C.C. Banana Introduces an Evening with Bret Michaels!

On Thursday, October 16th C.C. Banana appeared at the B.B. King Blues Club & Grill in NYC, along with legendary Poison front man Bret Michaels, his back-up band American Anthem and local favorites Drag Citizen. Rolling into town during the crucial seventh game of the American League playoffs, this latest stop on Bret's "Songs of Life" solo trek promised to be to be a night of great music from three talented artists, along with a bit of comedy from your favorite fruit.

The evening got off to a rousing start when C.C. Banana took to the stage and offered the following over-the-top introduction. For the benefit of those of you not fortunate enough to have been in attendance, I will be including all requisite dramatic pauses.

It began.

"HELLLLLLOOOOOO, NEW YORK CITYYYYYYYYYYYY!"

The crowd roared, affirming its presence.

"MY NAME... IS... C... C... BANANA!"

The crowd screamed, offering its approval!

"On behalf of VH1 Classics... The Eddie Trunk Show... and the B.B. King Blues Club... I would like to thank each and every one of you..."

Wait for it.

"For NOT attending the final game of the Yankees / Red Sox playoffs tonight..."

Come on, you had to see that one coming.

"... instead choosing to spend your evening with us, celebrating the SONGS OF LIFE BY BRET MICHAELS!"

Enthusiasm overflowed the masses.

The Banana continued.

"Bret and the boys are gonna be out a little later. But you folks are lucky you got here early, because these fellas coming up now are gonna rock your socks off."

The opening band members took their places on the stage.

"All the way from the lower east side... transplanted to midtown Manhattan... Times Square hasn't seen this much sleaze, filth and disgustery... since the hookers had parking spaces!"

"Please welcome... DRAG CITIZEN!"

And without a moment's hesitation, guitarist Richie, singer Nick, drummer Joe and bassist Blitch (yep) catapulted the crowd into a flashy world of noise, vibe and electricity.

Naturally, a good time was had by all.

C.C. Banana first met Drag Citizen lead guitarist Richie White during my debut adventure in 2001, the night Richie accompanied Poison live onstage performing "Every Rose Has Its Thorn." The very next time I encountered the man was the following summer during the Backstage Banana video shoot. Richie had surprised me by revealing on camera that he had actually borne witness to my infamous showdown with Sebastian Bach, proceeding to reenact the harrowing encounter with me on the spot! Richie and Drag Citizen even made a cameo in the third installment of my C.C. Banana MSX Tour Diary. So either Richie and I travel in the same circles, or I have a bona fide banana stalker!

After Drag Citizen's crowd-pleasing performance, C.C. Banana hung around backstage for much of the night, becoming reacquainted with old friends. It's always a treat seeing Bret's gal Friday, Janna and her cool friend Mia! I also had the pleasure of a surprise reunion with Faster Pussycat's Fast Tommy, with whom I'd worked on the Metal Sludge Extravaganza Tour. Tommy proudly informed me that he had saved the C.C. Banana T-shirt I'd given him, along with an MSX Tour shirt, and had actually framed both on his wall! I wasn't sure whether or not I believed him, but I was flattered nonetheless. Thanks, Tommy!

Shortly before Bret Michaels took the stage, VH1's Eddie Trunk spotted C.C. Banana and came right over to say hello. He asked me if I'd like to accompany him onstage to help introduce the main man. I agreed to Eddie's request, as I could see that he was hatching a devilish plan involving a certain yellow fellow!

Ed walked onstage and addressed the enthusiastic crowd, indicating to them that he had something special lined up. "Hey everybody, before Bret comes out I have a little surprise for all you Poison fans," teased the VJ.

"C.C.'s HERE!"

And with that, the place went nuts. Although I'm sure you can imagine their disappointment when the incomparable Mr. DeVille did not in fact step onstage. But his Banana counterpart did come bearing gifts, in the form of nifty Eddie Trunk T-shirts! Ed and I tossed the freebies into the crowd before finally introducing their much-anticipated headliner.

The official Eddie Trunk website has even more great images from this evening, captured by the unstoppable Kiva Kamerling:



When C.C. Banana finally got to meet Bret Michaels at the very end of the night, he was kind enough to sign my original pizza box sandwich board. Bret laughed loudly upon reading the outlandish prices it quoted, which inspired him to add:

"I saw your video, too!"

"Oh, yeah?" I responded, pleasantly surprised. "Did you enjoy it?"

"It was fuckin' hilarious!" raved the rocker.

The Banana beamed.

Bret was in a rush to split at this point so I wasn't able to snap a photo with him. But it was awesome to hear him say that he'd enjoyed my Backstage Banana video! And I'm very happy to finally have his autograph on the C.C. Banana sign. All I need now is a signature from the elusive Bobby Dall and my cardboard odyssey will have come full circle.

Upon leaving the venue that evening, news hit the wire that the Sox had in fact beaten our hometown heroes out of a trip the World Series. Word spread like wildfire through the New York City streets and things got really ugly, really quickly. Not wanting to wait around to see how this story played out, I made a mad dash to the safety of the Bananamobile and headed straight for the Lincoln Tunnel.

In closing, C.C. Banana sends sincere thanks to the members of Drag Citizen for making this memorable evening possible. If you haven't yet experienced this great NYC band, you're missing something special. Check them out when they're in your town, and be sure to tell them C.C. Banana sent ya!