Welcome to the CHRISTMAS Tour! Wait! I mean DECEMBER! On The Road With MaggieMay... Cap'n Scupps left quietly for home the next morning, but I don't think anything short of a direct meteor hit would have woken me or SueC. We were beat. If The Band only knew what efforts nice people go to, just to see them, they would feel good, and Karen went to great efforts to get to NYC. Cap'n, I hope you had a good time with us! We enjoyed having you. : )  I
suspect we might have been in better shape if we hadn't hit the bar after
the concert with Angel. The Moodies Tour gives a chance to actually
SEE and talk with our special friends. Email and phones are wonderful,
but they can't replace spending time together, telling stories and laughing.
Angel tried to get me to sing something from my vast beer commercial repertoire,
but I opted instead to "enchant" her with the Kroger's jingle. HAHA
The evening wound into the wee hours, and the bar slowly emptied, but Angel
was heading home for Thanksgiving and we had to make the most of our time.
Our motto is: You can sleep when you're dead! I thought it best to
think about leaving when a very intoxicated man came up and manhandled
Randy. SueC was incensed and it was a lucky thing for him that *I*
have the cane and not SueC. I think she might have had at him!
(He wouldn't have felt it.) Norda left the bar with flowers in her
hand, and they included an adorable little Danbury girl's pink roses.
: ) How lovely too, on Norda's part!
SueC and I dragged around our topsy-turvy room for the rest of the day. I think the staff *might* come in and clean if we would only remember to remove our FUHGETTABOUDIT sign. LOL I don't think I've ever seen a hotel room look this bad. Pete Townshend could not destroy a hotel room better than we have in NYC. We never call to have our room service carts removed, and we can't seem to get the energy to shove them out the door ourselves. There's a ledge at the door, and we can't get the cart over it. I'm in, resting this evening, and when the room service waiter came in, he saw our breakfast cart STILL in the corner and started laughing hysterically. In my opinion, he was lucky there was only ONE. It was a beautiful day in NYC, partly sunny and cool but not cold, a day that truly makes you feel full of thanksgiving. We had great fun today with Randy, but I felt sad not being at home, and I missed sharing Thanksgiving with my husband, son and almost daughter. I hope they have the kitchen cleaned up by the time I get back! LOL THE VENUE It looked VERY similar to the venue of the prior night. ; ) (Ed: Photos were allowed again, too! WooHoo! I love the City center!) THE FASHION REPORT JL - White long-slvd bib shirt with pleats, leathers, boots, 2nd half white long-slvd shirt with intricate placket JH - Sherbet western shirt, blue jeans, studded boots, 2nd half Drops of Blood shirt, tux pants, shoes GE - Santa World Tour shirt, black slacks, 2nd half Red Ho Ho shirt Norda - Black strapless top, black ruffled skirt, boots, no change at half Bernie - Black velvet jacket and pants, white glittery top, no change at half Paul - White long-slvd shirt, black slacks Gordon -2nd half, black short-slvd knit shirt, white pants  THE
CONCERT
The Moodies let loose in NYC with a concert that must be considered outstanding. While it started strong, but not exceptional, it built into something amazing. The Holiday setlist was *not* performed (though it was in its entirety and with a 20 minute intermission). SETLIST CHANGE!!! Wednesday night saw a change in setlist order. White Christmas was pulled out of its usual spot and performed after Question. Unlike the night before, the start of the concert was clean and technical glitch free. Lovely To See You is one of the songs that doesn't *tell* you much. It has been very consistent, and very good since its initial performance in the Spring 2003 Tour. It's never better, it's never worse. Its title and message says Hello to the audience, and I find that kind of funny. Lovely to see you again, my friend Walk along with me to the next bend. I wonder if the Doors started off with Hello, I Love You. It's a good starter, not too demanding vocally with a strong lead guitar part. After all, we *are* on the threshold of a dream! LOL Gemini Dream went well, though Justin glances over at JL as if to make SURE he's going to sing the song's lyrics in some semblance to the way the song was written. It's funny how those two songs express similar themes. Long Time, No See! Short time, for you and me.  The
concert began to really heat up with Tuesday Afternoon - a very strong
performance. Lean on Me went well as it has done every night this
tour. English Sunset showed that this was going to be a special night.
Justin really put out on it. It was a great performance, very sure
and very strong. The languidness of late was replaced with harder
stuff and ES shone. Great Jam. A smiling, enthused and spot-on
Hayward makes ALL the difference in the world. Definitely a stand
out performance.
The Actor was fine but not exceptional. It feels a little tired. That is the one song that I have never made my peace with. It's a beautiful piece and Justin does a fine job. I guess I always thought of it as a Ray song. It just doesn't excite me any more. Slide Zone, ILS, IKYOTS and TSIYE were great - no noticeable errors, solid performances, high energy. It was an excellent STRONG first half.  Justin
came out ready, willing and able for YWD. Excellent job! JL
introduced the new album as CHRISTMAS, and then caught himself, confused
and said no, it's DECEMBER. LOL The effect was cute and funny.
DNaR was the best performance of that song to date. I considered it *quite* acceptable! LOL Justin seemed SURE of the song on Wednesday and I think that is the element that has been missing all along. He rocked out, sang strong and was backed superbly by The Girls and JL. I still don't like this version and can't see the logic of it. It drops when JH turns over the vocals to Bernie and Norda. The cd version is the perfect arrangement. Why record it so WELL and then trick with it in concert? I don't understand that logic. (Reminding me that Ours is not to reason why, but to bitch and moan to no avail. grrrrrr) Making me crazy, JH. (Ed: MaggieMay fell asleep after muttering something about forgetting to mention The Spirit of Christmas, so I'll do it for her - it was spectacular, wonderful, dramatic, and splendid! John's live performance of this song is exquisite.) Oh, December SNOW! Oooh! Oooh! Flat out GORGEOUS. While the recorded version is fabulous, LIVE it is even beyond that. Hard to believe, but it's true. The impact of the song is even greater than Nights. To watch Justin play guitar on December Snow is...is...BREATHTAKING. And that voice! It melts all over you. It's so beautiful, and so incredibly powerful. What a performance! He gives it all he has.  The
Big Surprise this evening was Graeme walking down from his drumkit after
December Snow. What??? SueC said she noticed JH cue him down
by nodding with his head. No White Christmas? Huh? Still,
it *was* more Christmas music with a reindeer performing the drum solo.
LOL!!! Graeme did his usual great job, but it was Justin's night
in NYC. I have never thought of Le Hayward as a man with an "axe"
but he had one tonight and did things on guitar I have never seen him do
(Ed: same here! Whoa!!).
Simply incredible! Wow!
AYSC, Singer, Nights and Question were on the same high level of performance. The Band left the stage after Question and returned a little awkwardly to their usual places without the usual fanfare. JL gave the introduction to White Christmas, and it was beautifully done. They didn't leave the stage afterward, but continued on (again, a bit awkwardly) with SeeSaw. The first half saw flickers of brilliance and held out the promise of an outstanding concert. The second half was a promise fulfilled. What a great evening! The truth of the matter is that one man onstage can SOLELY make the difference between an excellent concert and a heart-stopping, mind-melting outstanding one. A round of applause for Justin Hayward! Hey, what's gotten in to The Moodies? THREE setlist changes in one tour? They're going wild here! Heck, maybe they WILL put Highway in. Or When A Child is Born! ; ) MaggieMay But November came, Taking all I have... Photos courtesy of SueC |
| Wallingford |
