After its near-eclipse in the '90s, hair
metal of the '80s began sneaking back the last
couple of years. One of its biggest showcases was
an amphitheater tour led by the reformed Poison,
who found one of their most popular stops in
Hartford where, for some, that brand of metal
never quite went away.
Another large crowd turned up Friday at the
ctnow.com Meadows Music Centre for the third
consecutive Poison show. The "Glam Slam Metal
Jam," as it was called, also featured such
where-are-they-now candidates as Warrant, Quiet
Riot and Enuff Z'nuff.
The great thing about bands like Poison is that
their decade in exile has meant they've lost the
swagger and self-importance that made their '80s
shows even more absurd. They've learned from past
excesses, know what their fans want (the hits),
are energized by playing before a huge cheering
audience (something they had reason to think
they'd never see again) and are ever so grateful.
Poison played largely the same hits it played
the last couple of outings, with a couple of
twists. They brought back "Ride the Wind" after a
10-year absence, as well as their first single,
"Cry Tough," amid the usual "Unskinny Bop" and
"Nothin' But a Good Time."
Spicing up their set with more pyrotechnics
than Kiss, they went a step further by borrowing
one of that band's anthems as well. "Rock And Roll
All Night" closed the encore with as many fans as
could scramble on stage.
The encore began with a special appearance by
Dee Snider, the Twisted Sister frontman turned
radio host, who had been standing by the side of
the stage like local royalty for the whole
evening. He was brought on to sing his "We're Not
Gonna Take It," and Poison's clownish guitarist
C.C. DeVille almost learned the solo.
Snider, like Poison, was in good shape. Which
is more than you can say about Jani Lane, the
formerly rail-thin, angelic frontman for Warrant,
who has put on some pounds and lost hair. He
smoked on stage as he went through his band's
hits, which ranged from rockers ("Cherry Pie") to,
like Poison, horrible ballads that were their
biggest hits ("Heaven").
Quiet Riot's clanging anthems hinted that they
may have been the only band of the night that was
in on the joke of hair metal. Like Spinal Tap,
it's fun, but it is a joke, right? Kevin DuBrow,
in his glittery vest, explained that it was just
the opposite: "The '80s were not just a great
decade, it's a state of mind."
And so it was for the crowd, the early comers
of which also heard openers Enuff Z'nuff. For
others, such as this reviewer, three hair bands
were enough.
