Beat Memorabilia & Famous Musicians

    I took my place and waited about 20 minutes for the concert to start.  I watched as Bret’s loyal fans took their places.  It looked to be about 80% female/20% male and it stands to reason.  When Bret came on stage, he did not disappoint.  He had the looks, the moves and the voice one would expect.  Wow! 

     Bret got the crowd jumpin’ with “Sweet Home Alabama” and continued with “Look What the Cat Dragged In”.  He then paid homage to Bob Dylan and Guns N’ Roses by singing “Knockin’ on Heavens Door”.  His interaction with the crowd continued when he talked about his trip to Iraq.  He mentioned his appreciation for our troops everywhere and then performed “Something To Believe In” , to the delight of the crowd.

     Bret’s lead guitarist Pete Evick has his own band and showed his experience by taking the lead on “Drift Away”.  He had some pretty cool 360 degree jump spin moves while he played also.  The other band members were Dirty Ray, swinging his hair on bass, Rob Wylde on keys, and the very entertaining Lucky Chucky on drums. 

     Towards the end of the concert Bret talked about writing “Every Rose Has It’s Thorn”, toasted the crowd with a beer before playing “Nothin’ But a Good Time” and continued to have a lot of interaction with the crowd.  He actually encouraged everyone to move closer to the stage, despite the efforts of the security guards to keep everyone close to their respective seats. 

     A great night overall.  My only regret is that I didn’t get to meet these guys.  The Portland show is coming up in August and with any luck, there will be a part 2 article about meeting the band and pictures to go along with it!

    On Friday night, May 8th 2009, The Bret Michaels Band played their first of 2 concerts at The Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, Washington.  I was fortunate enough to be granted a photo pass for the show and was very excited to get my fledgling attempt as a member of the media underway.

     Each venue has their own rules and regulations about the media and taking pictures.  Apparently, most of the casinos have a 30-60 day pre-approval process in order to take concert photos.  I didn’t know that and neither did my BMB (Bret Michaels Band) contact. 

     Needless to say, when I got to the venue, I had a hard time getting my media pass.  My name was not on the list at will call, so I made a call to my contact and he sent a guy named Tattoo Tony down to help expedite things.  Tony was a really nice guy and was trying to help me, but I could tell that he had a lot to do before the show started and didn’t really have time to wait on the Emerald Queen concert officials to get things straightened out. 

     Fortunately, I had been in contact with the person in charge of media passes from the casino on a previous occasion, and when she came down to help, Tattoo Tony left to get back to his normal duties.  She was able to get the O.K. from her supervisor to at least let me take pictures from the side of the stage during the first two songs.  I was grateful.

To be continued…

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