June 16, 2004 - Pittsburgh, PA
WELCOME TO THE SUMMER 2004 Tour! I threw a number of heavy bags into the Mercedes and left the house with Hubby still grousing that I was taking too much *stuff*. Of COURSE I was taking too much stuff! I had a car and it was my moral obligation as a woman to fill it with as much luggage and equipment as I possibly could. It's a great way to assert one's femininity. LOL I didn't take up all the room. I know SueC has similar needs, and besides, if your car is full, then you're not tempted to pick up hitchhikers. Therefore, it's really a safety issue. HAHA My older sister Cam had stopped by for a few days to visit. Though she is 11 years older than me, she's one of those lucky people who doesn't age and people are constantly asking me if she's my younger sister. Though I generally don't care about aging (it beats the alternative) I do tend to get testy after the 3rd or 4th person sweetly asks and the temptation to invest in Miss Clairol is hard to resist. sigh Cam is a very kind and considerate human being and brightly offered to clean out The MEB (that's the term the BMV uses for a Mercedes; my car has its own nickname). I was a little uneasy, but the inside windows had changed from clear to a milky opaque and really needed to be cleaned. I don't know HOW they get so dirty. As I frantically packed, my dear sister toiled away on my car, at one point calling upstairs and asking for Q-tips. ; ) The car looked GREAT and I was very impressed until I opened the car door. Cam had found a bottle of Krizia and had sprayed it into all the air vents, then closed the car up tight. I nearly passed out from the fumes! I opened the sunroof and rolled down all the windows, praying that I could get that overpowering scent OUT of the car before the cologne-sensitive SueC took the driver's seat. I'll admit the car still smells pretty good! LOL I schlepped Cam to the Dayton airport, blew her a kiss and was off to pick up SueC. I was delayed by some road work and had to take a poorly marked detour and enjoyed the rural Ohio scenery a trifle longer than I needed to. SueC was ready to go and after some last minute instructions to the family (and some thinly veiled threats) we were off. There's ONE thing we won't need to buy on the road: water. The car is literally swimming in it. SueC packed bottles and bottles of peach and white grape flavored sparkling water, and I fear that 2nd quarter earnings for Coca-Cola are going to take a noticeable dip. However, it looks like Little Debbie is safe. HAHAHA What a lovely evening it was for a drive! Midsummer seems to have come early to the Midwest and the nights are heavy and damp. I won't be surprised if we have a record corn crop this year. Though it was overcast, daylight hung on for hours. We'll be celebrating the Summer Solstice in a few days! (Happy Summer Solstice). The drive went very quickly, and before we knew it, we were in Pittsburgh. We didn't have any definite plans and hadn't felt either the need or the motivation to reserve a spot at a Pittsburgh hotel. We decided to find the venue, and after going over an odd-looking bridge we pulled into Station Square. 
I admit I had no particular desire to go to Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh!
No one willingly goes to Pittsburgh. We went there only because it
was a reasonable driving distance and looked like a good spot to rejoin
the tour. Well, that and I found some very nice tickets. ;
) I expected a grim place, an industrial wasteland.
I was pleasantly surprised by Station Square. It is an attractive
place by the river with shops, bars and restaurants. The venue is
at one end of it and a large parking lot separates the venue from the shops
and restaurants.
SueC caught the scent of garlic in the air and we tripped in to Buca d’ Beppos 15 minutes before closing. I hate to do that, but they were willing to feed us and we were ready to eat. Afterward, we strolled through Station Square along with quite a number of people out for the evening and enjoyed their tiny version of the Bellagio water ballet set to the Abba songs from Mamma Mia. It was a clear night, the lights reflected off the river below and the impressive skyline was etched against the midnight sky. Just as I fell into a blessed state of relaxation, I was knocked off my bench by a train! I hadn’t noticed a set of tracks between the restaurants and the river. Would they provide accompaniment to English Sunset? LOL! Flying by the seat of your pants is a wonderful philosophy in theory, but proved to be a naïve notion for a pair of tired road warriors. Inquiry at the Sheraton in Station Square proved chilling: not only was the Sheraton booked, ALL downtown hotels were booked! Ack! I was kindly given a list of hotels on the outskirts of town, and we found something open in Greentree. A room’s a room. <shrug> We found our way back to Station Square for lunch the next day at the Red Star Tavern (primo bbq beef brisket) and people-watched the afternoon away. It had been a week since Toledo and we were primed for an enjoyable evening! THE FASHION REPORT JL – Black tank, white linen overshirt, black jeans, second half black long-slvd shirt with ruffles Justin - Cream long-slvd “flower and vines” shirt, jeans, second half long-slvd white shirt with ruffles, black jeans Bernie – White sparkle v-neck sleeveless shirt and blue jeans, no change at half Norda – Black sparkle bustier, black pants, no change at half The Girls have proven they can take the heat and look cool. : ) I’ve noticed Norda is wearing barrettes in her hair and it looks great. I hadn’t seen Justin’s white shirt in a long while. It’s a throwback to his pirate days! LOL It’s a wonderful shirt, thin and flowy, with gathers at the shoulders, and small ruffles down the front, worn gracefully unbuttoned to mid chest. He rolls up the sleeves to just underneath his elbows – a very nice look. It looks fantastic with the black jeans. I love John’s black tank and overshirt (who doesn’t?) but I feel my temperature rise every time he comes out in that black long-sleeved ruffled shirt. It makes me feel warmer than I already miserably am. Please! A tshirt would be fine! Or how about that black guitar shirt? (MaggieMay rummaging through JL’s concert closet) Anything short sleeved! Of course, a tshirt would look wonderful with the blue jeans. : ) THE VENUE I had never seen anything quite like The Chevrolet Amphitheatre, and I don’t mean that in a good way. While Station Square is smart and cute, the amphitheatre is not. Like the Denver venue, it is basically a parking lot, unlike the Denver venue, it is not an attractive place. It looked like a large airplane hanger to me, and when I said that to SueC, she grimly said that it was more like a carport. Cute, it ain’t! It has a temporary look about it, but it is a permanent structure (using that term loosely). The venue is a large, hard plastic angled roof over a network of metal piping with the stage at one end within a box. The sides are open, providing a view of the river, the skyline view is blocked by the overhang. It’s serviceable, and that’s about all – there’s no beauty or style. There was a hard rain before the concert which we rode out in the car and I felt reassured at the protection the roof offered, particularly since security sternly told everyone in line to take their umbrellas back their cars or leave them at the gate. Unfortunately, there was a gap between the stage roof and the overhang and our front row seats were unpleasantly wet. SueC did not notice that fact before she sat down, and spent the concert grumbling about her soaked tushie. I could afford to smile and feign sympathy, for I had neatly folded my Moodies sweatshirt and placed it on my seat before I sat down. She’s a Loser! LOL!!! 
We hadn’t known anything about the venue’s parking, so I had sprung for
a $22 premiere parking pass, making me one of a half dozen idiots to do
so. It provided its own entertainment value! We were
determined to make the most of my foolish purchase and when 5pm rolled
around, we moved the MEB from our parking place behind the Moodies’ semi-tractors
(and their sweetly sleeping drivers) to a vantage point almost in front
of the venue entrance. I was amazed at the venue box office!
It was a white free-standing building, decorated in small lights and looked
for the most part like a cotton-candy stand. LOL Oh yes!
The Chevrolet is class personified in every way. Premiere parking
is seriously protected by both traffic cones and a dedicated and dull venue
parking guard, who carefully examined our documents before he ushered us
in to his area. We had a few hours to wait before the concert and
my attempts to engage him in conversation were unsuccessful. Do you
think it’s going to rain? I don’t know. I was surprised the
fellow didn’t know which of Pittsburgh’s three rivers ran at the side of
the Chevrolet and he toiled in serious though over the matter. I
thought he was done with us and our chit-chat, but as the sky grew cloudy,
he came to my window attired in an official poncho. How does this
look, he asked, full of fashion concern. ; )
A long line formed at the single entrance to the Chevrolet and the time came and went for the gate to open. The line didn’t move and got longer and longer. Venue guards belatedly moved a portion of the long-suffering concert goers to a side gate. The reason? Sigh Elaborate purse searches! Can’t people leave their guns at home??? Seating at the Chevrolet is dead flat and to compensate for this problem the stage is quite high. What does it seat? One security person told me a startling 6000 (no way, girlie!). She was quickly corrected by another guard who suggested a much more reasonable 3000 to 3500. The venue was only lightly filled on our entrance, but there were a lot of people still standing in the stupid line and a large number of people milling around the beer stands behind the seating area. Security said that it was close to a sell-out. THE CONCERT Rain, rain and MORE rain. I’m already sick of it. While it didn’t rain during the Pittsburgh concert, it was very warm and very muggy. Thick! The humidity had to be 100% and despite crème rinse and a heavy dose of Aveda anti-humectant, my longer locks poofed out into some strange white funky Afro. <shrug> Jimmy Crack Corn. One of the Moodies’ semis is surely filled with boxes of industrial strength hair spray because all hair on stage looked great. At one point, John made a swimming motion on stage, and that’s just what it felt like. The Summer 2004 setlist was performed in its entirety with a twenty minute intermission. It was a good concert, a fun concert (despite my aching neck) with nothing in particular to mark it. The crowd was good and acceptably enthusiastic. Justin again spoke about The Moodies World Tour, including Monte Carlo, Australia and the Far East. The Far East? What *is* the Far East, anyway? Are they playing Beijing? Bangkok? Singapore and Hong Kong? Ho Chi Minh City? I’m always amazed how he manages to end up in the UK and move in to English Sunset. LOL!!! Pittsburgh offered our most fabulous seats of the tour – directly in front of Gordon Marshall. His performance in Isn’t Life Strange is THE highlight of that song for me. It’s like watching an incredible masculine ballet of precision and strength. It’s riveting! I completely forgot that I don’t care much for that song. LOL Directly in front of him is the best place to see it and there you get the full effect. And we did! I particularly like Gordon’s circular movement around his kit during Nights. It’s entrancing. The only thing you have to watch out for is the drum blast from Mr Marshall during TOSOL when he slams down on his drums. Of course, sitting between the Jays isn’t a bad spot on its own! I feel like I’m watching a tennis match, looking back and forth between the Moodies frontmen. Take your share of the gifts that are there, and there are a LOT of *gifts* up on that stage. The venue said No Pictures so neither SueC nor I took any, and I forgot to make any notes AFTER the concert, and neither of us clearly remembers much of anything except about the BBQ beef brisket. Now THAT was memorable! LOL There were no glaring errors, offensive chords or off-key vocals, no one fell off their drumkits or tripped over Justin’s guitar chord. Everyone on stage did a great job without exception. I’ve really loved hearing TOSOL this tour, maybe because it was missing (for the most part) during the fall tour. It sounds heavy and impressive and wonderfully dark and provides a distinct contrast to the rest of The Moodies setlist. Tuesday Afternoon was wonderful (I never tire of it), English Sunset was rockin’, Slide Zone was very strong, and has been the entire tour. Nights shone in Pittsburgh and has an extra spark in 2004. Higher and Higher remains a huge crowd pleaser with the combination of Graeme’s in your face delivery/dance and Justin’s virtuoso guitar performance. Singer is hot and AYSC is achingly lovely. But oh, December Snow! It is the evening’s highlight, both powerful and gut-wrenchingly LOVELY. It takes my breath away! Pittsburgh’s Chevrolet Amphitheatre is a marginal facility, but the area is great fun with numerous opportunities before and after the concert. The MUSIC is the big attraction and it shines even when played in a carport. MaggieMay Take another sip my love, And see what you can see… Photos courtesy of SueC |