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Lynne
on the Jersey Shore has written a great review of Friday night's concert
in Atlantic City on Lost Chords. Like all other fans, I appreciate
anyone who takes the time to share their thoughts. Here are mine!
The Atlantic City concerts are always an event on a grand scale and with a different feel and tempo. One can sense the tension of the faster paced life against the backdrop of the magnificent Atlantic ocean which is missing on the other side of the continent. I always feel a bit stressed in Atlantic City and that my quiet farmgirl life is very far away! LOL The Venue: The Trop is *not* the jewel of the Atlantic City strip. I've been there twice before and left unimpressed. It's run down and packed on weekends; it's difficult work to make your way thru the weekend crowd to the showroom, and a RELIEF when you finally get there. The Trop seems to attract a less than lovely clientele and derelicts are seen wandering around. The average age of gamblers at the Trop must be 55 plus and there is a significant hazard of falling over walkers and canes. I always leave with bruises from run ins with elderly gamblers rushing to an empty seat at Wheel of Fortune! The showroom, however, is uncharacteristic of the Trop. It is very nice and the Moodies always seem to do well there; it was a sellout crowd and the box office had a waiting list. Sound is good and lighting is entertaining. We were pleased to see that the large stack of speakers on either side of the stage had been removed (house equipment). They had inflicted intolerable pain on the concertgoers seated at the sides in prior years. Purses were not checked, cameras were allowed. I asked a security person the camera policy, and she said small cameras were allowed, no digital cameras, which was very interesting. I had not heard that specific reference to digital cameras before. I noticed a great deal of annoying flash photography and wondered if the Band will change tonight's policy because of it. We'll see. The Fashion Report: Rather than repeat Lynne's excellent listing of Moody Wear, I'll limit myself to a couple comments. John's boots last night were the most striking change. They looked great! Footwear does seem to make a huge difference onstage, and I thought that John moved differently in them, rocking back on the heels frequently. They looked great with the leather pants. Justin wore his most favored outfit of this tour - black pants, black patent leather shoes and the white tuxedo shirt. It struck me last night how all he needed was a tray with martinis to look exactly like a waiter at a nice restaurant. (A fallback career option is always nice!) Your order Madam? The Concert: The setlist was unchanged. At this point, I'd have a heart attack if they DID pull anything new out. Nothing of note really that I can recall (sorry for the pun) with the other three, however, Justin seems to have developed a cold, and has changed into his familiar tour alter-ego: Mr Snotty! I was held in fascination by the gleam coming from his nose and upper lip which the lights cruelly highlighted. Reports from my two companions at this concert identified cracked notes and missing lyrics, among which were the "yeahs" at the crescendo in IKYOTS. One friend noted a small miss in fingering at the end of The Actor where Justin and John are ending the song, which caused Justin to blurt out a profanity. (Luckily, not into his mike). I was personally crushed to have missed Justin saying "falk" onstage! Please, do it again! A very strange moment happened during Question, during the slow section. (Possibly at "it's not the way that you do it", but within that section of the song) I guess we fans are creatures of habit, and after a pause, the audience began singing the next verse. However, we began WITHOUT the lead singer! Justin turned and looked at GE and GM, but rather than joining IN with us, started the verse at the beginning. It was very odd, and I think that the problem was that Justin had paused a bit longer than we are accustomed to. No incidents happened during the concert. I was waiting for the stage rush after LOAM, but it seemed to be controlled better this time. There also was less pushing and shoving at the stage, and less noticeable aggressive behavior. Gemini Dream went through this evening without a hitch. SueC and I missed Denver, but according to Gordon, it was a great concert and the Band enjoyed it very much. He thought it was one of the best concerts of the tour. He commented on the GA aspect and looking out onto the crowd and seeing the heads of people standing. I'm glad *he* liked it; I'm just too old for festival seating (an oxymoron). Give me a comfortable chair, especially after Singer. LOL MaggieMay |
