Sunday, September 5, 2010

Rick Springfield in Lake Charles, LA


Sept 3rd 2010

Lake Charles, LA
L'Auberge du Lac Casino

Photos by: Charlotte Poe

This was a typical casino show, where the high rollers had the better seats, and the hard core fans were further back (well, except for those few people who never feel the need to actually sit in their seats and are always looking for something better). The opening music seemed different. Not sure when that change took place.

So Rick comes out and the majority of the people stayed seated. He opened with Who Killed Rock n Roll. After about 5 songs, Rick said he had just had a birthday and had everyone sing Happy Birthday to him. He asked how many people were wondering “who the f*@K is this guy, that’s not Noah Drake!”. Then he says “yes it is”. There was no stage rush, so there was quite a gap between the front row and the stage, so people would walk along that path when they were coming in and out, and Rick makes the comment “There’s a lot of F*ing people walking around.” He told them he was going to start flicking guitar picks at the people that walked in front, and he did. Every time someone would walk in front of him, he’d flick a pick at them, and he’d try really hard to hit them.

He sang IGE, and he stopped after the first verse and did some heavy breathing, and he made the comment “I’m not even breathing hard yet.” He ended up singing the first verse of IGE twice, instead of the 2nd verse. He kind of caught himself, and knew it was wrong, but for some reason went ahead with it. After Alyson, there were still a lot of people walking around in front and he said “when did this become a f*ing highway”. Right before “I’ll Miss that Someday” he said “this is about our Fathers”.

Someone apparently brought him some white wine and he said “I’m a vampire, I don’t drink white wine. On the road, only red.”

People were still sitting down and walking around in the front and he said “how many how Rollers do we have here?”

At the beginning of Crossroads, he went off stage, and stood in one of the chairs in the front row, and as soon as he did that a lot of people stood up and a lot of people came from their seats and tried to get close to him. So when he went back on stage to play the song, a lot of people had rushed to the stage, so there was no more gap for people to walk through and a lot of people stayed standing.

During DTTS, he tried to get the security guard to sing, and he didn’t want to, so he told him “don’t make me get nasty. Girls like guys that sing, it’s not hard to figure out. You’re not getting out of here without singing, its just the way things go.” He told the guy he needed to loosen up, and played around with that for a bit. He had some more people sing, and instead of singing, one girl shouted in the mic “I saw you in the 8th grade”. And Rick replied back “you were in 8th grade, or I was in the 8th grade?” Then he wanted to find someone that didn’t really know he was to get them to sing, so he found someone and asked what their name was, and after they told him, he had to ask them again, and he said “sorry, I thought you said Hitler (her name was April”). After the song he made the comment “you guys are really winding up – I’m very happy!”

Before Love Somebody, he did he normal thing asking how many people saw the movie – Hard to Watch….Hard to Swallow…Hard to Hold. How many people thought it was a great movie? How many people thought it should have won an Oscar? How many people thought his ass should have won an Oscar? He then asked how many people had seen Californication last season. He said it was a very rude show he was still showing off his butt, but he couldn’t help it. Then he said the next song had been in both Californication and Hard to Hold. During that song, a fan had come on stage and gotten under Matt’s guitar. Then when the song was done, she had a sharpie and she got Rick to sign her lower back. But something got messed up with Matt’s bass, and Rick said “see what happens when fans get on stage?” By that time there was a really big crowd against the stage and Rick says “Thank God we got rid of all those High Rollers”. (I think they were mostly still there, he just couldn’t see them any more). He then said he hated it when people got free tickets for spending money.

He went out into the crowd for Human Touch. Only went out about 8 or 9 rows. When he got back, his intro to Jessie’s Girl was “There was this girl, and there was this guy, and he was a good looking bastard and she wouldn’t even look at me twice. So I wrote a song about her. You might have heard it.

He ended the show with Fire and Kristina (shirtless, with glasses). He had to work for it, but he eventually got the crowd the way he liked it.

Who Killed Rock N Roll
IDEFY
Affair of the Heart
Living in Oz
What’s Victoria’s Secret
IGE

Alyson
Venus in Overdrive
I’LL Miss That Someday
Love is alright Tonite
Crossroads
DTTS
Love Somebody
Speak to the Sky
Human Touch
Jessie’s Girl
Fire
Kristina

Rick Springfield Performs at The Benton Franklin Fair


Rick Rocked Kennewick!

Review by Suzy Guttormson
Photo's by Susan Fortune

The Benton Franklin Fair in Kennewick, WA greeted us with temperatures in the mid 90’s, fair food and farm animals, but most importantly, with an intimate outdoor concert setting. The reserved seats were sectioned-off folding chairs, but beyond that area, there were bleachers and a lawn area where any fair-goer could hang out and enjoy the show.
Local radio DJs came out to introduce Rick, and got the crowd going a bit by throwing T-shirts into the crowd, and by getting the crowd to sing “Happy Birthday” song to Rick, with George N. accompanying on guitar.
Rick came out after the intro music and jumped right into “Mr. PC” sporting shades and a sleeveless black shirt. The shades weren’t on for very long thank goodness! He interacted a lot with George B. and it looked like everybody else on stage was having a good time too. Rick encouraged another round of “Happy Birthday” using big gestures, just in case we weren’t clear on who the birthday boy was.
Shirt-changing time! Rick took his time changing from one sleeveless black shirt to another, and in the process I saw a ton of cameras (including mine) go up. He thanked us afterward for respecting his wishes for no photos, uh-huh right!
“Don’t Talk To Strangers” moments started out with “Officer Ed” up front, who sang loud and proud. Rick joked that anyone that went to the show that gets pulled over by Officer Ed in the next week gets out of their speeding ticket *woohoo*. Officer Ed also saved our Rick from a stage stair stumble, so kudos to Ed! Two cute little girls in the front were brought up on stage by Rick for their DTTS moment. Rick broke out in dance with them first, which was hilarious to watch.
I was wondering if the crowd would ever stay standing, as they seemed to go up and down (this is rock n’ roll, people, STAND UP). If DTTS didn’t do it, “Human Touch” got everybody on their feet. He covered quite a bit of territory and the crowd was thrilled. Rick ended the show with an Encore of Wild Thing and Kristina ... and finished up with a water spray like he used to do at his shows in the 80's. It was fun to see that again!
It was a beautiful night (with a lovely orange moon that Rick commented on), and an energetic show, a great way to bring summer to a close!

Set List:
Mr PC
I've Done Everything for You
Affair of the Heart
Rock of Life
What's Victoria's Secret
I'll Miss That Someday
Happy Birthday
IGE
Allyson
Venus in Overdrive
Love is Alright Tonight
Crossroads
DTTS
Love Somebody
Human Touch
Jessie's Girl
Encore:
Wild Thing
Kristina

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Rick Springfield Shows Tacoma How To Rock!

Rick Springfield Returns
To The Emerald Queen
August 21, 2010
Review by Suzy Guttormson
Pictures by Susan Fortune

Rick has played enough shows at the Emerald Queen Casino over the years that he joked at the beginning of the show that they were becoming the “resident band”. That would be OK by all of us here in the Northwest! Thankfully, pictures were allowed at this show, which has not always been the case at EQC. Security was also very pleasant to talk to and they were not being over-vigilant, again, which has not always been so. If you have stopped coming to EQC shows because of either problem, I recommend you give them another try next time Rick comes back, because with the house appearing to be packed, I’m sure he will.

The intro music was cranked up so loud that you could feel it (LOVE that), and then Rick appeared, wearing a black jacket over a white T-shirt, but the jacket didn’t stay on long, to crowd delight. The crowd was on its feet from start to finish, as Rick had tons of energy to share with us. Rick had a lot of interaction with George B., and it was good to see both he and Matt B. share the main microphone with Rick at one point. (Side note: Matt’s current hat and shades look on-stage is very cool.)

At one point Rick bumped his lip with the microphone, mentioned it, and then pointed to his lip. Many screaming voices volunteered to kiss and make it better. He also mentioned that his Birthday was coming up and had everyone sing him Happy Birthday!
DTTS moments included the security guard nearest to the stage, who talked the lyrics at first, and when Rick asked how old he was, Rick commented that he had a son about his age. I’m pretty convinced that the seasoned security guards there know by now what happens when you get the front guard spot, so I bet they send the unknowing newbies up there to be picked on. Just a thought J. Rick surfed the crowd for a couple of rows, finding people in and out of tune along the way.

For “Human Touch” he gave the first few rows on both sides some love as much as possible, and even though he disappeared down off chairs a couple of times, for the most part the crowd seemed to take good care of him.

For the encore, Rick came out in his glasses and a sleeveless black shirt, which I must say is a great look for him. The crowd was on its feet for the whole show, from what I could tell, so the energy Rick gave he got right back, If you’ve been to one of those shows, you know that it feels pretty electric. I’m looking forward to having the “resident band” back at the Emerald Queen sooner rather than later!

Set List (if anyone remembers different please post in the comments)
Mr PC
I've Done Everything for You
Affair of the Heart
Living in Oz
What's Victoria's Secret
IGE
Allyson
Souls
Venus in Overdrive
Love is Alright Tonight
Crossroads
DTTS
Love Somebody
Human Touch
Jessie's Girl
Encore:
Wild Thing
Kristina


Rick Springfield Rocked the NW Washington Fair


August 20, 2010
Review & Pictures
by Susan Fortune

The Northwest Washington Fair in Lynden was the first of three Western Washington shows for Rick last week. The opener for Rick was mutton busting, with little kids riding sheep and wagon races around the track. Matty and George N. Were very intent on watching the races I wish I would have gotten a picture of them. Then in preparation for Rick they hooked a tractor to the stage and pulled it closer to the bandstands!
The weather for this outdoor show started out pleasantly in the 70's but quickly got cooler when the sun went down.
Rick appeared on stage with sunglasses, grey t-shirt, black jacket & slacks. He came out on stage and said this was the first time that horses had opened for him and that the stage was put in place by a tractor! Rick opened with "Fire" which I have never know him to open with, perhaps to mix it up for the other shows. Then he launched into Mr PC. which is his usual opener. He got off a few good guitar tosses & catches.
Early in the show Rick mentioned it was his birthday month and asked if anyone knew how old he was when we shouted 61 he said "shut up!" lol He thought we should sing him Happy Birthday .... so he got the audience to sing him Happy Birthday and he was please with how well it was sung!
When preparing the audience to sing the Yeah, Yeah's for Venus in Overdrive ..... started talking about Close Encounters .... had everyone sing the notes to call the aliens. He asked if this was and area visited by aliens and since it was outdoors he tried to peak out an look for the aliens .... he didn't find any and asked who believed ... some cheers from the audience and he laughed at them. He said he would believe in them when one comes down and probes him! lol
The audience really got into the concert when Rick started coming into the audience. Rick got several people in the audience to sing Don't talk to stranger before bringing on stage a cute little girl named Mackenzie. Rick got her to dance with him and when asked where she learned to dance like that she said "I took ballet" Rick melted when Rick asked her if she would sing for him she said "if you help me!" To which Rick said she might be going home with him because she was too cute! She did sing without much help from Rick.
The crowd went crazy when Rick came out for Human Touch .... finally the whole venue was standing and stayed that way for the rest of the concert....... Love Somebody, Human Touch .... and finally Jessie's Girl to close the show.
Rick came back out and sang Wild Thing and Kristina.
I think this is pretty much the set list not sure of the order.
If anyone knows different let me know in the comments.
**************
Fire
Mr PC
Rock of Life
Happy Birthday
Affair of the Heart
What's Victoria's Secret
I'll Miss That Someday
IGE
Allyson
Venus in Overdrive
Love is Alright Tonight
Crossroads
DTTS
Lov
e Somebody
Human Touch
Jessie's Girl
Encore:
Kristina
Wild Thing

Monday, August 30, 2010

More New Tour Dates for Rick Springfield


This one is new! Rick returns to the Borgata!

November 05, 2010
Atlantic City, NJ
The Borgata

Public on sale 9/4


Photo: Rosie Malthaner Borgata 2009


Not really new, but finally official:
October 04, 2010
Scottsdale, AZ
Talking Stick Resort



Both confirmed on www.rickspringfield.com

Californication Season 3 with Rick Springfield on DVD

If you missed Rick Springfield's performance on Californication last year........
According to Amazon.com, Californication Season 3 will be available Nov 9th 2010.

http://www.amazon.com/Californication-Third-Season-David-Duchovny/dp/B003FSTN8O/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1283208952&sr=1-1

Pre-order today!

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Rick Springfield to play in CA on Sept 11th

confirmed on rickspringfield.com
According to ticketmaster, the special guests will be Peter Noone and Davey Jones
September 11, 2010
Lincoln, CA
Thunder Valley Casino

Tickets go on sale today on ticketmaster.com