by Susie Salva

80’s rock is alive and thriving as Poison and Ratt perform at the Gibson Amphitheater in Universal City. Many music critics wrote Poison off as a flash-in-the-pan, but they have proven themselves with staying power existing for 21 years. Who knew? They had the last laugh.

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Over the thundering amplifier AC/DC’s "Highway the Hell" blasted out warming up the audience as Poison hit the stage. Starting off with "Look What the Cat Dragged In" off of the album with the same title they energized the audience. Pyrotechnics blasted as the original band members Bret Michaels (vocals), Rikki Rockett (drums), CC DeVille (guitar) and Bobby Dall (bass) kicked into full gear. Using the latest trend, the band utilized a video screen before and during the show promoting their new CD, "Poison’D!" (EMI America/Capitol) which encompasses 13 tracks of ’80s cover tunes. The video also featured burlesque shows with very revealing women. Also, on the video screen was a commercial for Michaels reality show "Rock of Love", Sunday nights on VH1.

Michaels told the audience that they added "Ride the Wind" in the set because fans had requested it. Michael’s graciously addressed the audience explaining to the LA audience that they (their fans) had made the band dreams come true and they were thankful for the opportunity to perform for the crowd.

Next they performed the Romantics signature song, "What I Like About You", as the crowd were on their feet bopping around as the video screen showed the band singing the tune dressed in skinny white tie’s and black suits from that era. Then CC performed a searing guitar solo diving into a Ray Charles tune. CC is an outstanding guitar player who has been under-rated and now deserves his due. He also performed one of his originals, "I Hate Every Bone in Your Body But Mine".

Michaels dedicated "Something to Believe In", to all the men and women in the service protecting us and allowing us our freedom. Michaels did something to his hand before the show but was still able to strum his guitar.

The band were very entertaining performing "Your Mama Don’t Dance" with a killer harmonica solo courtesy of Michaels that then delved into an amazing drum solo as the drumset slid up automatically to the center of the stage and the video showed Rockett playing the drums overhead.

Poison finished out their set with "Unskinny Bop", a rousing version of their number one hit "Every Rose Has Its Thorn:, "Fallen Angel", "Talk Dirty to Me", and ending with show stopper, "Nothing But A Good Time", as an encore with confetti streaming over the audience. One things for sure…these guys know how to rock and they don’t disappoint.

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Ratt was the second act; Sweden’s Vains of Jenna opened the show to a nearly packed house. Most of the crowd filed in during Ratt’s set. Queen’s "We Will Rock You", blared over the PA just before Ratt took to the stage. While their performance was lackluster compared to Poison they still were enjoyable to hear Stephen Pearcy singing and the shredding guitar of Warren De Martini who has’t lost it over all these years. Other band members include Bobby Blotzer, Robbie Crane, John Corabi. Their set delivered all of their hits including "You Think You’re Tough", "Wanted Man", "Slip of the Lips", "Way Cool Junior", "Nobody Rides for Free", "Back for More", "Lack of Communication", featuring a strobe light show "Lay it Down", "You’re In Love", "Body Talk", and performing "Round and Round", as their encore.

All and all it was an exciting and entertaining summer concert. One thing that was pretty cool was that at the end of Poison’s set, Michaels came out front of the stage and told the audience that if they had a ticket for the show tonight they could take it to the show tomorrow night down in Irvine and get in free to that show. "It’s on me", he stated. Poison’s shows are always "Nothing But A Good Time". Check them out in your town.