October 3, 2002 - Chester, WV
THE MOODY BLUES BACK IN THE USA The Harv I arrived late at SueC’s house and found her calmly talking on the phone, ready to leave, but her usual mellow, uncomplaining self. We stopped for a cold 12 pack of Diet Coke, and thus fortified, hit the highway and made our way east. SueC is in charge of most things cars and had estimated a few hours to The Harv. The trip went smoothly and our spirits, already high, were buoyed by the pleasant weather, the “brilliant” conversation and the good time we were making on the road to Moody Paradise. We were discussing the Margaritas that were awaiting us when we fell off the face of the earth. The directions to Chester seemed simple enough and the trip went quite well until we were led like innocent lambs onto the most God-awful two lane highway imaginable. The only “good” thing I can say about it is that it was paved. In all other ways, it was the highway from hell (and to hell, as it turned out). We went UP the mountain, we went down the mountain, we went AROUND the mountain. I should have started counting mobile homes as soon as we got off the highway...it would have been a world record. The 60 miles seemed like hundreds. I began to feel a bit sick from the turns and the altitude changes. After an hour, SueC commented that there were no rest areas, no towns, no filling stations and THEREFORE... No restrooms!  SueC
very encouragingly said that there were a heck of a lot of TREES, and there
were trees in abundance (in fact we couldn’t see the forest for them),
but all of them had chosen to grow on very steep hills. We’re
strong, self-reliant women, fearless in most situations, but I pictured
in my mind answering nature’s call, encountering a disgruntled timber rattler,
and jumping out from behind a tree, only to lose my balance and roll down
the hillside. Sue’s spirits began to slide a bit and she hesitatingly
confided to me that she could almost hear the banjo from Deliverance.
We eventually reached Chester West By God Virginia (that’s what people call WV here, and it scares me) and after one wrong turn we found a Mountaineer sign that pointed us in the direction of decadence. The town of Chester ain’t much, and I only hope that the Band wives took a walk on the wild side and explored the shopping that it had to offer: various junk shops and businesses devoted to hunting. Perhaps they visited the Fly, Fish and Fur, hoping to find a nice sable jacket, and leaving instead clothed in camouflage. So much better to avoid the ubiquitous Band-eating fans! LOL!!! Well folks, Chester is nothing, rivaling Hinckley MN in its forgettability. The Harv was down the road so we scooted thru Chester after checking the numerous “clubs” for the roadies’ bus. It was getting dark. We drove from The Sticks to somewhere beyond nowhere and came upon THE HARV. THE VENUE: The Mountaineer Racetrack and Gaming resort is a privately owed venture whose owner is “Ted”. Ted’s picture is on the billboards and most of the advertisements and so we easily recognized him hanging out in The Mahogany Bar. The original motel facility, called The Lodge appears to have been built to appear as similar as possible to a Motel 8. Luckily for us, Ted has done well and built a much more attractive hotel next to it. The large grounds include a very nice racetrack, but the horses were well hidden and are only brought out on Friday thru Tuesday. We were sorry to have missed them! Attached to the hotel is a strange casino (limited to slots and video poker – no tables) with a Chicago “mob” theme, complete with HUGE pictures of Al Capone on the walls. I suppose a Deliverance theme, or Steeltown USA would have been too close to the truth for a business built on the concept of escape. The hotel was pleasant, though unexceptional. The Mountaineer clientele has an average age of 75 (at least) and the number of walkers, wheelchairs and canes was amazing! The grounds also include a separate fitness center, which resembles a large Quonset hut. The Harv is separate from the other buildings. Ted must have gotten a deal on buying TWO Quonset huts, because The Harv is the same type of building as the fitness center. When we saw it in the light of day, we were a bit stunned. I thought it looked like an airplane hanger, SueC said it reminded her of a large barn. I can’t imagine the tens of hundreds of dollars that must have been spent to build it. We gleaned that Ted named it in honor of his father, Harvey Arneault; it is formally termed the Memorial Theatre and Event Center. I wonder if the family called him The Harv as part of every day life. I will never know! It began to rain as we stepped out of the hotel, but the Mountaineer kindly provided a shuttle service to The Harv. The doors, due to open at 5:30 were still tightly closed and so we made our way to one of the two tents in front of the huge barn. These “tents” constituted the box office and will-call. I had tickets to pick up and the storm hit in earnest as I was waiting in line. I ran thru the rainstorm to the doors, now open for business, and entered into a lobby area, lined with chairs and ashtrays. The merchandise table included a few new shirts, but I didn’t examine it closely. Guards were doing some purse examinations for dangerous and illegal items, specifically cameras. Mine was in my pocket and it stayed there for the evening, so sadly there are no photos (at least from me) of the first concert of the tour. : (  The
Harv was described by one of the employees as looking to him as if it had
a large white condom pulled over it. I’d say the interior was on
a par with the outside: minimal, functional and a bit bizarre. It
has a concrete floor, sloped, which I’m sure is useful for hosing it off
after “events”. It’s similar to a large tent or football dome, and
the walls appear to be covered with some rubber material. Industrial
lights are hung from rods stretched across the ceiling. It’s
quite large, and had curtains sectioning it off for the concert, reducing
it to about half. This had the added effect of blocking the high
school bleachers from our sight (and from The Band’s). It had three
seating areas: the VIP area in front of the stage, a Gold circle area behind
it and peon seating on a platform behind. About 21 rows total.
Two sections were in front of the stage and the sections on either side
were largely past the stage. The view from those seats was limited
principally to the two large video screens on either side of the stage.
The chairs of the floor section were cushioned and comfortable and were
not attached. One of our party said the interior reminded her of
Early State Fair. I think that gives a pretty good idea of the atmosphere.
Anyone for cotton candy and corndogs?
But the stage looked great! The setup was typical, and I found it reassuring to see two Marshall amps, two drum sets (one with Zildjians, one not) and three microphones fairly close to the edge of the very high stage. The ceiling of the stage was held up by four black pillars, with the blessing of The Harv overhead. SueC said it reminded her of Viejas moved indoors. The VIP section was sold out (and filled); there was availability in all other ticket levels. THE FASHION REPORT: (Straight from West By God Virginia!) RT - White long slvd shirt, black slacks GE - NEW SHIRT! Black shirt with a red car, black slacks. Pretty cool, too! Another cool car shirt, red car on front and back, and I swear I saw a guitar next to the car on the front. Graeme Edge provides a bit of color to the stage, and in more ways than one. : ) JL - Black long slvd shirt (oxford type), black slacks. (Yes, you read it right!) JH - NEW SHIRT! White, long slvd with a white pattern across the chest, black slacks, black shoes (seen last spring) Paul - White shirt, untucked Gordon - White long slvd knit shirt with black stripe down the sleeves Bernie – Black sleeveless top and striped slacks. I’ve disciplined myself NOT to look at her feet for fear of what I’ll find. The Big Guys looked great, and each one of them looked a little thinner. I can only think that they joined TOPS and have been giving each other a bit of support on dieting (this is a joke). I thought they all looked “fit” and healthy. GE’s new shirt is cool! Graeme provides the only bit of color onstage. Sigh I’ve felt for months that I’m looking at a photograph in black and white. JL said last week in chat that he had PACKED the leathers, so I don’t want the Johnfans or cowfans for that matter to panic. It was warm and sticky in Chester, so perhaps the leathers will appear in the northern climes. No boots onstage at all tonight, so perhaps John DID forget to pack them! JL’s hair is REALLY short. I overheard certain “plottings” regarding his barber. Let’s just put it this way: he better not cut it that short again. You do not cut the mane off the Lion. I couldn’t get a good look at Justin’s new shirt from my fourth row seat. My first thought was “wow, what a LOUSY packing job – that thing is wrinkled as hell”, but as I strained desperately for a good look (and feeling quite foolish doing it) I could tell that it was ruched or patterned in some way, rather than wrinkled. It looks good, but didn’t it come in black (she said hopefully). White washes out your hair! (The author will now run and hide in the closet for fear someone, EVERYONE will criticize, condemn and laugh at her hair (silver), her attire (pathetic) and her shoes (Birkenstocks – I’m an unrepentant hippie.) THE CONCERT: The start of a Moody tour always fills me with wonder and dread. Anyone who has seen the first concert of a tour (after a break of a few months) knows they range from creaky and hesitant to fairly awful. This was the BEST first concert of a tour I have been to! The concert was performed without an intermission. The Setlist: The Voice Tuesday Afternoon For My Lady English Sunset Words You Say Gemini Dream The Actor Slide Zone IKYOTS TSIYE YWD Isn’t Life Strange TOSOL Nothing Changes IJASIARIRB NIWS LOAM Question SeeSaw I thought the sound was surprisingly good. It seemed a couple of decibels up from usual, but perhaps my ears have rested since the UK tour. Earplugs were a must tonight. Sound was clear with good separation. The Olson on FML particularly sounded good, on The Actor, too. The vocals generally were good. I thought Justin’s voice seemed a tiny bit strained at times. I hope the sound is at least this good for the rest of the tour. Maybe they should elect to play in tents! Lol Other notes: JH appeared to catch his guitar strap when taking off his guitar after TA and was slow to be ready with the Olson for FML. Ray turned to him and said “Plenty of time!” A nice light touch from a patient gentleman. : ) It was definitely a Ray crowd tonight. English Sunset rocked, but a savvy fan pointed out to me a lyrics flub by TDMH. WYS found me hypnotized by the sight of Justin fiddling with the buttons on his new shirt. (Another quirk to add to his pantheon of nervous habits?) During The Actor, I was a stunned by a fan who came out of her seat to the center aisle (next to me, of course) and KNELT in the aisle, raising her hands and clasping them in a prayerful attitude. Four rows back, but DIRECTLY in front of Justin. It was one of the most bizarre acts I’ve seen at a concert. I watched to see if she was going to add delicate sobbing to the tableau, but she didn’t. Darn! I can’t imagine what Justin thought of it and hope he addresses it in his next note on his website. I personally feel inspired to make a list of things NOT to do at a Moodies concert; THIS would be one of them! It had a blasphemous tinge that unnerved even this heathen. It looked...worshipful. Eeeeek! Please understand, the term Blonde Guitar God is NOT to be taken literally! IKYOTS was great. YWD had the continuation of a fine tradition: the drumstick toss. The guys were two for two (each) and then GE’s luck ran out. He lost his drumstick and it unfortunately fell where Ray could see it when he turned for the drumstick report. The vocals were WAYYYYYYYY too low at the beginning of YWD. Nothing Changes saw our lead guitarist jump his cue and start the guitar interlude before GE had finished his line. Nice rolled “R”! in NC. LOAM...well, it wasn’t a disaster. Let’s say that Ray and Paul tried a new arrangement tonight on the flute solo. I didn’t quite like it as well as the old one. This was a very interesting evening, mostly in regard to the audience. It was not a sell-out, and I wasn’t able to easily see behind me to determine general attendance. They were quite enthusiastic, and that was nice. The people really enjoyed themselves and not in the Chateau St Michelle, wine-filled way (which was fun too). There weren’t a lot of traveling fans there; it was people who just loved The Moody Blues! I got the rare opportunity to stand thru TSIYE in addition to Singer, the consummate on-your-feet rocker. That was great! However, two women SCREAMED and I mean screamed frequently, annoyingly and inappropriately throughout the concert. The most God-awful moment occurred during the flute solo in LOAM. A group of people on the right of the venue clapped loudly and rhythmically THROUGHOUT the flute solo, which is a delicate, flowing and moving piece of incredible beauty. Ray glanced a few times in their direction, and I wish he had stopped and screamed STOP IT at them. I am now bald in several places where I pulled my hair out in anger and frustration. It was rude to the audience and to the performer. The Great Raymondo pulled it out, but I felt cheated out of the full glorious performance. AND I have to stop at Wal-Mart tomorrow and pick up some Rogaine for women. I only hope it works! The rocky (but very good) concert ended with Justin SIGNING autographs at the stage. In America! Will wonders never cease! The girl in prayer got her tourbook signed, so if you’re looking for a trick that works, that may be it. Editorial Opinion: The Moody Blues have one of the most INCREDIBLE catalogs in pop history. All four men are gifted, nay brilliant artists, performers and songwriters. Rumor had it (not spread by me, but obviously by others) that tonight’s performance would include Watching and Waiting. Well, we watched and we waited, but to no avail. It wasn’t entirely rumor; I heard them play it in Wednesday’s practice as I lay in the grass by the racetrack. (A lovely experience, I might add!) The setlist was unchanged from the Spring Tour. I have only one question: Why? There are too many wonderful songs, waiting to be played, DYING to be played. It’s a sin (says the heathen). The Actor didn’t shine as brightly tonight, because something else, some other song, was waiting to be played. I’m sure it’s easier to play the same setlist, it’s comfortable, it’s safer. But since when was rock ‘n roll safe? Rock ‘n roll is wild, it’s risk-taking, it’s living on the edge. Come out to the edge, stand on the cliff and leap off! Take that chance. Risk it all! Maybe, you’ll fly. And we’ll fly WITH you! The editorial opinion expressed above is the opinion of one old, tired, HUNGRY fan. It is not intended to express the opinion of the website mistress, the fan community, or the paying public. It’s just the opinion of one lonely fan. The evening ended with the discovery that room service ends at 10pm. I found this out at 10:50pm. Ted! Damn it! Bring me an egg salad sandwich! MaggieMay |
Newark