Sunday
Jan082017
The Summer Poison Tour Inches Closer (Maybe)
Sunday, January 8, 2017 at 08:42AM Bret Michaels just did an interview where he said he hopes a summer Poison tour happens and that the run is on "his wish list." Well, it's on my wish list too because it doesn't feel like summer without Poison on the road, you know? They are a classic and consummate party band. Thinking of summer shows is getting me through this miserable stretch of cold weather. It was 8 degrees in southern Ohio yesterday. Just truly miserable.
It's been years (2012) since Poison was tour. Can you believe it's been that long?!
BRET MICHAELS On Possibility Of POISON Tour: 'We're Close To Making It Happen' https://t.co/jUhaPNNjUH pic.twitter.com/iED6PJor6z
— BLABBERMOUTH.NET (@BLABBERMOUTHNET) January 8, 2017
Reader Comments (24)
BK, I agree with you, they could lose some of the covers to their set list and always be sure they do "Cry Tough" and "I Want Action" as well as their other hits but to insinuate they're a country band is off. I saw them point blank on their last tour and they absolutely blew the doors off. You must be thinking of Brett Michaels' solo routine as Bluegrass, not POISON. He has taken the whole hick Cowboy thing to a whole new level.
And, Kevon! I was thinking the same thing! Ratt AND Poison SHOULD tour together. But not with as*holes TESLUG! And I wouldn't be surprised if RATT and POISON feel the same way! Bahahahaha!!!
I also made a correction to my list of favorites of 2016! Please add or troll!
The weather here is the opposite to you Allyson. 108 (42) over the last few days.
More realistic as 3rd band is Firehouse, Trixter or maybe Steelheart. Any of those and this is a great bill in my opinion. And add Cry Wolf! Steve McKnight needs to be out there playing!
And please please please Poison, play more than 10 songs with 2 covers ... those of us that have memories from 1988 are sick and tired of that. But we'll still go, just to see/hear CC mostly!
Call me crazy, but how about Jackyl? Their latest album, "Rowyco" is pretty impressive. In fact. it should be a lesson for POISON that, if you try hard enough, you can make yourself relevant again. RATT gets it, especially if they deliver something on par with "Infestation"!
p.s. RIP, King! Badland, I don't know if you've seen it but the last footage of Crosby playing guitar was captured in the studio with Juan Croucier shortly before his passing and is on YouTube.
Ratt? Well, certain parts of their act could give Poison a run for their money! I always enjoy Faster Pussycat, even the hybrid-Newlydeads-Fascist-Slowed-Down(e) version that currently tours (Hey, Nordahl! Watch out for those speaker stacks!!!). Jackyl is always fun, but a bit far afield of the sound (same with Y&T).
Thing is, and I was easing into saying this based on a point Metalboy! made, Poison is no longer relevant. They are even less relevant than Twisted Sister. Why? Michaels co-opted their brand as his, as him. Proof? Our resident Clueless Pontiff, bkcauseIsaidsoallday, managed to merge Michaels's solo band into the band Poison.
Okay, that isn't proof. But it points to the fact that Michaels is now firmly in control of when and if the band ever plays (beyond corp. gigs), all the while setting himself up as some sort of K-Mart version of Jimmy Buffet and Sammy Hagar, hawking his down-market wares to curious customers while wrapping himself in so many America flags, bandanas, and shirts with his face on them that he looks like an LG Dryer stuck on a loop. And do you trust a guy who teases a summer tour with Def Lep, only to have members of that band go "Huh?" I also wonder: who controls the band in terms of legalities? Not that it matters really. The rest of the guys gave a good showing as The Special Guests (gee, I wonder if that was a pointed name?) with Brandon Gibbs two years ago. But that doesn't sell a tour (or could it?) or place them anywhere near the top of a festival gig. So Michaels is, for all practical concerns, not merely the "voice" of the band; he is the band, save when he says so and decides to wipe that "good times and happy vibes" contrivance off his pie-hole area.
And let's say this happens. You get a sell-out mid- and top-market package tour that does well, often under the banner of some local station's annual "bash." Awesome. Fun times. Then what? I bet not much more than a return to the now-standard form. Which is a shame. Because the other members of that band deserve better. That being said, they have some blame too, allowing themselves to become "on call" musicians waiting for Prince Balding to call. Thankfully, they have all crafted other careers and ventures that seem to hold them in good stead. But in terms of what fans want? A return to the studio and something approximating what Accept, Ratt, and others have done in recent years? Nah.
Michaels doesn't deserve adulation at this point. And the mere act of supporting this sort of thing creates a paradox: you go to see a band you really want to see while also confirming all the worst aspects of what led you to want to see then again so badly. A metal version of Heller's Catch-22 in some ways. In other ways, one of the worst, most disingenuous versions of LSD to ever cross my pupils. To me, Michaels is a Sixx in sheep's clothing.
DJ! Good call on Hardcore Superstar. Reckless Love would be cool, too.
HIM! Particularly priceless commentary, especially your hilarious descriptive insights characterizing Brett Michaels' cheapening of the POISON brand and all your other observations surrounding it.
Still, I'm with Shawn. The classic line-up of the band is the perfect delivery system to hear C.C. DeVille, the real star of the show. Having Michaels as a back up vocalist to C.C.'s guitar is needed only for authenticity's sake.
Shawn, your suggestions of Britny Fox or Junkyard are also worth considering. I would add Dangerous Toys to that equation. I just wonder if RATT or POISON might have concerns about being shown up by such acts, as the singers all three of those acts can out scream either Pearcy or Michaels, particularly Michaels.
Snoot, you may be right about Faster Pussycat. Maybe they could pull it off. I've seen 'em 8 times in the last 7 years and, honestly, they only really had it together once out of all those shows but their schtick is sloppy Sleaze Metal, so I guess it works. Trouble is, the only original member is Taime Downe...
... whereas POISON has all the members of their classic line-up and RATT has most of theirs plus an A-List replacement for Crosby (RIP) in Carlos Cavazo who also contributed a couple of songs to "Infestation" and will hopefully also be doing so for their forthcoming album...
It kinda makes you wish for a band of that era with mostly original members, I'm just not personally into Winger or Trixter. Maybe Firehouse but their too squeaky clean. I like Steelheart but again, it's the same problem I have with Faster Pussycat -- only one original member, though I will say, it's not as much of a factor, because Matajevic is Steelheart but he can actually sing, something Downe never could, as he sounds more like a cat getting run over by a mufflerless '72 Chevy Vega as it hits a little old lady.
BK, you may be right about Jackyl not quite fitting in but it's not so much that the style is different, which it is, yet still kinda works because it's the same era. It's the fact that Jackyl could steal the show, as well.
All of this leads me back to the question, do they even need a third band?