Interlochen, MI 6/28/08

Rick Springfield
Interlochen, MI - 6/28/08
Interlochen Center for the Arts
Review by Michelle Porchia
Photo by Cyndi O'Hora

The evening started with severe weather looming in the distance, dark clouds approaching and rain trying to fall on the patrons. The wind was picking up and we were thankful that even though the venue was an outdoor amphitheatre, it appeared that organizers were prepared and had hung tarps around the open sides to (hopefully) prevent any significant rain from coming into the seating areas.

I mention the weather since the start of the show was delayed. An announcement was made at 8pm (the time the show was to start) stating, :"Due to the inclement weather, Mr. Springfield has not yet arrived. We expect his arrival within the next 15 minutes. We are sorry for any inconvenience." Meanwhile, the back seats of the venue started filling up with students. Interlochen, MI is home to a fine arts program that is known around the world. When we arrived at the venue there were literally hundreds of teenagers milling about this campus. Evidently one of the perks of attending a summer program was to see Rick Springfield for free :-)

About 20 minutes later, we see a van pulling in to stage left. Out pops George, Derek and then Rick. A cheer is raised in the crowd and Rick pumps his fists in the air. Okay...let's get this party started! 20 minutes after that, the familiar pre-show music starts up. Fans rush the stage and dozens of students from the back join them. Rick strolls out wearing the brown boots, jeans and a Who Killed Rock n' Roll t-shirt. The rockin' begins.

I had heard from fans earlier while waiting for Rick to arrive that Sound Check had been cancelled since Rick hadn't arrived in town yet. It appeared so right from the opening notes of WKRR as Rick immediately began having amp issues. After WKRR, the band went into Wasted. It was so great to hear this song outside of the encore! Because my mind was blown away with this little ditty, I might get the rest of the songs out of order. :-)

Affair of the Heart was next, followed by Rick telling the crowd he had a new album coming out next month. Then he asked, "Who cares if we have a new record out?" The mosh pit roared. He then performed What's Victoria's Secret, the new single. I have to say that with each song I kept looking at some of the youngsters surrounding me, who were predominately male -- just to see their reactions. They were honestly enjoying themselves and seemed to really like the new single. They may have been band-camp geeks, but their dollars spend just as well as any other person out in the audience.

After WVS, Rock of Life. Rick totally forgot the first verse of the song. He started to sing the second verse ("Is it something in my head...") and then realized something wasn't right when the whole front row was yelling, "When I pick up my guitar..." He started cracking up, while the band just continued on playing. He finally stopped laughing enough to chime in at the chorus.

It's here that my brain starts to put things out of order! I want to say that he did Alyson and then went into Red House, followed by DTTS. Lots of amp issues during the end of Red House - Rick literally threw his guitar at George without concern, and kicked the amp. He started up DTTS sans guitar, and did most of the song without one. (George was scurrying behind during the fan sing-along portion replacing the cord.) During DTTS, after getting a few fans in the crowd to sing, he wandered into the audience to the older couple still sitting in their seats. (There's always gotta be one, right?) The man told Rick he couldn't sing he had laryngitis (Hey, were you in Detroit last Friday too?). So Rick wandered away from him and had a few others sing in the crowd. He spotted a couple little girls and asked them to come up on stage with him to sing. They made their way to the stage and Rick did his little girl impression of shrugging his shoulders forward, shuffling his feet and swaying side-to-side. Meanwhile, another little girl popped up behind him. He did an exaggerated jump, and lined her up next to the other two. While he was asking their names, up come two more girls -one with her Mother. Ronnie escorted Mom off as Rick said, "This is the kid portion of the show." Up pops another girl, then a little boy. Rick finally goes, "Any more kids out there?" One of the teenage boys then tries to climb up the stage and Rick says, "Sorry Dude, ain't gonna happen." He then lined each child up by height, and had them sing. As he got to the smaller ones, their voices got smaller too. He then kissed and hugged each child and asked their Moms to claim them.

Guitar/amp issues resolved, Rick swings into Gloria. He has the women raise their right hands and reach between his legs to pull the plug, and then remembers out loud that there are kids in the audience. So he sings, "She stands me up" and turns the microphone straight up and says, "I hope you got that" and then finishes the song.

On to Love Somebody, after being hooked up with his "Britney Spears microphone". He asks the crowd who was under 18 years of age when they saw that movie. After lots of hands are raised he said, "That's a whole lot of minors who saw my naked butt!" He does LS on stage, followed by Kristina. He ventures into the audience to do My Generation. He tries to do a cell phone bit, which does not fly -he gets the voice mail of the person he called. He leaves a message that they missed Rick Springfield calling. He tosses the phone back to the person and says it's time for Human Touch.

After Human Touch he is back on stage, and the familiar chords of Jessie's Girl begin. The crowd is frenzied, lots of women and girls have surged to the stage. After JG, the band is introduced and Rick says that Matt's brother Gregg attended Interlochen for two years. He walks along the edge of the stage and is slapping hands and signing autographs before exiting. After a few moments, Rick returns for an encore asking the crowd, "Are you happy?" and the band starts up I'll Make You Happy. Love is Alright Tonite follows. He sweeps up the crowd for a hug, and the show has ended.