Poison, Cheap Trick Rock Music City

It really is true that sometimes you just have to be in the right place at the right time.

Last Thursday (June 28), I was in Nashville looking for something to do that didn't involve country music, so I pulled out my phone and began scrolling through a local calendar when I came across a show scheduled for that very night at the Ascend Amphitheatre right along the Cumberland River in downtown.

Poison with special guests Cheap Trick.

With tickets starting at just $30, how could I say no?

So there we were less than 12 hours later, enjoying some great classic rock under the stars on a very comfortable night in Tennessee.

It turns out this show was a rescheduled date from May when the Nashville weather wasn't so cooperative.

Lucky us!

Poison closed out the night with everything I have come to expect from seeing them before - all the hits delivered with all of the high energy of a group that still looks they've having a blast.

One of the highlights was the encore, a cover of KISS' 'Rock and roll All Night', complete with an appearance by country legend Joe Diffie.

Cheap Trick was the middle act after openers Pop Evil.

I have been a fan of this Rockford, Illinois band for more than 40 years but have to admit that I have now been a little dissatisfied after seeing them live twice.

In Nashville, just like at their appearance at Ribfest in Sioux Falls a few years ago, it took the band quite a while to get into the songs that most of the people in the audience were there to see.

I understand that a band that has been around as long as they have want to play a variety of songs from their catalog, and they are promoting a new album, but when only one or two songs are recognizable in the first half of a setlist, the balance is off.

They did finish strong with 'I Want You To Want Me', 'The Flame', and 'Surrender', and sounded great throughout the night, but I wanted a little bit more.

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