POISON, RATT, USANA Amphitheater, West Valley City, Saturday
WEST VALLEY CITY — You knew what the first song was going to be before they started playing. You knew what the last song was going to be, as well. Heck, you probably already had a good idea what every song in between would be.
But somehow, Poison still manages to throw one of the biggest rock 'n' roll parties of the summer, and the crowd still gives them a great response.
The annual Poison summer tour made its Utah stop on Saturday. Giving the traditional one-two opener of "Look What the Cat Dragged In" and "I Want Action," Bret Michaels and company gave their typical high-enthusiasm performance, complete with plenty of pyrotechnics and lots of running around the stage. This year's show also included a video screen showing pretty much what you would expect from a band fronted by the star of VH1's "Rock of Love" reality show.
Michaels, who reportedly broke his left hand recently and appeared to be wearing a soft cast or brace, showed no sign of slowing as he played guitar for "I Won't Forget You," "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" and "Fallen Angel." The always personable Michaels seemed on the verge of losing his voice, however, near the ending barrage of superhits, including "Talk Dirty to Me" and "Nothin' But a Good Time."
Guitarist CC DeVille and bassist (and Utah homeowner) Bobby Dall were their typical high-energy selves. Rikki Rockett provided the freshest-sounding moment of the evening with several new twists on his drum solo.
The biggest "welcome-back" moment, however, came from the return of the Stephen Pearcy-led Ratt to the stage for the first time in a decade. Although Pearcy, who has a voice that sounds like he gargles with pea gravel every morning, seemed like he was simply going through the motions at times, musically Ratt was the rock highlight of the night.
Opening with "Dangerous but Worth the Risk," Ratt delivered 60 minutes of greatest hits. Picking up steam as the set progressed, Ratt ended with a string of solid songs, each a better highlight than the last, including "Nobody Rides for Free," "Back for More," a blistering "Lack of Communication," "Lay It Down," "You're in Love" and the song that launched the band to superstardom, "Round and Round."
Warren DeMartini was almost worth the price of admission alone as the guitar wizard showed he hadn't lost a step since the band's 1981 debut.
E-mail: preavy@desnews.com