Monday, October 27, 2008

Charlotte, NC / October 18, 2008 / Wam Jam '08 @ Verizon Wireless Ampitheatre





Photo & Review
By Kelley Pearson

I think I can speak for everyone who attended the concert in Charlotte, NC this past weekend by saying…"Rick, we love you here. Come back!" A Rick Springfield show is one that never disappoints. I literally could have listened to those guys play all night long. He started off the show with a high-energy performance of his new song Mr. PC! What a cool live song that one is! The intro music just before Rick hit the stage was Nothing Is Ever Lost. ;-)

We had incredible seats for this show (my first time ever pulling front row seats through access!) It was my 14-year old daughter's first Rick concert, which ended up being quite interactive for her with high-fives from Rick as he balanced across our chairs, a rose explosion with the flowers she brought for him, a lot of guitar jamming either on the stage in front of us or on the speaker between us and the stage & then yet another rose explosion that showered us with gorgeous petals. It was quite a rockin' performance & a fun night! I also "converted" two people into Rick fans that night. ;-) My friend who was there had seen Rick with me in '06, from the 14th row. She liked his show the first time…a lot…but this show sealed the deal for her I think. She claimed there is nothing like seeing him perform up-close and personal. My daughter also loved the show. She left the venue with a lot of "whoo-hooing," chattering about how much "Rick rocks" & saying that she now likes Rick better than Elvis!!!

I was very pleased the band performed the song Venus In Overdrive. This is still my favorite dance-along, sing-along song on the new CD. J It was surprising getting to hear several of the new tunes---VIO, Mr. PC, I'll Miss That Someday (which truly needs to be Rick's next radio hit!), What's Victoria's Secret? & of course Who Killed Rock & Roll (which I never seem to tire of). I'm hoping they will eventually add Time Stand Still & 3 Warning Shots. I love the cool new guitar move Rick is doing now during VIO. He's added a pink sticker to the back of one guitar that simply says, "YEAH." At points in the song where the background vocals say, "yeah yeah" Rick quickly flips the guitar up to expose the word "YEAH" on the back. Pretty cool move! He should get Matt & George to label their guitars as well and they could all 3 flip them up in synch, just at the right moment. :-P I was surprised that Red House was not on the set list that night. If memory serves me right, I think they also left out Rock Of Life. I was glad Rick did that little guitar solo that I love so dearly. He was standing on the chairs just down the row from us when he went into that bit. (It reminds me so much of April 24th during the slow part of the jam). Then it kicked into a furious rhythm and ended up going into the cover song Crossroads, which is a great version of the song.

Two songs that really surprised me were Love Is Alright Tonight & I'll Make You Happy. LIAT came very early in the show. For one alarming moment I thought to myself, "OH NO…the show is over already??!" I'm used to this song being in the encore. Wow, that really threw me for a loop. Of course, the show was probably shorter than usual since Rick shared the stage that day with John Waite, Lou Graham & Eddie Money. And even when the guys play a full set list with no opening bands, is it EVER long enough?? ;-) The answer is simply---no. Rick's shows are so much fun, that it feels like only moments have passed and then it's over. No wonder we continue to go back again and again for Rick's live shows! The man is more addictive than fine wine & chocolate. J I was QUITE happy to hear a song from the Shock CD! I actually think hearing I'll Make You Happy at the end of the show was appropriate, since Rick DID make us happy. You might say it was a perfect "send-off." I can never get enough of hearing SDAA songs live. That's another of those high-energy songs that rocks the house & displays Rick's incredible guitar skills & enthusiasm.

Here is the set list to the best of my knowledge (or should I say…memory?!) If anyone knows of any songs I'm leaving out or any that are not correct, please speak up. ;-) I'm not sure if the order is "exact," but I think it's pretty close.

Intro music: Nothing Is Ever Lost
Mr. PC
Who Killed Rock & Roll
Affair of the Heart
What's Victoria's Secret
Venus In Overdrive
Love Is Alright Tonight
Guitar solo/Crossroads cover song
Don't Talk To Strangers
Love Somebody
Human Touch
I've Done Everything For You
Alyson
Jessie's Girl
Pre-Encore Heartbeat music
Encore:
I'll Miss That SomedayI'll
Make You Happy

My friend who was just down from us had this really cool blow-up pirate that took her quite some time to blow up! She & her 2 friends started working on him with the air pump during Eddie Money so that sucker would be ready when Rick came out. Yes, it took them THAT long to blow it up! It was BIG! I thought it was a really cute "toy" for Rick to play with. But along comes a security guard and he took it away. L Seriously, the guy just didn't understand that Rick would LIKE having a cute prop like that on stage, even though they assured him that Rick didn't mind. He finally told her he would prop it in the corner of the stage & we all hoped Rick might still get to play with it, but alas…a big speaker was on that side and I'm not sure he could see around it to spot the pirate. Strict security! :-q The point of this story….Rick was goofing off on stage when he spotted the air pump lying on the speaker. He grabs it up and gets the funniest look and says, "What in the hell is this?" The girls yell something like, "It's a pump." They were pointing & trying to tell him there was a pirate beside the stage. He must not have heard them. He looked around but he missed the whole point! He looks the gadget over and says, "A pump? A penis pump?" Then I thought he said something about "an enlarger?" LOL He asks across the front with it, "Is this yours? Is this yours?" then looks at me and says "is this yours?" I nod "no" laughing out loud! Rick did find the blow-up Destiny cruise ship that she brought. He tucked it under his arm for a bit and played guitar with it. Then he asked if any of us are going on the cruise with him next month, to which he got a round of cheers & screams.

I don't recall Rick doing any cell phone pranks for this show. Hey, he could've ordered some pizza & beer for all of us. :-p He did take a sip of someone's beer though while out in the crowd. He must have been pretty thirsty by this point! He had some boys sing Don't Talk To Strangers while he was out in the crowd & I saw him giving someone a high-five. Rick didn't "surf" out too far through the crowd at this show. I would guess he went back maybe 10 or 12 rows deep, then he came back. We didn't get any guitar smashes for this show, which is actually one of my favorite things he does on stage. :-D He did some guitar tossing & catching though. Don't you know the guys in the band must want to run for cover when Rick starts throwing guitars around?! Haha

Hopefully Rick and the guys will make a return to the Charlotte area in the future & put us into "overdrive" once again! The show rocked as always & I'm definitely ready for my next Rick adventure. As far as I'm concerned, a Rick show would be the perfect place to make "time stand still." ;-)

Thanks to Rick and the band for coming our way! We hope to see you back in Charlotte next year…Kelley Pearson

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