Rick Springfield & His American Girls

Oct 11th 2008
Queens Park Oval
Port of Spain, Trinidad

Review by Dancy Myers Zahn & Bambi Myers
Pictures: To come later!

The QPO
This stadium is enormous! The VIP chairs were set up on the field, and the grass was very wet and muddy from an earlier storm. We found our seats towards the back of the VIP section after hitting the ladies room in the adjacent bar, Bat and Ball. We were 'treated' to an opening act...a guy singing and playing the acoustic guitar. The emcee explained to us that people were coming from all over the island, and having a hard time finding parking. They didn't want to start the show without everyone present. I noticed that people were all dressed up, and came in families and large groups. The stage was elevated over 5 feet so our view was unobstructed. Vertical Horizon took the stage a little after 8:30, and I have to tell you those guys were fantastic.

Around 9:10 we saw George N making his way back to the sound board. We quickly ran back there to meet him per our instructions for our VIP Platinum package from Ricksmerch. He immediately recognized us and gave me a little hug! He said, 'It's you!' LOL He took us through the crowd to the backstage area and I informed him I had to pee. He hates me! He showed me to the 'artist' port a pot behind the stage. I went in. No TP! No Can Do!!! He was annoyed with me by now and led us thru the stadium to the Bat and Ball restrooms. When we came back down to the backstage area, I asked him if it was possible for us to watch the show from in front of the stage, but still get pics etc., afterwards with RS. He took us up onto to the side stage area to show us where we would be standing. Um, no thanks. I really wanted to experience this from the crowd. He arranged for a humongous bouncer type guy with a shaved head to escort us to our desired location. We literally had to part the red sea to get under Rick's mic. I had no idea there were so many people wedged into the area in front of the stage!

The Show
Our man comes out to outrageous screams, and people were absolutely going insane. They almost never get to attend a rock concert, and you could certainly tell they loved it. I am ashamed to admit that I have never seen fans in the US get this excited to see Rick. Not even close!!! The masses were shoving so hard towards Rick that I had to put my camera away, for fear it wouldn't survive. Rick noticed his American Girls early on, and he let us know he appreciated us! At one point the girls around us were pulling on Rick so hard he fell off the stage and he and his guitar landed on the Myers girls. I don't even know how he managed to climb back up on stage! I thought for sure he would never brave the crowd for DTTS, but he did. That was a big hit. He also came out for My Generation, Human Touch and JG. This show was so full of crotch grabs that I was beginning to wonder why Trinidad was getting all the dirty love! There was no encore, but Rick did take his shirt off, completely undo his pants, and turn around and moon us with his navy blue drawers!!!! Everyone around me was going crazy and I was so in shock I was silent. After he left the stage and the sound system came on with WVS, I knew he wasn't coming back out.

We made our way to the rear side of the stage, to wait for George. Quite a few minutes passed before he came to collect us. He put us in some chairs, and then Derek came to lead us into the Bat and Ball. He found a safe place to stash us for a few minutes while a lot of fans got pics taken with RS. He came back for us in a few minutes, and led us thru the hallway to the 'green room'. As we were led past Ronnie, he shook our hands and said, 'wow, you came a long way!' In the green room were the rest of the band, VH, and Rob Kos. Derek stayed with us for quite awhile. Rick came in and talked to us, signed our stuff, and left again to do something but said he'd be back with us in a minute. When he came back we got some pics taken and talked some more. He asked if we were going on the cruise, and said it will be a blast. He hugged me one last time and we left the green room. This was completely different than any sound check or meet and greet I have been to, obviously!

A funny tidbit: When RS took his shirt off, the girl next to me screamed, "OMG, are those liposuction scars?!! He's way too hot for that!" I quickly explained about the hernia surgeries. When I told Rick about this he was highly offended but glad I took up for him. LOL

Set List(not necessarily in this order)
WKRR
AOTH
LIO
Alyson(crotch grabs)
WVS
IDEFY
DTTS
Bathtub Gloria(crotch grabs)
ROL
Love Somebody
My Generation
Human Touch
JG