You've heard the saying, "Every man has his price"? For me, it's $20. At least that's what I was willing to fork over to see Poison and Cheap Trick at FivePoint Amphitheater in Irvine, California, on May 18. And for one of those bands, it was worth it.

Earlier this year, concert promoter Live Nation announced National Concert Week, an online promotion offering tickets for $20 (US) to a wide range of artists touring throughout the 2018 concert season. Ever-alert for bargains, my friend Kathie tipped me off to this limited-time offer, and soon we were deep into negotiations.

The last half of the 1980’s was very kind to Poison. They were one of the top Hair Metal bands selling out arenas world wide and dominating music television. Their music was fun party music mixed with some of the most successful power ballads of the era. Like many bands, drug abuse and infighting hampered their growth, but in the early 90’s “fun” music was not selling records anymore and Poison became synonymous with everything that was wrong with music from the 80’s. One of Poison’s biggest hits was preaching about having nothing but a good time, which was one of Rock and Roll’s original messages. They were not a deep band, but they never tried to be.