Little River
Casino – Manistee, MI 7/1/17
Review by
Darla Gerken
Photos by
Mike & Darla Gerken
After seven
years almost to the day, Rick Springfield returned to Little River Casino
to a sold out show. The moment the
lights dimmed, there was a surge of fans heading to the front of the venue to
greet Rick as he walked on stage to Light This Party Up. He seemed quite
pleased with everyone standing in front of the stage and commented that they
looked like they were in a party mood.
He mentioned
that his ear was “messed up” after playing a show in the rain the previous
night and if we hear some bad notes, to not blame it on him. I won’t go into the whole story, but he said
that he woke up with a red mark on his chest and thought he had a bruised rib
and not to hug him too hard when he came out in the crowd later. Sounded like he had a couple rough nights!
After
playing a few songs, he said he has a new CD coming out soon and the title will
be
“Snake King”. He asked if anyone knew what it meant and then said he had no idea what it meant either. He also said that it was something that he had to write and not to hate him for it. Not sure what he was implying by that comment, so we will have to be patient until it is released.
“Snake King”. He asked if anyone knew what it meant and then said he had no idea what it meant either. He also said that it was something that he had to write and not to hate him for it. Not sure what he was implying by that comment, so we will have to be patient until it is released.
There were some
technical issues with the video being out of sync with the songs and it even stopped
several times. When he started the Bop Medley the video stopped completely and
he only sang Bop ‘Til You Drop and went on to Love is Alright. I felt a little
cheated because that part of the show we get to hear my favorite song – State of
the Heart. Though, we did get to hear
Gloria which was added because the video stopped. Not sure why he couldn’t sing
the complete medley without the video.
Rick found
his victim for DTTS when he saw a gentleman that was seated. He asked Roger to
sing, his response was that he did not know the song. Rick asked if he knew who he
was. He said that he knew he sang Jessie’s Girl. He spent quite a bit of
time picking on Roger, but he was a good sport.
It’s that
time of year again when he starts to milk it for all he’s got that he has a
birthday coming up. He asked if anyone knew how old he was going to be. I didn’t
hear what the immediate response was but he smiled and yelled “shut up”. Guess someone mentioned an age that was older
than he anticipated.
Human Touch
started out with a lot of cell phones being signed. He said that it was turning
into an autograph session so that delayed him going into the crowd. He didn’t
get too far into the crowd because there were obstacles in the front seven rows
since they were all seated and he did not have a clear path down the aisles to
share his Human Touch. Those seats must have been comp tickets to casino
regulars since they remained seated throughout the show, only standing when
Jessie’s Girl was played. I was surprised that he started Jessie’s Girl and I’ll
Make You Happy without a guitar in his hands. The guitar tech seemed to be a
little slow on the draw.
As usual, it
was a fun and upbeat night.
Set List:
Light This Party Up
IDEFY
IGE
Down
Affair of the Heart
Roar
Alyson
Bop ‘Til You Drop
Love Is Alright
Miss Mayhem
Gloria
Our Ship’s Sinking
DTTS
Human Touch
Love Somebody
Jessie’s Girl
I’ll Make You Happy
Kristina