Rock icon kicks off free concerts

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Rocker Bret Michaels was among the shows Friday evening that kicked off more than a week of free entertainment in downtown Indianapolis.

Michaels sat down to talk about music and more with 24-Hour News 8 anchor Karen Hensel Friday evening.

• If you're planning to head downtown during Super Bowl festivities, you can find a complete list of the free concerts in the Super Bowl Village here .
• For information on parking, traffic, events and more, head to the wishtv.com Super Bowl Section .

The streets of downtown Indianapolis rocked loud and proud Friday night with the kickoff of more than a week of free concerts in Super Bowl Village.

In a one-on-one interview with Hensel, Michaels said when he was asked to play the Super Bowl he was excited.

"I'm a total sports fan,” he said. “The guys know when we stop at truck stops I want to go out and toss the football. Coming to Indianapolis is great because there are great rock fans here."

Michaels has had an extraordinary career spanning 25 years that has led him to rock stardom and beyond.

"I love what I am doing,” he said of his evolving fame. “I know where to focus and when to say no. When I get to do this and play live music, be in Indianapolis, be playing to kick off Super Bowl Village, they didn't even have to ask me a second time. I'm like, ‘I'm in. Whenever that is, just sign me up. This is what we're doing.’"

He said despite his long career, he still remembers where he came from

"If you are passionate in what you do, make it work. I'm really an underdog who scraps and fights. I'm still that young kid from a small Pennsylvania town trying to make it," he said.

Michaels wears reminders of what is important to him in life in a series of bracelets on his wrist. One silver one is for Michael Ormis, "a good friend of ours we lost overseas in Iraq - and that's why I fight so hard for the troops," he said.

Another bracelet says “Fight Diabetes.” Michaels has diabetes, and has had to take four insulin shots a day since he was 6 years old. His fingers are scarred from the needles from the blood tests he must do daily. He has taken on the role as an inspiration to a lot of young children.

He gave a little insight into his favorite music, too.

"I love classic rock, so there is Aerosmith, AC/DC, Saving Abel, Theory of a Dead Man,” he said of the contents of his portable music player. “I also love country, so there is Toby Keith."

Just the day before he played Indianapolis, he wrote two new songs with Loretta Lynn at her ranch, he said.

Michales has played shows in Indianapolis for 25 years, and he said he loved Market Square Arena – now long gone - and will always know Klipsch Music Center – long known as Verizon Wireless Center - as Deer Creek Music Center. And he is looking forward to a concert of Poison and Def Leppard set for this summer in Indianapolis.