Rock star in Hollywood!

Hard Rock, Hollywood, FL

Sept 16th 2007

Review & picture by Dancy Zahn

First off, this hotel/resort was beautiful, the accommodations were top notch. First thing I noticed upon entering the arena was all the men! There were more females, of course, but really quite a lot of men. John Waite was fantastic, and made me sorry I missed most of his performance in Clearwater the previous night. He joked around a bit and was really fun to watch. I was particularly impressed by his cover of Vince Gill’s “Whenever You Come Around”. Anyone familiar with Vince’s music is aware that most vocalists would not dare to cover him. Eddie Money was, well, exactly as he was when I saw him the last time and the time before that. He did bring out some musical guests, his bandmate’s children each took a turn or two playing guitar, as well as his godson Billy on harmonica. The audience really got into it, and Eddie did a two song encore this night, beginning with “Peace In Our Time”, which he dedicated to our troops overseas.

Finally…our man came on in a new shirt, or at least one I had not seen before. He was really having a good time from moment one, and spent a lot of time connecting with the fans up front at the stage. He did a lot of posing for pics, so cool of him. Nothing new in the setlist, or in his on and off stage antics. He really sounded great and seemed to maybe give a little something extra. He was a lot of fun. I was spared certain humiliation during DTTS, when he stood over me for what seemed like a lifetime, looking down at me expectantly. He either took pity on my horrific sunburn or maybe just sensed I just can’t sing. Phew, that was close. Rick went all over the venue, up into the side sections also. The crowd was having a great time, and yes, even the guys were loving the show.

If memory serves, I think he got back onstage before beginning JG. He came out for Love Is Alright Tonight in a different gray shirt, the tuxedo one that I have never seen him wear for an encore. He did undo a few buttons, but the shirt stayed on.

Sorry if I left anything out, but 4 flights in 4 days is detrimental to my memory. The driver from Hard Rock who drove us to the airport said Rick had remembered him from last year and come up to chat with him. So perhaps it is true what Rick says, he doesn’t remember names but never forgets a face. One more thing, when we checked out of the hotel, we noticed that Rick’s guitar from the JG video had been autographed and hung above the concierge desk. Cool!

Setlist(thanks Kelly L!)

Who Killed Rock & Roll

Affair of the Heart

Alyson

Ive done everything for You

Rock Of Life

Gloria (bathtub/Noah version)

DTTS

Medley

Love Somebody

My Generation

Human Touch

Jessies Girl

Encore: Love is all right