bret answered. I'm like "ROB! You're making him talk! Stop it! He's not supposed to talk!" And ya know how you did when you were a kid about pretending like you had a key and you lock your mouth and throw away the key? Well, Bret looks over at me and did that! *SWOON* But he kept talking! He told Rob how Poison's been friends w/ everyone on the tour for yrs and how fun that makes it. I can imagine!

Then he came to me. I wrote a parody of Unskinny Bop called Argyle Socks back in 1990. I had printed out a nice copy and had him (and Rikki) sign it so I can frame it. I told Bret what it was and he said he wished he had time to read it, then ::wah-lah!:: I pull out a copy just for him! I gave it to him and told him he could read it whenever he got a chance. He folded it up and put it in his pocket. But stupid me, I forgot to put my email address or phone number or anything on it! Not that I thought he’d really contact me about it or anything, but still…

And to recap why I didn't want Bret talking, he isn't supposed to be talking OR singing! But he IS singing and I want him to take care of that voice and throat. What can I say? I'm a caring person. I've always been that way. Plus, now I’m a mom, so I've just gotten more protective of people.

I asked him a yes or no question, cuz I don't want him talking, and he started to talk! I was like "SHHH! You're not supposed to be talking! Shake your head yes or no." He did the locking his lips and throwing away the key again! Did I mention how cute he looked when he did that? I asked if CC and Bobby were gonna come out and he said "I sure hope so."

OH! I remember when he talked to me and I told him not to talk the second time! I was taking a pic of him and Rob and I about fell over the chairs! He was like "Oh! Be careful! Don't break your leg or anything!" And I'm "SHHHH! It's ok! If I break my leg, I'll match my best friend. She's got a broken leg now, so it's fine." He did the lock and key thing when I told him to be quiet or I was gonna have to follow him around mothering him. And I said "I'm a mother, so I can mother really good!" Yes, I was mothering Bret Michaels. I can’t help it; it’s like a compulsion to take care of people.

So then we were just hanging out hoping against hope that CC and Bobby would come out! I was *REALLY* wanting CC to come out so I could just tell him how good he looked! And how proud I was that he was obviously so healthy now! Plus, I wanted to touch his chest! MMMRROOoooOOWWWRRR!!!!

As we're waiting, the bassist for LA Guns came out and we got his autograph. Also, one of the guitarists for Great White came out and we got his autograph too.

By that time, Rikki was at the end of the row, which is where the bassist and guitarists were. I told Rob I forgot to have Rikki sign my Club Rockett membership badge. He's like, "Well go do it girl!" So I did. I felt kinda pushy, but I just couldn't resist! Cool thing: He saw me off a little bit and said "It was nice meeting you!" *SWOON* This means he recognized me from about an hour and tons of fans ago!! I got him to sign my badge-thingy. I didn't talk to him much though, cuz I'd already bugged him and he's like royalty! I WANT to talk to him, but I don't want to bug!

Anyway, so Rob and I finally give up that CC and Bobby aren't comin' out. We decide to kinda walk around the venue since neither of us had been there before. As we're goin' off to the side, Rikki was talking to some fans and signing stuff and all and I couldn't resist. I yelled over there "Rikki kicks ass! WOOOO! I love ya!" And he yelled at me "I love you too!" And he made out each word very clearly. Not just throwin' 'em all together like "I have to say it back now." But very deliberate. Or maybe I’m just imagining that, but it’s good memory to have.

I was really disappointed not to get to meet CC. I can't express how much I wanted that. But I am STILL on cloud 489! WAAAAAY past cloud 9! It was absolutely incredible to meet Rikki! Absolutely a dream come true! Ya know, they say God will grant the desires of your heart, and He sure did! It was an absolutely fantastic nite!!! I got home about 4am. And it's a bad sign when the birds are awake and singing when you get home! But, it was all worth it!

Unfortunately, none of my pictures came out. But I have my memories, and they can’t take those away…

Elated Vik

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