It was a nice mild summer day amazingly enough. We had 6th row on CC's side. I have been having health issues and this was the first time I'd gone anywhere since January, so I had no idea if I'd have the energy to get through the show. It wasn't easy... but the chair to lean on in front of me, and the adrenaline surge I always get from a concert helped.

Once again the show started half an hour earlier than stated on the ticket, so when the first band took the stage there was hardly anyone there. That's the second time I've gone there and that happened.

There was a review in the Scranton paper, the Times Tribune.

• Click here to see my pictures of both Poison and Cinderella. Clicking on any of the photos below will also take you there.
• Click here to see some short video footage I shot. You may have to hit refresh once or twice if you have trouble getting them to play right away. Obviously the sound quality is poor, there's nothing I can do about that though.

Cinderella: Poison and Cinderella... Two totally different styles of rock and yet they go together like chocolate and peanut butter.

Tom Keifer was having some voice problems. I've seen them several times before (most recently in 2002) and his voice was always great, but it was really not up to par at times during this show. You could see from his expression that he was trying like hell to sing some of the higher notes. He did my favorite line from Night Songs (I need a shot of gasoliiiiiiiiiine) perfectly though. Hopefully he rests his voice for a while after this tour.

The band sounded great and so did Tom when he was singing the not so high notes. He made a comment about how they're from Philly so we're sort of related (to the Scranton folks.) He also made a funny comment when they brought out the piano for "Don't Know What you Got", something to the effect of "You didn't think we'd leave without doing the piano one did ya?"

Poison: I've become like Pavlov's dogs. Every time I hear Highway to Hell by AC/DC on the radio I get chills and a smile on my face because this is the last song played over the speakers before Poison hits the stage. Whenever I hear that song it transports me to when the lights go down and everyone gets on their feet, howling with anticipation. One more thing, I know I say this every time, but anytime I go to one of their shows, I'm reminded. There's a certain kind of energy at a Poison show that I don't notice at other concerts. The crowd goes insane when Bobby, Rikki, and CC come out of course, and then when Bret comes running out the whole place just erupts!

This was their 20th Anniversary tour so the show was even more flashy than usual. The green lasers that you might remember from the older shows were there.There was a big movie screen behind Rikki that showed the old videos for the songs they were playing if they had one and various images or crowd shots otherwise. Rikki's drum kit was on some kind of pneumatic or hydraulic platform that lifted him up and down during certain parts of the show. Bobby used a bright green BC Rich bass (just like this one) during the encore. I always loved the BC Rich guitars so I was thrilled to see one again.

They all were having a good time and I was glad to see CC so with it this time. The last time I saw him was on the Kiss tour and it was obvious he was out of sorts. He was 100% better this time around. He said during his solo in that trademark CC way, "Scranton, thank you for loving me!!" I'm hoping that his sobriety will continue for good this time.

I know the setlist doesn't come as a surprise to most Poison fans but they did change it a little. They added Cry Tough and American Band, which by the way I can't think of a better song to describe their career. They didn't play Rock and Roll All Night, thank god, because three cover songs would have been way too many. Here's the list, once again stolen from KNAC.com:

Look What The Cat Dragged In
I Want Action
We're An American Band
I Won't Forget You
Ride the Wind
I Hate Every Bone In Your Body
Cry Tough
Something To Believe In
Your Mama Don't Dance
Fallen Angel
Every Rose
Unskinny Bop
Nothin' But A Good Time
Talk Dirty To Me