Poison at war over animal cruelty

First, take some time to absorb the news that Poison are going to be playing a rodeo. In Greeley, Colorado, tonight, in fact. It's the Greeley Stampede.

It's become something of a problem within the band, though. Rikki Rockett issued a statement through Showing Animals Respect and Kindness:

"I had no idea that this gig included a rodeo. I have a huge problem with animal cruelty at rodeos. Greeley is a huge rodeo, which means an enormous amount of animal abuse. I am blown away that I missed the description of this show on our touring schedule printout."

Yes - to be fair to Greeley Stampede, they do describe themselves as "the World's largest 4th of July Rodeo" (we're not sure how many places beyond the US would be holding rodeos to mark American Independence Day, mind.) So it is a little surprising that when they said to Rockett "you're playing a famous rodeo", he didn't notice he was going to be playing a rodeo.

Now, though, Bret Michaels has also issued a statement:

he was "shocked" to hear drummer Rikki Rockett's comments about animal cruelty at the Greeley Stampede and promised to "put on one hell of a big rock show" there despite Rockett's concerns.

And, yes, despite Rockett's apparent disgust, he does still intend to turn up and drum for the audience at the cattle-bothering event. After all, cruelty might be unacceptable, but a payday is a payday, right. Rockett doesn't expect to explain why he believes others should abandon their rodeo when he won't even cancel a gig.