| Sault Ste. Marie, MI |
| Dream Maker Theatre |
| Saturday, March 3, 2001 |
At the request of a coupla fans here's a scan of Rick's new DirecTV pick...
Go to the show now, iffin’ you want. This was a long day…
It was also an early day... MUCH TOO EARLY!
For some reason unbeknownst to me, my body decided to wake up at 4 (*&$#% a.m. Of course at that point my brain went into overdrive thinking of all the work stuff that had been piling up... *Sigh*
At 5:30, I gave up and decided that putting stuff on paper might tire the mind enough to allow me some more sleep…
Since I’d had to stay in hotels off and on for the better part of February, I got tired of sitting at the same stupid desk/chair/lamp set up in a big hurry. Remembering that the lobby had lots of tables and chairs scattered about, I decided to head down there for a change of scenery – and more importantly – coffee!
After an hour or so, Jimmy and Todd from Saint James walked by [AKA: Lisa’s eye candy ;) ], so we chatted a bit. (Apparently they’d never bothered to go to bed that night.) Very funny guys. They talked about how the band got together as well as the miscommunication with the venue and CT. Apparently no one with CT knew there was s’posed to be an opening act in SSM. Whoops…
The rest of the day was for hanging out with my buddies. Spent some time with Maria and Stephanie while they had breakfast… Lunch with Kim, Samantha, Ron, Laurie and Mike was hilarious. Ron, you crack me up!!
Speaking of cracking me up, Tom came over to our table and said, “Hey, I know you guys!” I couldn’t resist asking him why they didn’t let him sing the night before.
ME: Don’t they like you anymore?
TOM: I think it’s casino policy.
LMAO!
Kim had an interview with BEC in the afternoon - so I'm looking forward to reading it in the next installment of his unofficial newsletter... Around that time our little group also had a chance to talk to Carla for a bit. I’ve never really said more than a few words to her before, so it was nice to get the opportunity to talk to her. She told us that the band would head for Green Bay right after the show, so the show would start at 8 pm sharp.
Ron hit a slot machine that afternoon and shared the wealth with some of us when we hit the bar before the show. Thanks Ron! :)
The casino was considerably more crowded that night – since it was a Saturday, I guess. We all met up a little before show time by the stage door in hopes that we would be able to catch the guys. And that we did… BEC came by to shake hands and say a quick “hello” then Tom, Robin and Rick gave us a little time and patiently went through a long series of photo ops with each of us.
I must say that while I was flattered that Kai entrusted me with his camera during that time, it made me very nervous. Heck, I found a way to break the stupid flash in my cheesy disposable camera. My mind reeled at the thoughts of the damage I could inflict on his fancy-schmancy one! :)
Thanks to CT for visiting with us before the show. You treat your fans so well – hope you know how much we appreciate it!
After that, all of us happy, geeked out fans headed for our seats. Before the show started, Kim got me all misty when he leaned over and told me how glad he was that I’d made it to these shows. Awww… Back at ya, Kim. No fair making me cry, though!
We stood up at the first sound of “I Must Be Dreamin’.” Half of the front row didn’t. What’s up with that?! No way was I gonna sit on my butt during another show. Had to do that in Michigan last December and wasn't about to do it again! :P
FASHION REPORT
| BEC | orange print shirt, jeans (?), tennies, b-ball cap |
| TP | mustard suit, black dress shirt, black boots, cowboy hat, black glasses |
| RN | Roy Wood t, black on black checked jacket, black pants et al |
| RZ | black suit, shiny maroon shirt, black shoes |
SET LIST
| ATAS | |
| ELO KIDDIES | |
| LOT TO LOSE | |
| DOWNED | WOW!!! Robin’s vocal work was a-ma-zing on this one. My jaw hit the floor with the first note out of his mouth. We all know he’s the best damn rock singer in the business, but tonight’s show was a new high. Best work I’ve ever heard live: a crystal clear tonal quality that just blew me away. I repeat: wow! Rick’s guitar work was really intense too. Blow me away… Wow wow wow… Have I said “wow” or that "it blew me away" yet?! :) |
| IWYTWM | Love Robin’s yell of the title. Rick and Tom were interacting a lot on this one and having a blast. Great fun to watch. |
| IKWIW | Apparently Tom decided to violate casino policy. :) He was into it – throwing in a lot of “yeahs” and playing around vocally. |
| 70S SONG | |
| 8 MILES LOW | |
| VOICES | F***ing brilliant. Once again Robin’s vocal work was tremendous. |
| DA FLAME | Rick’s intro: “Here’s a song we hope you recognize” – yet another number that left me saying “wow” and “damn” repeatedly. I love how it starts quietly and then Rick just tears into it. |
| SOUTHERN GIRLS | |
| SURRENDER | |
| DREAM POLICE | When the guys came out for the encores, BEC was all smiles and proceeded to fling several Rick picks into the crowd. |
| GOODNIGHT NOW | Very fun extended ending with BEC giving it everything he had. Rick handed Uncle Dick to Kai and Kim got to hold Tom’s blue bass. :) |
RICK BANTER
He acknowledged all of us in the front row again, rattling off where we were from. He pointed at someone a couple rows back and said “I recognize you… from prison.” LOL
Rick held up Kim’s copy of “Silver” as he had the night before to put in a plug for the new release. As he opened it to show the artwork he said, “Hey this copy’s been autographed by Tom Petersson… and Robin Zander… Bun E Carlos… and Rick Nielsen…” As he rattled off the names, Rick cracked up as Bun E accented each with a riff – giving his own name the flashiest one.
MISC. STUFF
This was a tremendous show. All four guys played everything with such relish. Great work as a group, running the gamut: rocking out and then pulling it back for some tremendous ballads. This versatility is one of the biggest reasons why I love CT so much. Tonight I lost track of how many times a riff or a vocal made me say “damn” involuntarily.
And I can not say it enough: this is the best live vocal work I’ve heard from Robin. Not to mention that he was really interacting with the crowd, having fun and playing with the vocals. It was truly a pleasure to witness this performance.
POST SHOW STUFF
Got to say hi to George. Busy guy that he is. :)
Someone got the set list to Kai and naturally he was very happy. All of us were – we just kept looking at each other a commenting how great the show was that we’d just witnessed. As we relaxed in the lobby area (thanks for buying a round, Kai!) we could see how much the snow was coming down outside. Yick. I’d be a liar if I said I wasn’t a little worried about the CT entourage traveling in that junk.
Robin walked by, all bundled up and I couldn’t resist the urge to raise my beer to him and yell, “GREAT SHOW!”
We roamed around a bit before I finally turned in. Tomorrow was a travel day and I needed to get some rest. Ahhhh… what a great day.
Next stop: Green Bay.
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© Lisa Jebsen, 2001