Bret brings "Rock of Love" to town

The lead singer of '80s hair band Poison, Bret Michaels is coming to Poughkeepsie.

Bret, seen here on the cover of Poison's 1986 breakout release, "Look What the Cat Dragged In" (he's the one in the upper, left-hand corner), will play the Mid-Hudson Civic Center on Friday night, Feb. 22nd at 8 p.m.

I'm not gonna lie: My friends and I were totally into groups like Poison, Def Leppard, Van Halen, Europe and Whitesnake back in the day. (We're talking junior high here ,folks ... remember what you listened to when you were that age!) I even have Whitesnake listed as my favorite band in my eighth-grade yearbook!

And I'm probably sharing too much here, but I actually watched Bret's newest incarnation, his VH1 Celebreality show, "Rock of Love," though I've missed the start of the new season, "Rock of Love 2." Out some of the crappy celeb-based reality shows out there, his "Bachelor"-esque series isn't that bad.

(Luckily, 44-year-old Bret has toned down his image a little since this album cover was shot.)

Tickets are $36.50 and go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m.