I recently spoke with Joe Saputo, one of the head
honchos of the PC3 (much easier on the tongue than “Prairie Capital
Convention Center”) about upcoming events at the downtown facility.
Unfortunately there’s not a lot on the list other than last
week’s professional wrestling match, Winnie the Pooh in November, and
the Poison concert on Aug. 19, but Saputo assures me that several exciting
shows are in the works. If what he hopes to happen does (sorry, can’t
tell you, I’m sworn to secrecy — you wanna find me at the
bottom of Lake Springfield, sporting concrete shoes?), we’re looking
at some cool stuff that should please a large portion of the local
populace.
In the meantime those of you who favor the pop/metal
sounds of the ’80s should get to getting your Poison tickets. A few
thousand seats are now accounted for and the sooner you get yours the
better you’ll sleep at night. Say what you want about Poison as a
musical entity, but the band has sold many, many millions of units
worldwide during a 25-year career and continues to put out material and
make sales. The band’s latest offering, Live,
Raw and Uncut, a DVD of concert footage filmed
in St. Louis, is selling quite briskly. After several years of personnel
changes and rock-star bickering, they’re back with all of the
original members (as far as we now know), quite an accomplishment in the
classic/oldies-concert world. And like it or not, I’d bet good money
someone in your family or a close friend (possibly even you) has sung along
to a Poison song sometime in the not too recent past. So my advice is to
let down whatever hair you have left and go enjoy a rocking night.
Also on the bill is Dokken, another successful
’80s band — though not nearly as big as Poison, more respected
for its members’ musical abilities. If I remember correctly the
opinions of hard-rock fans from my days behind the counter at Appletree
Records, Dokken members went through their fair share of hair spray and
spandex but, thanks to the guitar wizardry of George Lynch, were considered
to be more about the music than the hair.
Sebastian Bach is also scheduled to appear and from
the reputation that precedes the wacky rocker there’s no telling what
might happen when he takes the stage. The former lead singer of Skid Row
lives the rock & roll lifestyle to the hilt and knows how to rock the
world. Apparently his uncomplimentary comments about Poison a few years ago
weren’t meant to be taken seriously, or perhaps they’ve made up
long enough to make some cash playing the summer tour. Bach’s mouth
gets him in trouble frequently, but at least he’s willing to speak
his mind, whatever’s left of it, and as I said the man can rock the
sock off your thing below your legs, commonly called a foot.
Right after the concert our very own Lost Boys
perform at the Bret Michaels After-Party (Michaels’ is the lead
singer and founding father of Poison). To get into the PC3-sponsored party,
you must be 21 or older, pay $25, and be among the first 500 to buy a
ticket, but it may prove a once-in-a-lifetime experience. If not, I’m
sure you can find a way to make it so.
This concert is quite far in the future for me to
write about (it’s more that a week away, you realize), but with all
the Illinois State Fair hoopla going on and the notoriousness of
Springfieldians for buying tickets at the last minute, I thought some
advance notice might spare you grief later, plus it’d be nice to let
Mr. Saputo know you’re coming.
Poison, Dokken, and Sebastian Bach rock away at the
Prairie Capital Convention Center on Aug. 19. Get your tickets from the
PCCC box office, at any Ticketmaster outlet, or by calling 217-544-9400.
Contact Tom Irwin at tirwin@illinoistimes.com.
This article appears in Jul 31 – Aug 6, 2008.
