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Tuesday
Night in Wilkes-Barre
And how the HELL do you pronounce it? Apparently JL pondered this also, and his solution was to omit the name of the town and simply say "it's great to be HERE!" LOL Wilkes-Barre is not an attractive town. It's dirty. I spent some time in front of the Dunkin' Donuts next to the venue, and sat on a bench as trash swirled around me. It also has the worst Chinese food I've ever had! It's definitely not the culinary Mecca that New Brunswick is. Perhaps I caught it on a bad day. Or in a bad year. Whatever! The Venue: The Kirby Center is similar to the other small, restored venues. I'm starting to think that one guy built them ALL in the 1920s. It's not beautiful and ornate like the Providence Pac, but has its own little charm. Architecture and design is *not* my area, but the Kirby seemed to have Art Deco designs that were quite nice and difficult to describe. Just think Art Deco! I didn't think it went well with the red, upholstered seats. They were comfortable, however. The Kirby has a unique, coffeehouse layout in its foyer which I had never seen before. Very nice! It was an attractive venue and it was... SOLD OUT!!! Obviously, the Moodies could do a bit larger venue in these towns, or do two shows. Very few tickets were sold in front of the venue, but were held by people who really wanted to see the Moody Blues. I suspected that not a whole hell of a lot goes on in Wilkes-Barre, and the Moodies are probably the hot event of the year here. The sound and balance was adequate, and also better than Providence. Perhaps all that gold leaf is eating the sound. HAHA The stage looked to be about 4 ft high. I could hear the Olson very well on FML - it sounded great. I think this venue might do very well for an acoustic act (which the Moodies are not). Again, no purse searches or other overt security measures taken by the venue. No incidents to report, either. The same setlist from New Brunswick was performed, including The Actor, with an intermission. The Fashion Report: GE - Car shirt first half, Flag shirt second, black slacks RT - Black on black, no change at half (I think...fashion makes me kind of fuzzy) JL - White embroidered on white long slvd shirt first half, black long slvd shirt second (cuffs rolled up onstage), leathers, boots JH - White long slvd shirt with breast pocket, black slacks, patent leather shoes, no change at half - furthering the popular belief that Mr Hayward does not sweat. HAHA The Concert: The Moodies buckled down to serious business tonight! The WB concert was nearly perfect in contrast to New Brunswick's mistake laden debacle, with only a minor bauble on Slide Zone by JL. Therefore, it was not particularly memorable - nothing happened and they played and sang well. A very good concert. That's all I can say about it, because I missed the onsale date and spent the evening in Row L Hell. What happened on stage tonight? Heck if *I* know! LOL Did they sigh, did they frown, did they grimace? Did they seem "happy" to be there? I don't know! It was a trip back in time to my youth and Moodies Innocence, and frankly, they can keep it! The Whining Shall Now End. The Review from Row L: The sound and balance in the MIDDLE of the hall at the Kirby Center was generally good. Keyboards were weak in several places, in some songs, notably FML, they could barely be heard. The Olson on FML and The Actor was exquisite! I would love to hear Justin play an acoustic set in this hall. I had FORGOTTEN how *darned* annoying people can be. They get up and leave. They come back. You have to get up to let them in. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr There should be a RULE about men drinking beer before a concert. MaggieMay |
