Bret Michaels has probably hollered this same line 5,000 times to kick off a concert, but Friday at the Medina Entertainment Center it sure did sound like he meant it:
"It's time to party!"
The Poison frontman and star of VH1's libidinous series "Rock of Love" fulfilled his sold-out Medina gig against many odds -- including the fact that most of his hairspray-buoyed '80s pop-metal peers now can only star in VH1's "Where Are They Now?" The guy has already proved himself as resilient as your mom's favorite frying pan in his 24-year career.
Even Michaels' snidest detractors, however, would give him props for making it to Medina, since the concert came less than two months after he was in a coma, and just two weeks after another hospitalization.
"Every day from now on is a celebration," the singer, 47, declared after opening with that most life-affirming of songs, Poison's "Talk Dirty to Me."
Michaels suffered a brain hemorrhage on April 21 and remained unconscious for a week. He was also diagnosed with a heart condition last month and has lived as a diabetic since age 6.
His story sounded like a back-from-the-dead tale when he appeared on "Oprah," the cover of People magazine and the season finales of both "American Idol" and "Celebrity Apprentice 3" in recent weeks.
For his third concert back on the road, he performed as if he had been given a second chance -- even if he couldn't muster up a second encore song. His set only clocked in at 70 minutes, and his voice sounded a bit hoarse. Suffice it to say, though, none of the 2,000 fans felt short-changed.
