Poison / Cinderella / Dokken and Slaughter at Louisville Gardens

By Laura Spalding

For those of us who remember the metal heyday of the 80s, August 24 at Louisville Gardens was a night for reminiscing. Poison, Cinderella, Dokken and Slaughter, four of the biggest bands of that era, played to an appreciative crowd which came to sing along and have a good time.

With a 6 p.m start time, I missed Slaughter and just caught the tail end of Dokken. I heard that both bands put on a good show. Cinderella came on around 8 p.m. they start out with their more acoustic, slower material - “Heartbreak Station,” “Coming Home,” “Don’t Know What You Got (‘Til It’s Gone)” and “Nobody’s Fool” -  then picked it up a little with heavier tunes such as “Falling Apart At The Seams,” “Gypsy Road” and “Shake Me.” The band was tight and vocalist Tom Kiefer was in fine form. The crowd seemed to want more of Cinderella just when they ended their short set.

Poison then hit the stage at around 9:45, opening with the title song from 1986’s Look What the Cat Dragged In” and “I Want Action.” It’s hard to believe that those two songs came out almost fourteen years ago! They continued with “Something To Believe In,” and “Fallen Angel” all of which got good response.

Only a couple of new tunes were introduced - “Power to The People”- from the new album of the same title and “I Hate Every Bone In Your Body But Mine,” sung by guitarist C. C. Deville.

The crowd seemed a little lost during those songs, but things got back to good again when Poison returned with older, more familiar tunes such as “Unskinny Bop,” “Let It Play,” “Every Rose Has It’s Thorn,” which highlighted Bret Michaels’ vocal skills, and “Nothin’ But A Good Time.”

Poison seemed to have a genuinely good time playing and was much obliged to the enthusiastic crowd. They wound down the show by allowing a large group of audience members to join them on stage for a cover of Kiss’ “Rock And Roll All Nite.”

Even though the 80s have come and gone, the fans and the bands don’t care. They just came to have a good time. That’s what the music is all about!