Rick Springfield Hot and Sticky on the East Coast!

09/25/09

Atlantic City, NJ

09/26/09

Ocean City, MD

Review & pictures by Kelly Latka

Two shows, two states, one fantastic weekend!

I haven’t written one of these in quite a while so please bear with me! Once again, Rick took the stage at the Borgata Casino in Atlantic City, NJ. The crown was lively and seemed ready to rock while the cruise promo and video montage were shown. Throughout the evening, Rick talked a bit about his upcoming stint on Californication, commented on a few latecomers (‘thanks, now we can start the show!’) and yelled at security for making people sit down at a rock show. As for wardrobe, Rick was wearing grey slacks with dangling suspenders, white shirt, black vest and his beloved bedazzled Converse.

After a few songs, the vest came off and, eventually, so did the white shirt, replaced on stage by a sleeveless back tee. Rick cut his hand, as usual, and was given a huge Sponge Bob bandage which he decided was going to be his new “thing” (‘You know that rapper who always has a band aid on his face?’) He was given a teddy bear by a child in the audience and, when he accidentally kicked it, he picked it up to make sure “hottie bear” was all right. Speaking of children, the little girl chosen to sing Don’t Talk To Strangers, Adriana, clearly stole Rick’s heart. She was utterly adorable and belted out the lyrics like a pro.

At one point, Rick sang a couple of verses of “Some Enchanted Evening” for the benefit of anyone who was expecting Tony Bennett rather than Rick Springfield. The set list was the same as it has been at other recent shows with one exception - a three song encore: Wild Thing, I’ll Make You Happy and Kristina. The after party at Mixx was basically uneventful. Rick and crew stayed up in the raised VIP area. I don’t know if he ever addressed the crowd at all as I didn’t stay long. I did see him making his way back up to his room a little while later so if he did anything, it didn’t take very long!

Next day, most of us hit the Cape May ferry at some point and made our way to Maryland for the second leg of our journey.

Borgata Set List:

Mr PC
WVS
Affair of the Heart
Love is Alright
Allyson
Jet
Living in Oz

Ive Done Everything for You

VIO
I'll Miss That Someday
Crossroads
IGE (we don't do that anymore Rick commented when hands when up to the "the girl"!
DTTS
Love Somebody
Human Touch
Jessie's Girl

3 Song Encore!!!
Wild Thing
I'll Make You Happy
Kristina

On to Ocean City!!

First off, Ocean City’s Sunfest is a huge…well, fest! On this, the 35^th anniversary, this meant hundreds of vendors, countless food choices, tremendous crowds and kites flying high up and down the boardwalk. Lots of fun in and of itself. But with Rick Springfield on the schedule, everything was turned up a notch. The concert was held inside an enclosed tent so the threatened 2 inches of rain and whipping wind would not be an issue. Once again, both the cruise promo and video montage were presented. The tent was packed and, although I don’t know for certain, it certainly looked sold out to me.

Rick was wearing black slacks this time, sleeveless black shirt, black vest and, of course, his sparkly sneakers. No changes to the set list and back to a two song encore. The crowd was pumped and gave Rick a run for his money when he ventured out into the audience. I couldn’t see exactly what was going in but he disappeared for a bit and when he popped up he headed straight back to the stage. For Don’t Talk To Strangers, Rick was joined on stage by a group ranging in age from 6 to 16. All were pretty good singers, too!

We got the quick change shirt switch which wasn’t so quick as Rick got a little tangled up. Of course, I was covering my eyes as Rick asked so I didn’t see anything at all…la la laaaaa… (He did this the previous night in Atlantic City as well and I didn’t see that one either. Ahem.) Please pardon the lack of detail. I was lucky enough to have a front row seat for this show and spent most of it in a Rick Springfield induced bubble - my memories are sketchy at best! I’ve given Rosie permission to add any crucial details that I may have missed!

(a note from Rosie-)I will add here that in Kelly's post show coma she has neglected to mention the....um...shirtless encore! I know how could you forget that you ask? Well our trip was lacking in one thing and that was sleep! LOL Yes, when Rick reemerged for the encore he was missing a certain article of clothing, which would be his shirt! But it was replaced with his glasses for a brief time before tossing them off the stage. A fitting way to end a great trip to the beach I might add!

Set List Ocean City:
Mr PC
WVS
Affair of the Heart
Living in Oz
IGE (no girl)
I've Done Everything for You
Jet
Allyson
VIO
I'll Miss that
Love is Alright
Crossroads
DTTS
Love Somebody
Human Touch
Jessie's Girl
Encore:
I'll Make You Happy
Kristina