| Pechanga
Resort and Casino
On The Road With MaggieMay... The Moody Blues kicked off the Summer Tour 2003 with a surprisingly good offering, breaking their tradition of tepid, disorganized and generally ragged first shows. I'm still getting to "know" the new lineup and their new sound. They proved they can go on without Ray Thomas - get gigs, fill halls. So far, it's like a spackling job: there's a hole in the wall, which you fill with spackling compound. You fill it up with a trowel, smooth it out level with the wall, sand it, then paint it. YOU know the hole is there, but if you do a really good job, then perhaps other people won't notice the hole! I *know* the hole is there. Sometimes the best idea is just to hang a picture over that spot! LOL THE VENUE The Pechanga Casino and Resort is yet another Indian casino venue to host The Moody Blues. It's a very nice place on the line of Mohegan Sun in Connecticut, comfortably large and very new - about 1 year old. It is not nearly as lovely as the spectacular Mohegan Sun, but very nice. It's in the middle of nowhere! LOL It took me over an hour and a half to get here from cold and rainy San Diego and various fans told stories of long drives and heavy traffic. 
The surrounding hills are liberally dotted with large rocks and are
reminiscent of the Galway area of Ireland. It's been sunny and warm
enough to enjoy an afternoon nap by the pool. I dread crawling back
to San Diego on Sunday and pray that I won't be clapping along in gloves
at Humphrey's Sunday night.
The employees are unfailingly pleasant and friendly with the "exception" of the casino staff. They forced me to sign forms for the IRS the afternoon I got here! ; ) A truck driver introduced me to the Wheel of Fortune slot machine at the Silver Legacy in Reno last tour, and I would like to sincerely thank her. I'm considerably ahead and will appear at Caesar's Tahoe exactly how they like me: with money in my pockets. Pechanga has moved past Mohegan Sun in one regard - the showroom. You can't play basketball in this place! The showroom here is VERY nice. The entrance to the showroom is near one of the main entrances and across the building from hotel reception, and directly across from and convenient to the box office. The 1215 seat house wasn't a sell out, but seemed to fill nicely. There's a bit of a lobby within the venue with a bar and restrooms. The merchandise stand was tucked in a corner and I didn't see it until I came out after the concert. Most of the merchandise was available on the winter tour. I noticed a beige polo style shirt with a world and TMB. I hadn't noticed it last tour. STILL no tourbooks. Maybe Ray will come back and they won't NEED them! LOL I don't want to *speculate* though. Only The Band knows what "really happened." One enters the showroom proper at the side of the lobby and you walk down a long dark hall . I could not figure out what was going on. When you "come out", you discover that one side of the hallway was the structure of the upper seating. No balconies, no seats on the side. There's a small pit area directly in front of the stage (18 seats total in two rows) and floor seating behind that from A to N. It has a gradual rise up. The sound board is at the back of the floor. The 12 rows behind that are steeply graded. It looked darn far from the stage to the top row of seats. However, I'm *sure* there isn't a bad seat in the house! (The number one fan joke.) The decor was also very odd. The walls were dark colored, and looked black in the low light. The ceiling was also black. It was like being at the center of a black hole, with all light being eaten by tremendous forces of gravity. The seats themselves were violet with a black design, but the carpet was an incongruous red/orange multicolor. I made a mental note of the color scheme, then tried to block it from any conscious thought, lest I become nauseous. The stage was about 4 feet high and fairly shallow. Mikes were within 6 feet of the edge of the stage. This didn't do anyone in the audience a bit of good, as the first row of 6 pit seats were well back from the stage. I was in the front row thanks to a benevolent person whose husband had been "regrettably" detained. ; ) My seat was at least 12 feet from the lead guitarist. Uniformed and unsmiling security was vigilant as is common at Indian casinos. The signs said No Photography, no cameras or recording devices and the usher assured me that even point and shoot cameras were forbidden. Since the sign also mentioned ejection and CONFISCATION, mine remained out of sight. The prospect of being dragged out by two of those guards and thrown unceremoniously out into the casino parking lot did not look attractive. It was reassuring to see three mikes, keyboards on either side of the stage, two drumkits and the familiar Marshall amps center stage, bathed in blue light. My only thought was... Let the Music Begin! THE FASHION REPORT GE - Jimi Hendrix shirt: short slvd, red/multi-colored with a face of an African-American man on the front. Is it Jimi Hendrix? I'm saying it is! LOL Black slacks JL - White long-slvd shirt with "bib", small ruffles on the button placket, leathers, boots. JL's cuffs were unbuttoned (as usual) and he was wearing his gold cross. That hair looked kind of short, though! LOL JH - Medium blue or purple long slvd shirt (nondescript), black jeans Norda - black sleeveless really cool top (seen first tour) with a mesh insert, black slacks, chunky heels Bernie - a new white outfit, very cute! Long white top to mid thigh, cap/frilly sleeves with white slacks, some kind of pendant I'm including The Girls tonight since I remembered what they wore, and I figure why waste it? They both looked great - rested, energetic, and relaxed. Norda looked lithe and sophisticated, all in black, and her hair looked particularly cute with a bit of a peak in the center. Bernie had a different look tonight! She was quite angelic in her white outfit and glowed behind her keyboard. Her hair was long, blonde and curly and if she had had a wand she might have been mistaken for a fairy princess. It's just too bad she didn't have a bag of glitter or rose petals to throw out in front of her onstage to complete the picture. I am sorry to omit a detailed description of Paul and Gordon. I could barely see either of them in the pronounced darkness shrouding them. It was almost surprising when they turned up for the bows. You think "Oh! There are more people on stage than I realized!" I had not seen Justin's shirt before. Hmmm. Well, I can suggest the "look" it inspired. If he had only had a black pocket protector in his breast pocket, he would have looked exactly like an accountant. (As a CPA, I am an expert in this area.) I understand not wanting to be recognized and bothered as a rock star OFF-stage, but SURELY it would be nice to look like a rock star ON-stage. Wouldn't it? It's a blessing that the OFC faded off into the sunset and that stage clothing is no longer raffled off for a good cause. I can just see some poor woman fan opening her package, holding up that shirt and saying "What the hell is this?" LOL!!! Everyone looked healthy, happy, rested and in great spirits. THE FIRST CONCERT Let me mercifully end the suspense: the setlist was unchanged from the Spring Tour 2003. Same songs, same order. (See the Atlantic City 2003 review for the setlist) The concert was performed in its entirety and without an intermission, as is common at casino venues. The start was off. Justin played the opening riff of Lovely to See You and then he played it AGAIN. Deja Vu! I thought I was going mental. No, I'm SURE he really did that! He was watching Gordon the entire time and something was amiss. Whatever it was, was no big deal and the song continued in the manner it should. Just a beginning hiccup! There didn't seem to be any lyric problems in Gemini Dream, but then again, I am lyric impaired and the lyric talented SueC is not where she is supposed to be, "preferring" to deliver the mail at home rather than wander the countryside with yours truly. (Angels will have to watch over me this tour.) I am loathe to comment on the sound when sitting in front. Sound is best midway, and only the deaf and addled choose front row for the symphony. However, it was impossible to hear Justin's harmony on GD. You could hear his solo lines, and those were very loud. Well, the guitar sounded great! ; ) I can't figure it out, and my view line was such that I couldn't tell if the problem was that he stepped too far back from the mike while singing with John. It's a mystery! Despite the four small frontfill speakers, the sound was very "thin" in front, more so than usual. <shrug> It's the price you pay, I suppose. Tuesday Afternoon had the look of a man in trouble. Justin's voice cracked and warbled and at one extremely worrisome point I thought for sure he had lost his voice altogether. His vocal miseries continued in English Sunset. I glanced at him in surprise (after all, it's HIS song, and one naturally would be looking at the lead singer) and then l tried to look away. I felt so sorry for the guy, and hated to see him struggling. sigh The voice is a peculiar and delicate instrument and difficult to control, and sometimes it simply will not perform when you need it to. Fortunately, the setlist came to his aid, and John took over lead duties for WYS. The brief break seemed to do the trick, and The Actor was ok, literally and figuratively. I didn't notice any spectacular vocal problems after ES, though both Justin and John repeatedly sang flat. The English Sunset Jam was particularly kicky tonight - Justin was outstanding on it. I wish I had a tape of every Jam performance to compare them. It's one of the most freewheeling guitar moments in the concert. TSIYE was lackluster - not one of it's best performances. TOSOL, on the "other" hand was great tonight, gritty and hard. Graeme's mike was not on for the introduction of H&H. People were calling out from the audience, "Mike! Mike!" but GE didn't hear them. He finally said (and the mike was then ON) "I MUST have said something funny, because you're all smiling!" AYSC was particularly lovely, and Norda SHONE. I think the hall was especially sweet for the flute. I sat with a pair of Moody Virgins (it's always so much fun!) and Steve was bowled over by Norda and is now her biggest fan. He thought she was spectacular! Justin introduced Norda Mullen; the other backups were not introduced. I had felt a bit fearful thinking about the fierce demands of Nights on Justin's voice, but he sang it beautifully and it went without a hitch. Question and See-Saw were fine performances too. Dan Cook is not teching this tour, and his replacement looks like a younger Ozzie Osbourne with long hair pulled back into a ponytail. No bats were noticed either alive or half eaten. Things appeared to go smoothly. For Rayfans everywhere - a comment. The Band has moved on down the rock 'n roll road. Apparently they turned and waved their goodbyes and made their peace during the last tour. Ray was not mentioned during tonight's concert, neither in the introduction to The Actor, nor in the introduction to AYSC, which he co-wrote. The *new* Moody Blues has to go on and make their own way. Still...it seemed a little "odd." All in all, it was a very good concert and a promising start to the Summer 2003 Tour. A small note: I observed The Band stopping to sign autographs after the show for 8 to 10 happy fans. All THREE! You don't see THAT every day. It was very nice of them. I was busy holding up a lamp post and didn't get any. ; ) They made some people very happy. I'm not sure they can understand what a huge thrill it is for a fan to have that brief moment. It's so little to them and so much to someone who loves their music. It's very kind of them to do it.  The
audience at Pechanga was mostly locals, with perhaps a couple dozen traveling
fans. They enjoyed the concert - that was obvious, but didn't tend
to stand a lot and didn't lustily sing during Question. I enjoy those
quiet "solo" performances. It lends a sad and lonely quality to the
song which I find very touching. I love the Moody Community song fests
too and the swaying arm in arm with dear friends. The couple that invited
me up to sit with them (generously offering me someone else's seat!
LOL) had been fans for over thirty years and this was the first time they
had ever seen the Moodies live in concert. I don't REMEMBER my first
Moodies concert. I can't imagine what an incredible thrill it was for
them to get to hear their favorite music sung live for the very first time.
I'm in awe at the thought.
"I feel the rhythm of the earth in my soul tonight, May it never fade away" MaggieMay Flowery and effusive compliments, well-wishes and loving greetings may be sent to MaggieMay (Ed: I've been chained to home by my job. I'd put a curse on the USPS, but the line for that is so long I'll be retired before it's my turn. HAHA Sympathies, condolences, and comments just generally bitching about the unfairness of life may be sent to SueC :-) |
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