WELCOME TO THE SUMMER 2004 TOUR We finally got our directions straightened out and *escaped* Poughkeepsie, getting back to our hotel around 2:30am. We’ve stayed at this particular place a number of times, but remain anonymous. At least the night doorman remembers us this time. When we pull up at an ungodly hour, he smiles and says “Welcome Back” rather than the mildly unsettling “Are you checking in?” I keep waking up too early (sigh) and make coffee while SueC sleeps. We drink a LOT of coffee (that’s how we survive) and our snooty digs doesn’t see the need for an in room coffee pot, preferring that we order room service. We solved that problem.  We
brought our own! I don’t want this piece of info to become widely
known, lest other hotel guests find their way to our door in the middle
of the night, knock pitifully on our door and beg for a cup of coffee.
We had a wonderful and restful day off. We made our way to the hotel patio and SueC watched the grass grow while I wrote. We needed it! LOL SueC talked me into an early start to Scranton. She was concerned about the mountain road and didn’t want to get caught in traffic. It was another pretty drive and went incredibly fast – I had just fallen asleep when Sue sternly told me to wake up! LOL It was time for directions to the venue. THE VENUE Montage Mountain is just that. You wind your way up past golf courses and upscale condos. The Ford Pavilion was well-marked and we pulled in to a huge parking lot. Guards were already in place at 3pm and they pointed in the general direction of the box office. We passed through a lot that must have been able to hold 50,000 cars and into a second lot, separated by a tall chain-link fence. At the far end of this lot, we could see a tent-like structure and the back entrance to the venue. Near the handicapped parking was a small sign for the box office, but no box office in sight.  We
parked the MEB, assuring another guard that we needed to go to the box
office and crossed a small bridge. We made our way up the incline
and after a dozen yards we finally saw the box office and the venue entrance
a good ways up and beyond us. This was *not* a good thing!
LOL
I inquired about parking and bought a $12 pass for the premiere area. I would guess that the distance between the farthest regular parking spot and the venue is at least a half mile at a considerable grade. SueC gamely offered to move the car and I let her. While getting around the outer venue on foot is a struggle, the venue site is simply beautiful. The area immediately around the it is undeveloped and heavily forested, the view from the box office is lovely. The entry to Ford Pavilion is modest. It looks like they’ve used telephone poles for decoration in front of the box office and the main gate. LOL Staff are friendly and pleasant. Entry thru the gates brings you out into a plaza with various small buildings and concessions on both sides. Nothing fancy is available, but SueC and I had one of the best sausage with onions and peppers we’d ever had. Moodies merchandise was available immediately inside the front gates. At the end of the plaza was the pavilion. This tour, “pavilion” has come to mean a tent-like structure. I like them! They’re festive and I find them attractive. One almost expects to find a circus – elephants, tiger and clowns underneath and, some nights, that’s exactly what you DO find. LOL  The
Ford Pavilion is pretty standard. The stage is within a “black box”
at one end. The stage is on the high side, the setup
is The Moodies usual. Two large 3x4 sets were flying on either side,
supplemented by two speakers and one smaller speaker underneath them on
the stage. A pair of front fill speakers on a box in front of the
stage, center. The stage was huge with large wings on either side.
Front row was easily 8 feet from the stage and the mikes were set another
six feet back from the edge.
Security has been pretty serious this tour. The weather was threatening, but umbrellas were prohibited, as they are at most venues. Bags were searched on entry. The Ford Pavilion was a “pavilion only” concert. It seats about 5500, according to one employee. Seating is divided into 3 areas: lower, upper and lawn. A dismal 2200 was estimated by the same guard. The back sides of the lower pavilion were empty and the upper pavilion had only a sprinkling of people. THE FASHION REPORT JL – Black long-slvd bib shirt, blue jeans, boots JH – Long-slvd pink pinstripe shirt, black slacks, shoes GE – Flag shirt, black slacks Norda – fringe dress Bernie – Black top, black skirt, boots  While
John was dressed for rock ‘n roll, all Justin needed was a briefcase to
look like he was off to the office. Very conservative and stiff looking.
Why not add a tie? LOL
THE CONCERT The Summer 2004 Tour setlist was played in its entirety with a 20 minute intermission. We got in our seats and the heavens opened. It POURED! The pavilion roof provided good protection (only a few drops leaked thru onto our heads) and there wasn’t much wind – the rain came straight down. However, it was pretty heavy and the run off began to move thru the seating area to the front. All in all, I’d say we were pretty fortunate. If we’d had to hike through it, we would have gotten soaked. It seemed like the concert was held for a few minutes for it to stop raining. The rain stopped and the rest of the evening was pleasant. Security first half was on the ball. The inebriated gal who tried to drunkenly dance her way across the front was bodily grabbed and removed by security. However, they made a bizarre change at half. A guard came over to the front row right before the second half and informed us that we’d better *jump* before the music started and rush the stage because they were *inviting* the front three rows to stand in front of our seats. This might not have been an entirely bad thing, except the damn stage was a daunting 5 foot high. SueC is only 5 ft 3 and had to look straight up at the performers.  We
had to laugh afterwards at some of her photos – they’re straight up!
LOL So imagine! You’ve scrounged the internet for front row
seats, paid a bundle for them and now are forced to stand for the ENTIRE
second half, pushed against a high stage with a bunch of drunks talking
loudly and *dancing* obnoxiously behind you. Can there be more fun
than that? The poor Little StreetCafe Woman (Bev’s nickname for SueC)
was crammed next to a big guard for the evening. She told me later
she glanced to her left and saw a gal, drunk and disorderly, climbing onto
the box holding the center front fill speakers and had to nudge the guard
and point at what was about to happen. Justin almost got a dance
partner! The gal tried this trick repeatedly, but I would guess that
the guard was afraid to carry her out and leave his spot.
I went up to the stage, spent one minute craning my neck to see the performers and said…well, you can IMAGINE what I said! I fought my way out of The Moodies mosh pit and made for the ladies room. Grrrrrrrrrrrr After stretching my legs and regaining my sense of humor (luckily I admire Theatre of the Absurd) I circled to the back of the pavilion for ILS and TOSOL and got a chance to watch the lights and hear a really excellent sound (Thanks, Mick and Kevin!) I finally made my way back down and had to laugh when a security guard in the aisle at about the 10th row demanded to see my ticket. Hey, honey! Haven’t you realized it’s become GA down there? It took a while to get back to my front row seat, pressing gently through the crowd, smiling and saying Excuse Me 150 times. When I got there, someone was in it! LOL!!! I took an empty one a couple down from it and sat down to see that my first row seat was now about the 6th row from the stage. There was a small break in the crowd and the only thing, absolutely the ONLY thing I could see on stage was Justin Hayward. I spent most of the second half watching obnoxious, partying drunks making merry, oblivious to the most wonderful music in the world. What a shame!  The
most distinctive aspect of the evening was the incredible performance of
John Lodge. He was bursting with enthusiasm and energy! (Whatever
HE’S having, I want some – LOL) He was smiling, dancing, moving,
in fact, HOPPING up and down during the concert. I loved the
Ch-ch-ch he put on Gemini Dream. : ) I could hardly take
my eyes off him and I could FEEL the energy and just general good will.
You really couldn’t help smiling when you looked at him. It was infectious!
: )
While John shone like the sun, Justin’s stage demeanor was in complete contrast. He was as down as John was up, as off as John was on; it was as different as black and white. My guess is that someone had to forcibly PUT his guitar on him and SHOVE him onstage at Scranton. Oh, he sounded great – vocals were excellent and his guitar is without reproach. Yes, it was an awful night, lousy weather and a poor turnout. That’s no excuse! I’m there, I bought a ticket and I expect a great performance. And I got one – from John Lodge! MaggieMay I know you’re out there somewhere, Somewhere I can hear your voice… Photos by SueC |
