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The Bret
Michaels show kicked off just before 9:30 p.m. with an opening performance by
Cleveland’s own Billy Morris and his band, who offered a set of hard rocking
originals fueled by flashy guitar solos. Second on the bill, American
Anthem tore things up immediately with a tight cover of Thin Lizzy’s “Boys are
Back in Town,” threw in a few very strong originals, and then made way for
Bret Michaels to join in on the fifth song, Poison’s “Nothin' But a Good Time.”
Keeping the momentum going
Michaels appropriately continued on with “Menace to Society,” the opening cut
from his new solo album Songs of Life. And, while pre-tour interviews alluded
to a story-tellers type performance, nobody seemed to complain as Michaels flew
through a high energy set of new material, rarely heard Poison songs, and
acoustic versions of Poison’s signature ballads, seldom leaving time to catch
his breath, let alone tell the stories behind them.
However, Michaels did leave room for plenty of interaction with the audience.
In fact, when he doubled up on the acoustic with Poison classics “Something to
Believe In” and “Every Rose Has its Thorn,” the entire first verse of the latter
was sung in unison by the entire audience with little cue from Michaels. But
the real interaction came from the high energy party vibe that fans gave off in
reaction to favorites like “Talk Dirty to Me” and “Unkskinny Bop,” as well as
the equally raunchy solo tune “Loaded Gun.”
Unexpected highlights included noteworthy performances of Poison’s “Good Love”
and “I Won’t Forget You,” a revamped version of “Fallen Angel” with an awesome
two-part harmony introduction, and a high-energy finale of The Rollling Stone’s
“Honky Tonk Woman.”
Overall, it was refreshing to see that despite the stripped down club
performance, one of the most flamboyant rock stars still around delivered a
memorable, high-energy, and without a doubt fun performance backed by the very
talented Hollywood newcomers American Anthem that left everyone wanting more.
And for Pittsburgh at least, they are going to get it. The sold out show was
such a success, Michaels has opted to return to Pittsburgh’s Hard Rock Café for
an encore performance on December 5. For more information about the tour and
Songs of Life visit
www.bretmichaels.com.
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