Rick SpringfieldCherokee, NC - Harrahs
June 21, 2008
Review and photo by Kelley Pearson
What great memories we have from seeing Rick and the guys in Cherokee this weekend! Despite the strict security who didn’t want anyone to stand, to which I wanted to scream “Are you KIDDING me?” (and the guard telling me I was not allowed to take any photos…at all…HA) it was still an awesome show! Yes, I did get some great pictures of Rick during the show after all. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. ;-) I must say, I couldn’t help but chuckle when the security got to where they couldn’t keep up with the huge number of people who were standing up and rocking out to the music, and eventually the flock of fans who made their way down the isles, standing, sitting, squatting & snapping photos of the show. And of course once Rick came out into the crowd, he was like a magnet for the fans. People started swarming over to him and packing up everywhere. I think they pretty much gave up after that! I hate to sound like I’m bitching…but seriously! Do they REALLY think that Rick fans can stay in their seats for one of his shows??! I’ve found that it’s impossible, not to mention…Rick WANTS the fans to have a great time, getting on their feet and dancing around to his music. It’s a bit of an insult if everyone stays on their butts for the show. :-P
Starting from sound check, it was obvious that Rick and the band were going to be in “rare form.” Even with all their technical issues and sound problems, they were still in good humor and the sound check went a bit longer than it normally would have. That’s NEVER a bad thing! Not only did they have tech issues, but there was a medical problem as well. The “tip” on George B.’s earpiece broke OFF, like 5 minutes into our sound check, and got stuck down in his ear canal!!! Yikes! After some inspection of George’s ear, Rick grabs the mic and begins asking if anyone might have some tweezers, ear wash, or anything to help get that out. He asks, “Is there a nurse in the house?” lol Poor George! Ronnie G. begins digging around in a gallon bag that appeared to have every possible “first aid” item you can imagine (except what they needed), including medicine bottles, band aids, eye drops, etc. Ronnie says, “This looks like the Vicodin diaries or something.” Ha! Rick even asked something like, ‘Does anyone have one of those ear wash things that squirts water?’ The other George sarcastically says, ‘Oh yea, sure. I carry one with me at all times Rick,’ to which Rick cracked up. One of the fans actually had some tweezers, (and I think they tried to use them) but apparently that wouldn’t work. They finally located a casino EMT who took George to the side and somehow (I have no clue how they did it) they got it out. Whew!
So after several mishaps, Rick was able to perform a few songs for us. It seems like he did a few chords from Gloria at one point, and then I heard the “yeah buddy” sound clip. They played Affair of the Heart and also the new song from his upcoming Venus In Overdrive CD called “What’s Victoria’s Secret?” Cool! Rick seemed to be having a lot of fun with the fans at the sound check, casually goofing around with us, taking photos, etc. What a blast! Ahhh…I got my second sweet Rick hug & photo!
The show was awesome! They started right around 9 PM and the show went until about 10:30 or so. The lights went down and the crowd went wild!!! (and so did my heartbeat!) He kicked it off with the rockin’ “Who Killed Rock and Roll,” and then went straight into the ever-sexy Affair of the Heart. Rick was wearing his new favorite shirt…the long-sleeved brown one with the Chinese-type symbols on it and I believe he had on his button-fly jeans. It was only a matter of minutes before his shirt was soaking wet with sweat. This would’ve been a FINE time for him to shed that hot shirt, but no…we did not get a shirtless encore for this event. Maybe next time! ;-)
At one point, within the first few songs, Rick appeared to be angry with his guitar and he threw it down across the stage. It slid off and landed in the space between the front row and the stage! He made some comment to the girl who was there about how he was glad that didn’t hit her. I can’t recall for sure what all he said, but boy was it a close call!
Next came “Alyson” & several really cool (pink) rose explosions! Rick was quite energetic for this show, grabbing roses all across the front and slamming them wildly against the strings. The audience got a treat tonight when Rick and the band played their new song, “What’s Victoria’s Secret?” Yay! I kind of figured they would perform this one since he had practiced it at the sound check earlier, complete with the lyric sheet. I’m not sure whether or not he had the lyrics tacked to the speaker for the show, to kind of help him out! LOL! Knowing Rick…he probably did!
After getting a taste of the new song, we flashed back to the 80’s for some “Hey! Whooo!” with “Rock of Life.” I love that song, but I would have taken “Perfect” or “Wasted” (or anything off of SDAA) in it’s place at that point in the show. I know, I know…he adds in the 80’s hits for the fans who love (or only know) his hit singles. But I still love the SDAA songs, and would happily take a few more of those in place of his “hits.” (even though I’m still a huge fan of his old hits).
Ha, okay…moving on now. ;-) Next he goes into the ever-favorite “I’ve Done Everything For You” complete with a lot of pointing back and forth between Rick and the crowd. :-P That’s always a great energetic tune for pumping up the crowd! Things were beginning to get a little overwhelming for the guards by this point.
Side note: I *hope* I’m getting the order right on this set list and not leaving out any songs. Maybe someone else might have a clearer memory (?)…as mine often fails me somewhat during a Rick show! Thanks to a couple of friends after the show, I think this is a pretty close list.
Ahhh…Next was Gloria! (TV/Bathtub Gloria. LOL) Rick did his usual jokes about Gloria & how she rings the doorbell. Then he does his cool little “doorbell” sounds on the guitar, and Gloria comes in. He says, “Gloria walks over and I’ve got the TV sitting on top of the bath, like you’re not supposed to do. And I’m sitting there watching this show about doctors…and shit.” He then talks about how there’s “this guy” who plays a doctor AND a rock star, and then says something like, ‘only on a soap opera.’ LOL. He goes on to talk about “Sam” and how many times can that chick get shot. Then he describes how Gloria reaches over and turns off the TV. Like he normally does, he tells the women/“girls” in the audience to put up their right hand (and encourages the guys to NOT raise their right hand!) and he says that Gloria puts her hand “right between my legs….and she pulls the PLUG!” He finishes the talking portion of the song with how she reaches down and “she stands me UP” demonstrating with the mic all the while, and how she takes him to the bed and lays him down and “makes me feel alright,” kicking back into the end of the song. I can’t help but wonder what some of the casino high rollers must have thought of this portion of the show! Haha!
Next was a song I didn’t expect to hear in Cherokee…they played “Kristina!” It seems they’ve been adding that one to the set list more often lately. That song seems to be a real crowd pleaser, as was the next song on the list…“Love Somebody.” After LS, we got a smoking hot performance of “Red House,” complete with the killer guitar-solo jam Rick does to start off the song. That’s got to be one of my all-time favorite pieces that Rick does on his guitar. It starts out slowly with this beautiful guitar strumming, picking gently at the strings, then it builds into a really cool & fast jam at the end…then slows back down for the beginning of Red House.
This is another spot where my memory is a bit fuzzy on the order of the songs, but from here I think the next tune in line was his cover of the Who’s “My Generation.” After (or during?) that he climbs down off the stage and proceeds to pick on some man up front, straddling his seat. (Was it a man? I thought it was. But I might be wrong!) He attempts a quick version of “Some Enchanted Evening,” I guess because he figures these older people in the crowd might not know his music. I think this is the part where he said something along the lines of, “You guys are looking like---Who is this guy?” Haha! It’s nice that Rick can poke fun at himself that way. :-P
Next up was his hit “Don’t Talk To Strangers,” in which he had a few audience members help him sing along. Then quickly after…Rick screams out that he thinks it’s time for a little “Human Touch,” to which he begins his descent deeper into the crowd. At one point Rick was climbing over chairs and trying his best to balance, but he actually FELL! There was a man in a red shirt who happened to catch him on his way down! LOL (I remember the color of his shirt because I have some great pictures of Rick with the man who caught him). Rick laughed at himself and said something to the man like, “You CAUGHT my ass!” A few minutes later Rick found a young girl with a cell phone (she couldn’t have been TOO young though…it’s a casino). He swipes her phone and begins to tease about ‘who should I call?’ He scrolls down her list and says, “DAD! Let’s call dad.” Well, dad picks up…and we can hear him pretty well through the mic. Rick begins to tease him, asking him if he knows who this is. The man tells him “no” and Rick and the crowd scream out, “It’s Rick Springfield!” Then Rick tells him, ‘I’m at the drive-in with your daughter, dad. And she’s got her hand on my leg. What should I do?’ At this point I’m half shocked & half cracking up, waiting to hear the man’s reply. He says, “WHO is this??!” Again the crowd and Rick scream out his name to the guy (as if that makes it all “okay” now, to be getting fresh at the drive-in with his daughter! haha!) The man hangs UP on Rick! I have to say…it was quite funny in a sick-humored-sort-of-way, but at the same time I was thinking, “Oh crap. This girl will be in some trouble with her dad later!” LOL
About mid-way through “Human Touch” Rick came 3 rows in front of us and was singing and jamming for about 30 seconds, then he cut left from us, swiping someone’s ball cap along the way and wearing it for a few minutes. He made his way over to the very crammed isle for awhile, much to the crowd’s pleasure. ;-) My friend who’s never had a meeting with Rick got a little human touch of her own during the isle portion of the song!!! He really didn’t seem to “travel” far for this show. He then cut right up the isle near the end of the song and got back on stage. I was kind of hoping he’d surf around in the back for the riser seats as well.
The night wouldn’t have been complete without Rick doing Jessie’s Girl. (his other favorite child, as he’s called it!) The crowd went crazy! He did his band introductions at the end and then his virtual “goodnight” hug & I believe a “God bless you all,” then sauntered off the stage like the killer rock star that he is. ;-)
The sound of helicopters (? Or so that’s what it reminds me of) and a heartbeat arrived once the lights were down, followed by some pretty steamy, heavy breathing. A sure sign there was going to be an encore after Rick changed out of his soaked clothing (or as we were hoping for…just ditch the shirt and come back out!) He returned to the stage wearing his light brown John Lennon T-shirt, the same one he’d worn earlier to our sound check. When I first heard the beginning “licks” of “I’ll Make You Happy,” the wardrobe inspection quickly left my mind & I jumped back to my feet. Whooo! He DID do a song from SDAA! Thanks Rick!
Rick finished off the night with “Love Is Alright Tonight,” to which I noticed most of the crowd (at least around us) were as hot and sweaty as Rick was and singing right along. It was a fun and memorable night! Rick and the guys brought on the fun, just as they always do. As the year rolls on, I think it’ll be cool to hear more new songs played at the live shows ;-)
So…when is the next Rick Springfield show?! I don’t think it’ll come quick enough for me!
Starting from sound check, it was obvious that Rick and the band were going to be in “rare form.” Even with all their technical issues and sound problems, they were still in good humor and the sound check went a bit longer than it normally would have. That’s NEVER a bad thing! Not only did they have tech issues, but there was a medical problem as well. The “tip” on George B.’s earpiece broke OFF, like 5 minutes into our sound check, and got stuck down in his ear canal!!! Yikes! After some inspection of George’s ear, Rick grabs the mic and begins asking if anyone might have some tweezers, ear wash, or anything to help get that out. He asks, “Is there a nurse in the house?” lol Poor George! Ronnie G. begins digging around in a gallon bag that appeared to have every possible “first aid” item you can imagine (except what they needed), including medicine bottles, band aids, eye drops, etc. Ronnie says, “This looks like the Vicodin diaries or something.” Ha! Rick even asked something like, ‘Does anyone have one of those ear wash things that squirts water?’ The other George sarcastically says, ‘Oh yea, sure. I carry one with me at all times Rick,’ to which Rick cracked up. One of the fans actually had some tweezers, (and I think they tried to use them) but apparently that wouldn’t work. They finally located a casino EMT who took George to the side and somehow (I have no clue how they did it) they got it out. Whew!
So after several mishaps, Rick was able to perform a few songs for us. It seems like he did a few chords from Gloria at one point, and then I heard the “yeah buddy” sound clip. They played Affair of the Heart and also the new song from his upcoming Venus In Overdrive CD called “What’s Victoria’s Secret?” Cool! Rick seemed to be having a lot of fun with the fans at the sound check, casually goofing around with us, taking photos, etc. What a blast! Ahhh…I got my second sweet Rick hug & photo!
The show was awesome! They started right around 9 PM and the show went until about 10:30 or so. The lights went down and the crowd went wild!!! (and so did my heartbeat!) He kicked it off with the rockin’ “Who Killed Rock and Roll,” and then went straight into the ever-sexy Affair of the Heart. Rick was wearing his new favorite shirt…the long-sleeved brown one with the Chinese-type symbols on it and I believe he had on his button-fly jeans. It was only a matter of minutes before his shirt was soaking wet with sweat. This would’ve been a FINE time for him to shed that hot shirt, but no…we did not get a shirtless encore for this event. Maybe next time! ;-)
At one point, within the first few songs, Rick appeared to be angry with his guitar and he threw it down across the stage. It slid off and landed in the space between the front row and the stage! He made some comment to the girl who was there about how he was glad that didn’t hit her. I can’t recall for sure what all he said, but boy was it a close call!
Next came “Alyson” & several really cool (pink) rose explosions! Rick was quite energetic for this show, grabbing roses all across the front and slamming them wildly against the strings. The audience got a treat tonight when Rick and the band played their new song, “What’s Victoria’s Secret?” Yay! I kind of figured they would perform this one since he had practiced it at the sound check earlier, complete with the lyric sheet. I’m not sure whether or not he had the lyrics tacked to the speaker for the show, to kind of help him out! LOL! Knowing Rick…he probably did!
After getting a taste of the new song, we flashed back to the 80’s for some “Hey! Whooo!” with “Rock of Life.” I love that song, but I would have taken “Perfect” or “Wasted” (or anything off of SDAA) in it’s place at that point in the show. I know, I know…he adds in the 80’s hits for the fans who love (or only know) his hit singles. But I still love the SDAA songs, and would happily take a few more of those in place of his “hits.” (even though I’m still a huge fan of his old hits).
Ha, okay…moving on now. ;-) Next he goes into the ever-favorite “I’ve Done Everything For You” complete with a lot of pointing back and forth between Rick and the crowd. :-P That’s always a great energetic tune for pumping up the crowd! Things were beginning to get a little overwhelming for the guards by this point.
Side note: I *hope* I’m getting the order right on this set list and not leaving out any songs. Maybe someone else might have a clearer memory (?)…as mine often fails me somewhat during a Rick show! Thanks to a couple of friends after the show, I think this is a pretty close list.
Ahhh…Next was Gloria! (TV/Bathtub Gloria. LOL) Rick did his usual jokes about Gloria & how she rings the doorbell. Then he does his cool little “doorbell” sounds on the guitar, and Gloria comes in. He says, “Gloria walks over and I’ve got the TV sitting on top of the bath, like you’re not supposed to do. And I’m sitting there watching this show about doctors…and shit.” He then talks about how there’s “this guy” who plays a doctor AND a rock star, and then says something like, ‘only on a soap opera.’ LOL. He goes on to talk about “Sam” and how many times can that chick get shot. Then he describes how Gloria reaches over and turns off the TV. Like he normally does, he tells the women/“girls” in the audience to put up their right hand (and encourages the guys to NOT raise their right hand!) and he says that Gloria puts her hand “right between my legs….and she pulls the PLUG!” He finishes the talking portion of the song with how she reaches down and “she stands me UP” demonstrating with the mic all the while, and how she takes him to the bed and lays him down and “makes me feel alright,” kicking back into the end of the song. I can’t help but wonder what some of the casino high rollers must have thought of this portion of the show! Haha!
Next was a song I didn’t expect to hear in Cherokee…they played “Kristina!” It seems they’ve been adding that one to the set list more often lately. That song seems to be a real crowd pleaser, as was the next song on the list…“Love Somebody.” After LS, we got a smoking hot performance of “Red House,” complete with the killer guitar-solo jam Rick does to start off the song. That’s got to be one of my all-time favorite pieces that Rick does on his guitar. It starts out slowly with this beautiful guitar strumming, picking gently at the strings, then it builds into a really cool & fast jam at the end…then slows back down for the beginning of Red House.
This is another spot where my memory is a bit fuzzy on the order of the songs, but from here I think the next tune in line was his cover of the Who’s “My Generation.” After (or during?) that he climbs down off the stage and proceeds to pick on some man up front, straddling his seat. (Was it a man? I thought it was. But I might be wrong!) He attempts a quick version of “Some Enchanted Evening,” I guess because he figures these older people in the crowd might not know his music. I think this is the part where he said something along the lines of, “You guys are looking like---Who is this guy?” Haha! It’s nice that Rick can poke fun at himself that way. :-P
Next up was his hit “Don’t Talk To Strangers,” in which he had a few audience members help him sing along. Then quickly after…Rick screams out that he thinks it’s time for a little “Human Touch,” to which he begins his descent deeper into the crowd. At one point Rick was climbing over chairs and trying his best to balance, but he actually FELL! There was a man in a red shirt who happened to catch him on his way down! LOL (I remember the color of his shirt because I have some great pictures of Rick with the man who caught him). Rick laughed at himself and said something to the man like, “You CAUGHT my ass!” A few minutes later Rick found a young girl with a cell phone (she couldn’t have been TOO young though…it’s a casino). He swipes her phone and begins to tease about ‘who should I call?’ He scrolls down her list and says, “DAD! Let’s call dad.” Well, dad picks up…and we can hear him pretty well through the mic. Rick begins to tease him, asking him if he knows who this is. The man tells him “no” and Rick and the crowd scream out, “It’s Rick Springfield!” Then Rick tells him, ‘I’m at the drive-in with your daughter, dad. And she’s got her hand on my leg. What should I do?’ At this point I’m half shocked & half cracking up, waiting to hear the man’s reply. He says, “WHO is this??!” Again the crowd and Rick scream out his name to the guy (as if that makes it all “okay” now, to be getting fresh at the drive-in with his daughter! haha!) The man hangs UP on Rick! I have to say…it was quite funny in a sick-humored-sort-of-way, but at the same time I was thinking, “Oh crap. This girl will be in some trouble with her dad later!” LOL
About mid-way through “Human Touch” Rick came 3 rows in front of us and was singing and jamming for about 30 seconds, then he cut left from us, swiping someone’s ball cap along the way and wearing it for a few minutes. He made his way over to the very crammed isle for awhile, much to the crowd’s pleasure. ;-) My friend who’s never had a meeting with Rick got a little human touch of her own during the isle portion of the song!!! He really didn’t seem to “travel” far for this show. He then cut right up the isle near the end of the song and got back on stage. I was kind of hoping he’d surf around in the back for the riser seats as well.
The night wouldn’t have been complete without Rick doing Jessie’s Girl. (his other favorite child, as he’s called it!) The crowd went crazy! He did his band introductions at the end and then his virtual “goodnight” hug & I believe a “God bless you all,” then sauntered off the stage like the killer rock star that he is. ;-)
The sound of helicopters (? Or so that’s what it reminds me of) and a heartbeat arrived once the lights were down, followed by some pretty steamy, heavy breathing. A sure sign there was going to be an encore after Rick changed out of his soaked clothing (or as we were hoping for…just ditch the shirt and come back out!) He returned to the stage wearing his light brown John Lennon T-shirt, the same one he’d worn earlier to our sound check. When I first heard the beginning “licks” of “I’ll Make You Happy,” the wardrobe inspection quickly left my mind & I jumped back to my feet. Whooo! He DID do a song from SDAA! Thanks Rick!
Rick finished off the night with “Love Is Alright Tonight,” to which I noticed most of the crowd (at least around us) were as hot and sweaty as Rick was and singing right along. It was a fun and memorable night! Rick and the guys brought on the fun, just as they always do. As the year rolls on, I think it’ll be cool to hear more new songs played at the live shows ;-)
So…when is the next Rick Springfield show?! I don’t think it’ll come quick enough for me!
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