Welcome to the DECEMBER Tour! On The Road With MaggieMay...  Like
Snake "We heard you was dead" Pliskin, SueC and I made our escape from
New York. I'm a fish out of water in this town - alarm bells ring
constantly in my head and I feel overloaded. (Ed:
I, on the other hand, LOVE New York City!!) It's like being
trapped in a room with a stereo that is blasting and the volume control
is broken. The sight of the Connecticut countryside was like sliding
into a hot, fragrant bath, and I felt calmed and soothed. We've reached
the end of the tour, and I long for my Indiana home.
That, and BASKETBALL season has started! Freaks playing a game of chess, I think a Band member recently put it in a UK interview. LOL Well, there's nothing like insulting America's favorite pastime! I'll be at the IU vs KY game on December 20th at Conseco Fieldhouse, wearing my Cream and Crimson and rooting for my Hoosiers. SueC made the drive seem effortless, and I faithfully performed my navigation duties between short naps. Our directions to Wallingford were perfect for a welcome change and we were looking forward to a nice Italian dinner at Serafino's across the street from the venue. We got there before the rush and shared a decent meal with a St Looey Moodyfriend who filled us in on the Augusta concert the night before. I hated to have missed it, not just because it was a good concert, but also because the venue was full of redneck hunting types. Darn it! I'm always a big hit with hunters! I'm sure I would have been surrounded by plaid-clad admirers, pressing upon me beer after beer and desperately anxious to discuss their favorite deer jerky recipe. Sigh It's my lot in life. Next time, boys! Keep those Winchesters warm for me. ; ) THE VENUE  Oakdale
is one of a kind! It's rather dismaying from the outside - it looks
like a barn. A darn BIG barn! If they're going for an Amish
theme, they have nailed it down perfectly, even to the whitewashed out
buildings. There's plenty of parking, though I might have expected
a herd of mooing cows, waiting to be milked. This could have been
a perfect job for Mr Hayward, as I read recently in an OLD interview that
he used to help with that particular chore in his youth - earning his "milk"
money. Boy, that's a picture, isn't it??? Maybe milking's how
he built up such strong fingers. If so, thank you, Bossy!
Oakdale had some signs on their doors that made me wonder, particularly the specific prohibition against weapons. Eeek! They were dead serious about it too. The ticket line included sex-specific pat downs of each patron in addition to the usual purse search. Oddly, another guard came up behind the gal looking in my purse and whispered, "you don't have to search her!" What an insult!  One
enters a large circular lobby with a vaulted wooden ceiling. If they
had had a roaring fire, I'd have assumed I was in a ski lodge. It's
very nice! Coffee, deserts and various other offerings were available,
and Hal supervised an attractively set up merchandise booth. I noticed
right off that Hal had added the desert poster of The Moodies for a bargain
$5.
We wound around the side of the circular lobby to the interior venue entry. I was surprised to come out into a large auditorium with a very high ceiling, completely unlike any I've ever seen before. It's a big place! A friendly security guard (and very interesting, too!) said the theatre sat 4900 and that approx. 4000 seats had been sold. I thought the decor was rather attractive, multicolored, but not glaring. The stage was HUGE! You could put an entire three ring circus on it and still have room for the dancing ponies. The center section was edged by Norda, putting the two floor sections on either side largely past the stage. I felt for the unfortunates in the large raised side sections on either side of the venue. I can't imagine that they could see very much of The Band. Oakdale must be aware of that problem, because video screens were employed on both sides of the stage. The cameraman was thoughtfully placed out of our way in the wings; another must have been farther back in the auditorium for the straight on shots. The stage was on the high side, about 48" (as measured by my special assistant, Andrea of Danbury, CT) and the front row was too close for comfort. This is one time I can honestly say that 2nd row was a better place to view the concert. Oakdale had speakers at the sides of the big ass stage (far away from us, thank God!) and had a number of front fill speakers at the front of the stage. Sound was fine from our 2nd row seats. Bottom line - a good looking venue, but one where you better be darn careful when you buy your seats, lest you be watching The Moodies on TV. Oooops! Make that "the telly". THE FASHION REPORT JL - White long-slvd shirt with bib/pleats/ruffle, leathers, boots, 2nd half white long-slvd silky shirt with interesting placket JH - Pink pin-striped, long-slvd shirt, tux pants, shoes, 2nd half white cattleman's shirt GE - Santa World Tour shirt (One Night Only!), black slacks, 2nd half Red Ho Ho Christmas shirt Norda - Workout outfit (black cap-slvd midriff top and LOW hiphugger black pants with contrasting trim at "waist" and on cuffs), pale green jacket, no change at half Bernie - Black shirt, black velvet pants and jacket, no change at half  I
LOVE John's shirt of the 2nd half. It's of the romantic, pirate style
(a style so often adopted by our singing cowboy, "Tex" Hayward), thin and
silky, freeflowing and soft, with full sleeves and gathers at the shoulders
in back (also a VERY nice view...of the shirt, I mean!) It begs for
a hoop earring! I plan to put that shirt on the cover of my first
romance novel, written under the pseudonym of Mary Bennington.
"He crushed her to his manly bosom as she struggled to get away, saying... I told you, the whip is just for show!" Let me hasten to add that I LOVE singing cowboys and LOVE JH's cattleman's shirt. (Gotta be fast on the draw these days; I don't want anything *good* to disappear.) Perhaps he could put in All That is Real is You, and twang it a good one. : ) I've often thought that a JH country/western set would be the perfect warm up for The Moodies. THE CONCERT The crowd of 4000 got an excellent concert at Wallingford. The Holiday setlist (revised, revised) was performed in its entirety and with a 20 minute intermission. Good start, solid first half. The second half saw a few things of interest. The DECEMBER cuts sparkled as they have done from their very first performance in Indianapolis. DNaR (and it was emphatically introduced AS Don't Need a Reindeer) was solid; Justin has gotten a firm grip on that one. It's fascinating to watch, almost a type of ballet. JH purposefully leans back from the mike, almost as a physical device to remind him not to sing. JL missed a lyric in Spirit of Christmas, but managed to look completely natural about it and it did not detract from that lovely song. GE added an Egyptian movement as he crossed the stage during H&H, and again donned his reindeer hat for the drum solo. I tore my eyes off center stage to watch Graeme and John do THEIR thing during Singer. It's a treat! Graeme is standing at his drumkit and whirling his drumstick over his head, along with some deliciously naughty hip swivels, while JL grinds his bass in an equally provocative manner. White Christmas was again performed after Question and this time The Band looked like they knew what they were doing onstage. I like the jerk into SeeSaw and felt the juxtaposition of White Christmas makes SeeSaw even more effective. The effect is exciting and startling, especially with the elimination of the vamp measures at the beginning of SeeSaw, formerly performed to allow the artists to return to the stage. John almost immediately goes into his "One!" (And remembered to do so tonight, too! LOL) It was a good crowd in Wallingford. Personally, I could have done without the gal screaming a few rows behind me on the aisle, but I put that down to high spirits. While it was an excellent show, I think the almost arena size of it, coupled with the very high ceiling would preclude an outstanding show. If one third of the audience is reduced to watching a performance on video screens, they certainly have no chance of connecting with the performers. And how can the performers possibly connect with them? <shrug> A number of people rushed the left aisle after Nights, but our friendly security guard let us slide in to our spots at the stage, proving once again that you get more flies with sugar than you do with vinegar. LOL! It was great to chat with Brian and his family at their last show. SueC and I also had the opportunity to meet Eileen, who presented us with a small reindeer and Santa to keep Randy company on the trip. Our stuffed reindeer is getting presents! Eileen showed us the signs she had made for the concert in IRISH and we certainly guessed wrong about what they said. Yes, Justin certainly IS, Eileen! LOL We were very pleased to run into one of John Lodge's favorite young fans - Kerry, accompanied by her Mom and Dad, and got a look at her dolls. Bernie has curly blonde hair, and Norda is wearing a ruffled skirt. You can tell JUST who the other *doll* is by his leather pants!!! JL, I can honestly say, You're a *REAL* Doll! MaggieMay Love, Love, We can make it all right! Photos courtesy of SueC (the band photos are from other concerts) |
| Lowell |
