I saw Cinderella and Poison play at the Nissan Pavillion this weekend (7/12/02) It was pretty damn sweet. One of my first rock n' roll albums I ever owned was the Cinderella album,
Night Songs. Unfortunately, my parents being the fine upstanding folks that they were wanted to shield me from hair bands. I was like seven, so they thought bands like the Bee-Gees and Huey Lewis and The News were more suited for my delicate still underdeveloped psyche. I got the Cinderella album, and Motley Crue's Dr. Feelgood album from a friend of mine. I think he had stolen them from his dad's friend;s truck. Either way, I owned them, and I ruled.
THE SHOW
So, Cinderella kicked ass, they had minimal explosions and fireworks though. I feel this is a necessity for any hair band from the eighties and early nineties. They did rock though, and I cannot judge them on thier lack of fireworks. The singer was cool too. I always find it admirable when a lead singer plays an instrument as well. (I hate those people that cannot play any instrument, but say "yea, I'm the singer for the band"....Fuck you dude. You Suck.) Anyway, the lead singer was able to play guitar, piano and saxaphone. It was pretty sweet. I have actually purchased a compilation CD of Cinderell for my collection. I actually like their music still.
Poison was pretty sweet too. They played a whole shload of songs (Unskinny Bop, Every Rose has a Thorn, Fallen Angel, I want Action etc.) I did enjoy the show, and although they were the headliners, I still think Cinderella is much cooler. Before we were inundated with 80's heavy metal riffs we were at the entrance to the pavillion, and some associates of my friend ended showing up. They were hammered, and had come from NY because Brett Michaels had told the fans at the NY show that they could use their ticket stub to get into the show in VA. That night Brett Michaels made the same offer, he said to bring the used ticket stub from the Nissan show to their next show in Hershey, PA. Unfortunately, my homeboy Mike-Dogg had to work a fucked up shift the following day. He wanted to go. I had to work an eqully fucked shift on Sunday, and would have been home on time from the concert to sleep 2 hours. (I would have just slept at my desk though, that would heve been fine, because I would have seen Poison and Cinderella two nights in a row.) Oh, I must mention, one of the coolest things that happened at the show: In tradition of Poison and their antics, they were able to get some of the girls to take off their shirts while on some dumbass' shoulders. The Pavillion has two large screens on the side, and the cameraman would keep on focusing on one girl for a while hoping she would remover her top. Most of the girls did not, but there were some that did, and it was cool. Although breast are always cool, the main reason this ruled was becaus eit was a part of the experience. After 13 years, Poison can still get chicks to flash. Awesome.
THE CROWD
The show was definitely cool, but the crowd at a show like this is a completely different story. There was a plethora of different kinds of people. Many werte just regular folks. However, many were members of an elite class I like to call the Class of 89. Many of them were sporting old school t-shirts of Warrant and White Snake (w/cut off sleeves etc.). Many of these folks were still living the dream that should have died as soon as they finished high school or their GED. Many of the fatter sloths at this place guzzled $7 cheap watered down budweiser and waved ther fists in the air singing along with the songs. One gut that was there had a White Lion shirt from some tour. His child (w/ a rat-tail) was with him. There is no doubt in my mind that this child was concieved in the hatchback of a pickup truck during such a tour. Mom was nowhere to bee seen becasue she probably left the child with the guy and either died or ended up leaving after a show with some roadie or a member of a similar hair band. Way to go mom! There were these two girls in their early thirties that were having the time of their life. They most likely had high ranking positions as a secretary or paralegal (same3 thing). They may have even been nurses. They seemed to be in ecstacy as Brett Michaels crooned "I want action..", and urged the females to tear off their shirts. After the show, these two girls who may have been room mates, probably went home and shared fond memories of the jock they always drooled for in High school but never got the attention of (by the way, that jock was probably there...he of course was now the girls basketball coach at a public school). The girls, sharing memories probably cried and wished everything could have been the way it was in the eighties. I was not in shock as I saw all these people though, because I live in Virginia, and mullets, nascar, cheap beer and cut off t-shirts are as common as the trailer parks that riddle it. Damn, I need to leave this state and go back west.
EPILOGUE
I left the show with fond memories, but longed to get home to bang
J's Mom. It took me an hour and a half to get out of the damn parking lot, so I could not get the damn 40 oz. of Old English I had been craving. There were sobriety tests being conducted outside of the arena, and half of the damn trailer folks were being pulled over. I got home and tore up some Vodka, so I could feel like a rock star. I woke up the next day, and the dream was over. I was however inspired to start
Hair Metal Fridays. Every Friday (until I get bored of this little kick) I will play Twisted Sister, Cinderella, Motley Crue and any other kind of music of this sort. I will rock Jack Daniels and MGD and get torn up. Come and join me if youd like, just e-mail me and we'll party like its 1989. Peace.
