The Friday before the Super Bowl is a time to party, at Mohegan Sun, it is time for a Bret Michaels Parti-Gras. In what is rapidly becoming a pre-Super Bowl tradition, Bret Michaels led his solo band, and special guest Mark McGrath, through a high-energy, hit-filled set in front of a packed arena crowd.
Bret Michaels’ Parti-Gras is an evolving live experience showcasing the legendary Poison frontman, his solo band and a carousel of special guests. Last year’s stop at Mohegan Sun saw fellow 80s rockers Firehouse as the opening act. This year’s Parti-Gras 2.0 had no opening act (which made for a very short night) but did feature a 2-song guest appearance by Sugar Ray frontman Mark McGrath, a somewhat unusual choice.
Michaels kicked off the show with the Poison classic “Talk Dirty To Me”. There seemed to be a few technical issues early in the song that were quickly remedied, although they did return, causing Michaels to restart “Every Rose Has It’s Thorn”. Onstage, Bret Michaels always gives 100%, he works hard to engage the crowd and seems to genuinely enjoy fronting his solo band. The band, led by ace guitarist Pete Evick, does a great job of walking the line between keeping the familiarity we love about those songs and injecting new life into them.
Bret and the band blazed through “Ride The Wind” and “Your Momma Don’t Dance” before introducing the night’s special guest, Connecticut native Mark McGrath. Sugar Ray reached their biggest pop success about a decade after Poison. While their radio-friendly pop hits reached a different audience in the late 90’s than the hair metal fans of the late 80s, McGrath received a big welcome as he fronted Michaels’ band for Sugar Ray’s biggest hits “Every Morning” and “Fly”. McGrath sounded great, but it felt a little disjointed to have him out just for 2 songs so early in the set.
While Bret Michaels is the clear star of the night, his band is what really keeps the Parti-Gras rolling. Joining Evick are guitarist Dean Cramer, bassist Norman Voss, drummer Meri Schaefer, keyboardist Rob Jozwiak, and vocalist Becci Clark.The band has the energy to keep up with Michaels on the Poison tracks and backed McGrath without hesitation, adding some muscle to the Sugar Ray songs.
A run of Poison hits ended the night and had the crowd on its feet. While Poison’s biggest hits were featured, the overly short set could have benefitted from adding in a few Poison deep cuts that are so beloved by fans. Michaels has played the venue a handful of times in the past few years, and with the exception of a few classic rock covers, the set has been exactly the same. The show was only about 70 minutes long and featured 8 Poison songs in addition to the 2 Sugar Ray cuts and a drum solo. As I mentioned, there was no opening act, so by 9:30, the night was over. It would have been great to have had some more music, either an opening act or a beefed-up main set.
There are few frontmen quite like Bret Michaels. His goal every night is to put on the best show he can. He surrounds himself with talent and has the catalog of songs to back it up. While many would love to see a full Poison reunion, the filled arena shows that Michaels is certainly on to something with his Parti-Gras concept!
