Bret Michaels' Friday night Parti-Gras concert included a sweet surprise appearance by his mom, big '80s jolt from Dee Snider

ASHWAUBENON - How do you top Bret Michaels and Dee Snider arm in arm busting out “Highway to Hell” to a ballpark filled with fans with their rock horns up and belting along with them?

One word: Mom.

She was the unbilled guest on Michaels’ Parti-Gras tour stop with Snider, Lou Gramm and Steve Augeri Friday night at Capital Credit Union Park, and she just may have stole the show.

“Mom is here with us partying. She came down from Crivitz,” Michaels told the crowd earlier in the night.

On Labor Day, Michaels had shared a photo on his Instagram with his mother, Marjorie, and stepdad, “Wisconsin Bob,” when he surprised them with a holiday weekend visit to Crivitz, about 50 miles north of Green Bay in Wisconsin’s Northwoods.

On Friday night, they came to see him.

Michaels brought them out during “Something to Believe In,” giving them each a hug as they rather bashfully stepped out from the side of the stage — he in cargo shorts and a hoodie and she in jeans and a plaid shirt. Before they could retreat, an enthusiastic Michaels had already coaxed them to walk out to the front of the stage to huge applause and a stadium lit up with phone lights.

It was an adorable moment from a performer who has long ago endeared himself to Green Bay fans, given his band Poison’s well-chronicled history with Brown County Veterans Memorial Arena in the ’80s and ’90s and his nearly annual solo stops in more recent years.

As sure as there will be a bandana on his head, Michaels never misses the chance to talk about his gratitude for that local connection when introducing “Every Rose Has Its Thorn,” the 1988 Poison power ballad for which the video was filmed at the now demolished arena not far from the ballpark.

“We sold out Brown County Arena. We shot this video right here and you have brought us nothing but luck since. We love you for it. I mean that,” Michaels said on Friday night. “It feels like my second home.”

Lou Gramm marked a 'Double Vision' milestone; Dee Snider rocked

The Bret Michaels Band ambitiously backed all four acts on the bill, which ran for 3½ hours and included half-hour breaks after the Augeri and Gramm sets.

Gramm, the original lead singer of Foreigner who parted ways with the band in 2003 and last played Green Bay in 2015 at the Meyer Theatre, delivered five classic Foreigner hits with gusto and one of his own, “Midnight Blue.”

“Juke Box Hero” in particular was a glorious ’80s rock 'n' roll time capsule, and the crowd ate it up. No headband and shock of curls anymore, but Gramm's hair blowing in the wind with tambourine in hand for "Feels Like the First Time" felt like a moment.

Fans also got to hear “Double Vision” on the same day it was released 45 years ago, on Sept. 8, 1978. Gramm, 73, told the crowd he had received a call that day from a friend at Atlantic Records to remind him of the milestone.

Snider showed up at night’s end, after Michaels’ set, and stormed the stage looking like he was in the kind of shape of somebody ready to do a world tour and sounding peak 1984 as he launched into Twisted Sister’s rebellious “We’re Not Gonna Take It.” It was sheer muscle memory for the crowd.

“I don’t do this anymore. I am retired,” Snider told the crowd after “I Wanna Rock.”

He mentioned it has been a long time between Green Bay visits, but he said he knows the area hears his voice, because his syndicated metal show in its 27th year, “The House of Hair,” airs weekly on local station WAPL-FM.

"We ain't old. Our kids are old," Snider said.

(Fun fact, courtesy of Michaels: The two rockers share the same March 15 birthday. Michaels is 60 and Snider is 68.)

Snider also plugged his book signing at 10 a.m. Saturday at Green Bay record store Rock N' Roll Land for his new novel, “Frats.”

“Shocker, I can actually write,” Snider said.

The party ended with what Snider called “the international heavy metal anthem,” AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell,” and everyone but Gramm, who didn't come back out, racing around onstage for the irrepressible “Nothin' But a Good Time” finale.

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Kendra Meinert is an entertainment and feature writer at the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Contact her at 920-431-8347 or kmeinert@greenbay.gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @KendraMeinert. 

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Bret Michaels brings his mom, stepdad onstage during Parti-Gras show