Five hours and 257 miles later, we finally arrived back in Burlington, Iowa for our second trip to Steamboat Days in 2 years to see Poison rock the stage. And the return of another tradition, my stupid knee brace. In 5 years and 9 times of seeing Poison, I have always done something right before seeing them to put me back in my brace. That's one concert tradition I'd love to leave behind. But that's life.

Before the Show

Usually, not too much happens before the show other than buying whatever souvenirs you want and picking up Meet 'n Greet passes. However, this year, Bret was supposed to be having his Meet 'n Greet before the show sometime between 5:30 and 6:30 p m. (Showtime was 8 PM) or so the confirmation email letter said. Made perfect sense to me since the next concert was in North Dakota. I picked up the pass with no problems, although no one in the venue seemed to have a clue where it was being held. The venue security sent 4 of us walking all over the place before someone said to try checking with the local radio station. It turns out that the radio station was having some kind of a promotion for Bret's solo CD Songs of Life where he would autograph the CD if you had a copy. The Meet 'n Greet was supposed to take place at the same time with the fan club members getting to go first, but no guarantees.

The radio station's plan for their autograph session was to bring Bret out to their tent located right by the main gate with only 3 radio people plus 2 Poison security people. Wonder what their plan to get him safely backstage was?? Truly, that would have been a security nightmare once people figured out who was there.

So we waited for an hour and 15 minutes. Then Bret's security people came out and one was selling copies of Songs of Life. They hoped that he would be out within the next 30 minutes. So we waited another 45 minutes by which time people are starting to whine that we're being lied to and they're never going to get a seat; basically what a jerk that everybody involved is. "Smoothie", the security person, told us to be patient; it would be worth the wait. So 20 minutes later, "Smoothie" is apologizing to everyone that he doesn't think it's going to happen before the show. The buses had got there 2 hours late, and by the time Bret got changed for the show and his voice warmed up, it would be show time which was set for 9:15 for Poison. But he promised that the fan club members would still get to meet Bret after the show and told us where to meet. Was I disappointed? Slightly frustrated at waiting that long? Of course. But I also understood that Bret's PRIMARY responsibility was to Poison and putting on the best concert humanly possible. And there was still a good chance for the MnG after the show. And if not, I knew I was in for one hell of a show :)

The Show

Now that I've bored everyone ;) The Gibbs Brothers, from Fort Dodge, Iowa, were the opening act for Poison for the second year in a row. I have to give them credit; they were very much improved over last year's performance. They are pretty good for a regional act, and they seemed like pretty nice guys talking to them after the show. But it is still very hard to get excited about them when waiting on Poison to take the stage. They do still need to work a bit on their showmanship; but they are worth a listen if you get the chance. I couldn't begin to tell you their set list. They did mostly original tunes. You could definitely tell they were so excited to be opening for Poison; they only mentioned it about half a dozen times in 45 minutes. LOL

Then 10 minutes to clear the stage and another 25 minutes to wait before AC/DC's Highway to Hell was FINALLY played. That's always seems like the longest wait. But once, Poison is on the stage, it is worth every second :))) The guys played an 80 minute set that night that consisted of Intro, Look What the Cat Dragged In, Squeeze Box, Ride the Wind, I Won't Forget You, Your Mama Don't Dance, Guitar Solo, I Hate Every Bone In Your Body But Mine, Something to Believe In, Stand, Fallen Angel, Drum Solo, Every Rose Has Its Thorn, Unskinny Bop, Talk Dirty to Me, and Rock and Roll All Nite. They came back for an encore of Nothing But A Good Time.

Thanks to my wonderful hubby, I was in the second row of seats this year so about 10 rows back when you add in the wall of people standing in front of the stage. Perfectly normal for Poison, but not too great when you're short. But with the help of standing on my chair off and on all night, I got some pretty good pictures and managed to notice a few things I haven't been able to in the past. For instance, some of the expressions Bret gets on his face while singing Squeeze Box and just exactly how much Rikki twirls his drumsticks. I could easily get spoiled being this close to the stage. But I'm getting off track.

Bobby, C. C., and Rikki took the stage with dragon cannons firing at 9:20 to cheers from one of the largest crowds in Steamboat Days history. The guys shattered their own attendance record set in 2002. Pretty soon, the familiar chords of Look What the Cat Dragged In were heard and Bret made his usual entrance singing. What a beginning to an evening of the Harder, Louder, Faster tour.

This year's set list is fairly close to last years song list. But Poison sure didn't perform it as if it was. Live is Poison at its ABSOLUTE BEST!! They put so much energy into their performance that night you would think this was their first tour and these were new songs. They know exactly how to be world-class showmen and keep the crowd involved from the first light to the very last note. It is obvious that they are having a good time being on the stage and love every minute of it. It isn't just an act; they truly love what they are doing and it shows. That is exactly why they continue to draw large crowds year after year. They are just flat-out fun to watch perform.

There are two new songs in the set list this year. The first is I Won't Forget You. I was thrilled to hear them finally do this one; it was my class song when I graduated from high school. Bret said that it was the first time they had done it live since 1987. You would never know it from their performance; it was flawless. The second song was Stand off of the Native Tongue album, which was originally recorded with Richie Kotzen on guitar. This is a totally different arrangement than the original. But that is a very good thing. It works much better live and gets the crowd more involved. Hopefully they will keep it in the set list if they ever tour again. Or better yet, re-record this version of it. (Sledge-hammer hint :)

As you would expect, they are all over the stage running around and yet never missing a note. C. C. was being a contortionist playing his solos; Bobby was leaping all over the place, Rikki was doing all kinds of kewl stick tricks; and Bret never stood still, even climbing the stage support poles a couple of times. Maybe it was just the venue, but I could really hear the harmonies like never before which makes the songs sound even better. The more I hear Poison live, it's getting much easier to pick out the individual voices when it is in harmony; all I can say is they sound GREAT to me :))

As with last year's show, this was a much more family-friendly version of a Poison concert with very little swearing. Bret said he was told to watch his mouth, but it was pretty hard for him to do. LOL But I still heard a few words, which is by no means a complaint. It just sounds more normal to me when Bret says "Nothing but a good f***ing time" (which he did). Last year it was a "darn good time." C. C. said "I love you mother f***ers" during his guitar solo and I Hate Every Bone. Bret dedicated Something to Believe In to his dad, his cousin, and to all the troops fighting right now as he was wearing one of the "Support Our Troops" shirts. That got one of the loudest responses of the entire evening.

It was also an evening for picking unwanted things out of your hair, shirt, bra, and probably eeven more places. First, there were the bugs. I don't have a clue what kind they were, but OMG they were so annoying and very persistent. And they got everywhere. No complaints about them from Poison. I'm thinking all the smoke from their pyro probably kept them away from the guys which is a very good thing. The second thing that went everywhere was all the confetti from Poison. They used it during Rock and Roll All Nite and during the encore of Nothing But a Good Time. It looks really neat, but it sure seemed like there was several tons of it. And again having to pick it out of places. LOL

Bret said at the end of the show that if Burlington would have Poison back, they would love to come. But he didn't say when that would be. That the place really kicks ass and every band out there should be begging to play this place. He then invited everyone to bring their ticket up to Sioux City on Saturday night and he would make sure everyone had a concert ticket on him. I don't know if anyone took him up on the offer, but the drive would have been over 500 miles one way to get there. But it was still a nice thing to do.

Speaking of nice, Poison invited the Gibbs Brothers back to perform Rock and Roll All Nite with them. The two had huge grins on their faces. :) Also very nice is Rikki's new drum set from Pork Pie. Its a really kewl paint job. There's a picture on here somewhere. LOL Anyways, be sure and check it out.

This was my 8th Poison concert and it was by far the best I had ever seen them perform. I hope the guys can keep up with this pace and energy level all summer. It is truly awesome to see. Make sure you get out to see Poison this summer. From all indications, this is probably their last tour. I will be sad not to see them live next summer, but I have to say thanks for five great tours. I never thought I would get that chance :)

After the Show

After the show, Smoothie had told the 9 people in the BMIFC to meet at the gate by the stage. A lot more than 9 people showed up. A few people were guests of the bands with after-show passes; many more were just gathering in hopes of a glimpse of the band members. A few of the people with after-show passes were taken back to the busses area right away. The rest of us waited for another hour. Smoothie came out, did a head-count, and left for another 45 minutes that we were left waiting. Mind you, I am not complaining about all the waiting (well, maybe just a little, I'm human and my knee DID hurt a lot ;)). Mostly I mention how long it was for those who have never been to a MnG, waiting quite a while is not unusual and you may need a lot of patience. Although, honestly, waiting quite this much is a first for me.

Anyways, after all that waiting, the MnG did happen :) The group was taken backstage to one of Poison's buses and told to stand in a line. We were warned it would be kinda fast because they had to be on the road pretty soon or would not make the next show. I waited my turn and climbed on the steps of the bus. Bret asked me if I had enjoyed the show. I said I'd driven 250 miles to see and it was worth every mile. I handed him the poster/ad I had to autograph and he asked me my name. He wrote it along with "Forever Poison" and autographed it. Don't ask me what made me do it, but I asked him if I could give him a hug and he said he'd love a hug :))) So I got to hug Bret! :))) After that, Bret decided the bus steps were too muddy. Somehow there was a puddle on the bottom two steps and there was no rain anytime that day. Makes you wonder. So he grabbed a floor mat from somewhere off the bus and put it on the step for me to sit on. I got my picture taken and he told me thanks for coming. I said I couldn't wait to see them again Sunday in KC and I got off the bus. This year I even remember the hat. ;) LMAO

I hung around for a few minutes after that talking to a lady that I met at the MnG last year, but I have to mention the little girl that got on the bus after me. She was maybe 6-7 years old and looked absolutely terrified. The security people started asking her questions like did she like Poison? Did she know who Bret was? Would she like to meet Bret? He'd love to meet her. Just lots of stuff to make her feel more comfortable. She went up to the bus and Bret told her he couldn't wait to meet her. He spend several minutes talking to her and taking pictures. Just in case anyone doubted that Bret is a nice guy.

I talked to the lady I met last year. She and I were the only ones there last year so it was pretty easy to talk to her. She is an older lady, in her words, "old enough to be Bret's mother." I thought what happened to her after I left was pretty kewl. She spent like 3 hours talking to Janna who told Bret about the conversation. She had a neat story to tell and over the year the two became friends. She flew out to the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame when he gave the guitar to them. While there, he gave her a tour pass to come see them any chance she could. At that point, Janna invited her to go get a corn dog with some of the tour people. So I went off in search of my hubby. The only thing in two years that I never did catch was the lady's name; I'm really bad about that :( But still, what an awesome night! :)))