| USA WINTER TOUR 2007
The Las Vegas Hilton Theater Las Vegas, NV Saturday, Feb 10 On the Road with MaggieMay... While Friday night wasn’t an all-nighter, I went to bed late enough to feel assured that 1) I was still young enough to party and 2) I was having a great time. If you aren’t in Las Vegas to have fun, what ARE you here for? You can knit socks for the cat at home! A special event was scheduled for Saturday morning at 10am; John Lodge was holding a greet for his board members. I’m not very active there anymore, but I’m still a card-carrying member, so off I went, leaving Darling Hubby to drink coffee and Baileys on his own. There is no question in my mind that John Lodge is one of the nicest, most handsome and most gracious men in the world. He smilingly greeted everyone, shaking hands and making small talk and putting everyone at ease. He’s a winner in every possible way. It was a wonderful couple of hours with loads of laugher. A great way to spend a morning! Darling Hubby went off to hobnob with his fellow wizards. Rather than try to spell the afternoon’s medical topic, I’ll just say that mentioning it in mixed company sees the fellows cross their legs and wince. Revenge for the cold speculum, you might say. My pleasant Saturday afternoon playing video poker was punctuated by the Delivery of a Package by the sexiest guy in Las Vegas. I’m not kidding! He’s like a son to me and isn’t THAT the sad story of my life. A special treat was in store for Saturday evening. I would be off on my own in California on my birthday, and Darling Hubby wished to celebrate it early by taking me to one of my favorite restaurants: NOBU. Nobu is a Japanese restaurant with a Peruvian influence. Not that Peruvian influences aren’t everywhere these days! It’s an almost indescribable experience, and not for the faint of heart. I’ve been to Nobu in The Bahamas at Paradise Island, and to one of the three in London. The Las Vegas Nobu was pretty cool! I felt like I was sitting in a bamboo forest and after two $20 Champagne 95 cocktails I was sure I was in one. I HIGHLY recommend the Champagne 95 cocktail.  We had the 7 course chef’s tasting menu and it was excellent; each course
was one or two bites of raw fish or Kobe beef beautifully served and decorated
with a sauce that was to die for. Don’t get your hopes built up too
high on dessert though. Other cultures celebrate the sweet and wouldn’t
think of serving you some god-awful green tea ice cream. Between
the three, I think The Bahamas restaurant is the best. So far!
I did really like the looks of the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino (where Nobu
is located). It’s definitely more my style than the Hilton, or what
I’d LIKE my style to be: young, hip, cool. Rockin’! Maybe
it would rub off on me in time. The Pink Taco looked very popular
too and worth a try next time around. I’ll be checking to see who’s
playing at The Joint next New Year’s Eve.
I had pretty well sobered up by the time dessert was served (sigh!) and 2 bites convinced me that it wasn’t very good. We left pleasantly full, and ever so slightly on the green side. You can’t eat seven courses of raw fish and God only knows what else without being slightly affected. Our 2nd row tickets were unfortunately IN two from the aisle, but I had run into our seatmate and old friend from Detroit at the JL Greet and warned her we’d be late. I didn’t want to have to shove out a couple seathoppers during the middle of the concert! I checked my watch, and figured we had missed only a couple of songs as we hustled through the casino. We edged up to the back row then flew down the left aisle as the audience stood after Tuesday Afternoon, just catching the gals about to sit down in our row.  I sat back, Norda looked over and smiled hello and I contentedly
burped raw fish. Life is Good!
THE FASHION REPORT JL – White pintucked tux type shirt JH – White long-slvd oxford shirt, untucked GE – Short slvd red and cream block shirt, red back, black slacks Jule – Black u-necked top, short slvd white sweater Norda – brown taffeta drop waist dress with flared short skirt. Top was gathered to the center. Black hose for those that “need” to know. THE CONCERT – SATURDAY Great show! Rockin’ when it should be, sweet and tender when required and hippie mellow as appropriate. The 2007 setlist was performed in its entirety without an intermission. Boy, I miss those intermissions! No break lessens the impact of TSIYE and denies you a quiet moment of afterglow. Still, we get a full show at The Hilton, so I won’t complain. Never Comes the Day is very nice and it makes me want to hear more of Justin’s bedtime stories: Land of Make Believe, Watching and Waiting, Deep. Whoa! How did THAT get in there? One must admit, Deep *is* a bedtime story of sorts. Snort! Personally, I would love to hear the ENTIRE Sur La Mer live in concert from “Want to Be With You” to “Deep”. Ain’t gonna happen, but we all have our dreams. The Voice has sounded GREAT at The Hilton, as has One More Time to Live. What a GREAT song that is! It’s sounding even better than in 2006.  Me, I’m a Core Seven girl where
The Moodies reigned as Philosopher Kings, sometimes cynical, sometimes
hopeful but always Deep. (Damn, there’s that song again!)
I’m not wild about Your Wildest Dreams, but I love looking at the screen and seeing those young wild boys hiding behind a quintet of innocent smiles. Mick has an incredible array of photos on his screen and has changed a number of them out from the Fall 2006 UK Tour. Justin has done a particularly nice job with vocals in Las Vegas. December Snow showcases his voice. It’s meltingly beautiful, the kind of beauty that brings tears to your eyes. I sure hope he never covers “Wildfire.” I guess both songs involve snow. The slow part of Question is also VERY nice and Nights is breath-taking. People often ask me if The Moodies sound as good as their early recordings. I have to say “no”! Justin sounds incredible at 60 – the best in his life. Graeme has added some new and very cute shtick to his H&H intro. “That was the lovely December Snow from December – an album we made about 3 and a half  years ago. Now we’re
going to play a track we recorded about three and a half decades ago.
Back when my hair was brown and my teeth were white! It’s not all
bad though. I can get seasonal work as Santa Claus.”
I don’t HOPE for mistakes, technical problems or natural disasters, but I sure enjoy them when they do happen. Saturday night’s treat was the LONGEST version of The Story in Your Eyes I’ve EVER heard. A senior moment can’t be blamed this time; it was clearly a technical problem. I guess it might have been Justin’s transmitter. Wouldn’t you know it cut out right when he started his solo. Justin stopped. The band kept vamping and with this much experience, they’re getting really good at it. He started again, played a few measures and it cut out again. He was looking a little unhappy. The Jukebox Hero started his solo for the THIRD time. This time it didn’t cut out and we were all able to finish the song and go on with our lives. I can only think that the blue pyramid crystal put on stage “healed” Justin’s transmitter box, thus saving the evening. Hey, I didn’t put it there! All in all, it was a great 3 nights at the Las Vegas Hilton. New Merchandise! Hal is offering a beautiful new Hayward tshirt with the exquisitely languid Isle of Wight photo of a young, long-haired rock star. The tourbook is the same from the 2006 UK tour with the 2007 Winter dates. Bottom line? The Hilton is not the worst place The Moodies could play in Vegas. Not the best either, but it’s great just to be back in Sin City. MaggieMay We’re part of the fire that is burning, And from the ashes we can build another day... Photos courtesy of MaggieMay |
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