Nobody has ruled and rocked Riverbend in the new millennium like Poison.

        Each of the last few summers Poison, the greatest of the 1980s glam-metal bands, has returned to town to play basically the same set, one consisting of all their old hits plus a couple tunes from whatever new album of theirs they're pushing. And each summer the show's brilliant.

        Tuesday's edition was no exception. It was a nonstop 70-minute blast of sing-along favorites played with infectious energy. If there are people out there who didn't enjoy it, they must look within and question whether they really are fans of rock 'n' roll.

        However, there didn't appear to be many sourpusses in the large crowd. Everyone stood and sang through the whole show, and singer Bret Michaels repeatedly remarked how good Cincinnati audiences treat the band, doing so in a manner that went beyond simply buttering up the room.

        Evidently Poison (which also includes guitarist C.C. DeVille, drummer Rikki Rockett and bass player Bobby Dall) doesn't have it so good in the state capital. The band followed its Cincinnati stop with a show in Columbus Wednesday, and it can be presumed tickets weren't going fast up there, because Mr. Michaels told the Riverbend crowd that ticket stubs from Tuesday's show would get them into the Polaris Amphitheater for free.

        Although that might sound like a good deal at first, the Columbus show probably wouldn't measure up to the spirited communal experience Riverbend offers. From the opening notes of “Look What the Cat Dragged In” on through “Talk Dirty to Me,” “Ride the Wind,” “I Want Action,” “Unskinny Bop,” “Fallen Angel,” and the encore of “Nothin' But a Good Time,” there was plenty of highlights.

        The covers — Poison staples like “Rock and Roll All Nite,” “Your Mama Don't Dance” and now “Squeeze Box,” which they do on their new album Hollyweird — rocked too.

        Even the softest and least remarkable moments, namely the ballads “Every Rose Has Its Thorn” and “Something to Believe In,” were better than anything else offered up by the three opening bands, fellow hair-metal survivors Cinderella, Winger and Faster Pussycat.

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