Bret Michaels throws wild party in Michigan with Twisted Sister, Foreigner, Eagles greats

CLARKSTON, MI – Bret Michaels wore three hats, err bandanas, on this night. He was the headliner, master of ceremonies and a fan.

The Poison frontman brought his “Parti Gras 2.0″ to Pine Knob on Friday, August 23. And he brought with him Eagles legendary guitarist, Don Felder, country’s Chris Janson, former Foreigner lead singer, Lou Gramm, and Twisted Sister’s, Dee Snider.

Pine Knob was actually the sight of the very first “Parti Gras” concert anywhere, taking place last summer. At that show, Michaels brought along Jefferson Starship, Night Ranger, Sugar Ray’s Mark McGrath and former lead singer of Journey, Steve Augeri. And he says he’s going to do a 3.0 in 2025.

The late arriving crowd was treated to a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer as Felder took the stage just before 7:00 p.m.

The crowd filled in quickly as he played mostly Eagles hits for 45 minutes, including “Take it Easy,” “One of These Nights” and “Hotel California.”

The variety show, of sorts, continued with Janson, who acknowledged he was the only country artist at a rock concert.

His 45 minute set included hits “Fix a Drink,” “Good Vibes” and “Buy Me a Boat.” He also did a mashup of “Great Balls of Fire” out of “Redneck Life” and a snippet of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman.”

His set was energetic and interactive. He was having fun and making sure the crowd was, too.

And that’s exactly how Bret Michaels does it. He is still a ball of energy at 61 as he took the stage just after 9:00 p.m. and kicked things off with some Poison hits with “Talk Dirty to Me” and Ride the Wind.”

“It is good to be, and for real, one of the greatest cities, one of the most unbelievable, hospitable people… Michigan, we love you.”

He then brought Felder and Janson out and the three performed “You’re Mama Don’t Dance” together.

Michaels then introduced another Rock Hall legend in Gramm, who performed three of Foreigner’s biggest hits with “Cold as Ice,” “Hot Blooded” and “Jukebox Hero.”

Michaels looked like he enjoyed watching from the side of the stage just as much as the fans did.

Next came more Poison hits with “Look What the Cat Dragged In,” “Something to Believe In” and “Unskinny Bop.”

As Michaels always does, the son of a military veteran, he brought out a number of area veterans on stage while playing “Something to Believe In,” calling them the real rock stars of the show. It’s always a touching and inspirational part of his concerts.

More rock royalty was next with Snider, who went right into “We’re Not Gonna Take it.” The crowd was so into it, he sang a part of it with the audience without any music.

Snider then performed “I Wanna Rock,” before Michaels joined him for a cover of AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell.” Snider probably received the loudest ovation of the night.

And whether he wanted to or not, Michaels asked him to come back on stage for “Nothin’ But a Good time,” which was still a couple of songs away.

Before that was, you guessed it, Poison’s biggest hit, “Every Rose Has It’s Thorn” before Michaels delivered the final song of the night.

What can you say about this concert, other than, like last year’s “Parti Gras,” it was just pure fun, a variety show where you didn’t really know what to expect next and it was exactly what the crowd paid for.