Concert Reviews
DAVID'S LAUGHLIN CONCERT
Harrah's, Laughlin, NV
November 5, 2000
David performed in concert in the town of Laughlin, NV on Sunday, November 5, 2000 at 6:00 p.m. The drive to Laughlin from San Diego was a long one. However, I was keeping myself psyched up by playing the newly released "Cherish" CD from Buddha and other David CD's on the way there. At one point on the way, I thought I might have made a wrong turn as all I saw was desert. Luckily, I was on the right road and soon saw "Beautiful Downtown Laughlin" shown here.
As you can see, the town is not exactly a metropolis. I arrived at the hotel and checked into my room. It wasn't exactly up to the standards of the Rio as it was kinda small but what really struck me was that it smelled really funny and foul to me. However, I thought "Well, maybe it's just ME!" as I have a lot of allergies and such. I knew that it was a room for the handicapped as Harrah's told me it would be since they didn't have any more regular non-smoking rooms left. Still, I didn't expect it to smell and I called and asked if there were any cancellation so that I could get another non-smoking room. They said no that the hotel was pretty booked due to a popular performer was doing a concert there that night. (NOOOO! REALLY??! LOL!!) I tried to open the window but couldn't get it to open.
I waited for my friend Jeri who flew in from Colorado for the concert. She finally arrived a couple hours later than planned, having been very shaken by the plane ride in the very tiny plane that took her from the airport to Laughlin, having said she'd feared for her life! Then she said "What's THAT SMELL?!" I said "You smell it too?!" She said "Yes, it smells horrible! Like ...like...URINE!!!" I agreed. She had the bell boy help open the window a crack then called for another room and she was also told it was the last non-smoking room. I'm allergic to cigarette smoke, so we had a maid come clean the room. It was a little better afterwards but not a lot.
We decided to go for a walk and saw a few other DC fans outside on our walk. Later we went over to check out the out door theater and where we'd be sitting. We walked in and met 2 guys who were with DC's people. One of the guys was Robert. I'm afraid I don't remember the other man's name. They were really nice and said David would arrive around 4:00 p.m. We went back to the room which again reeked! We hung out and Jeri bought the two guys some little bottles of liquor. We went down around 4:00 p.m. and there were a few fans there who said David had already come in. I knew then the guys probably deliberately told us a later time so we wouldn't be in the way. The fans said David waved and went in but didn't stop for photos or autographs with any of them. We hung out at the gate for quite a while as we could hear David rehearsing. If you were lucky and tall enough, you could stand on a chair and see him on the stage for a bit. One really nice fan tried to help me see and take a photo but the glare of the sun was too much for me to get a good shot. At one point, David said to his people to show some enthusiasm or something and so we all screamed and he laughed. We all thought that was kinda cool!
I went back to the room to go to the bathroom a little earlier than some others and to change. Jeri came up after a while and called for the maid to clean the room again as it was smelling really bad again.
The show took place at Harrah's outdoor theater, the Rio Vista Amphitheater. The doors opened at 5:00 p.m. There was someone asking people for there e-mail addresses for a contest but I didn't enter as I didn't want a bunch of mails from the venue afterwards. Later after not getting many people for the drawing, someone went on stage to say that the drawing would include a "Meet and Greet" with David Cassidy that night. I still didn't enter and they had some drawings from the barrel up on stage. They then said they'd have another, so to get those forms with your e-mail addy's in a box in the back and they'd be put in the barrel for another drawing, including more fans for the meet & greet. I found Jeri and told her as she'd gone to the bathroom earlier. She ran to get her name in and I went ahead too. I noticed they never took the box up to the barrel before doing another drawing.
We had pretty good seats but some of the best ones in front were empty and some fans moved up to them. There was an older couple (I'd say mid 80's or 90's) behind me and the man said he didn't know who this David guy was. Someone mentioned the Partridge Family and he wasn't really familiar with the show. I named some of the other things he's done on Broadway and in Vegas and the guy said "Oh well I hope he does some Sinatra, I really love Frank Sinatra." I told him I thought he would as it was reported that David did a Sinatra tune in Atlantic City while in concert there recently.
Finally the show started. There was a welcome announcement for the "At the Copa" singers & dancers. Then the character of "Beaumont" from "At The Copa" came out to introduce David as "Johnny Flamingo." David sang "Get Me to the Church On Time," "Old Black Magic" then talked about how great Harrah's Resort was to have him there. I must say that the out door theater was quite nice and the weather was absolutely perfect that night. Warm but not hot and will a lovely breeze!
David then performed "Luck Be A Lady Tonight," (so the old guy got his Frank Sinatra song!) and "Mack The Knife." David had some nice dancing parts with his fabulous dancers from the "Copa" show. David left the stage with the Lon Bronson Orchestra playing.
David then came back after a costume change and performed "I Can Feel Your Heartbeat," "I'll Meet You Halfway," & "No Bridge I Wouldn't Cross." David then took a gift from a fan and talked about growing up in New Jersey which led into the song "Summer Days" followed by "Echo Valley 2-6809."
David then talked about his towel and tried to throw it to a certain fan but I think a different fan caught it. David then talked about his wife Sue and how she helped him emotionally and also co-wrote a song with him in 1990 which ended up being his 1st hit in the USA since the 70's and so then he performed his 1990 hit single "Lyin'' To Myself." He followed that with singing "Cherish" & "Rock Me Baby."
David was handed a sign from an ardent fan named Barbara which he read aloud. He had her come up to him and he bent down and gave her a kiss. The audience cheered! Then a husband of a fan was yelling to David and David came over to hear him speak. The husband said his wife only really loved David, etc. So David then said to the wife "What is it you don't like about men?" She' said "They're not YOU!" (LOL!) David said "No really, what are the worst things you dislike about guys? B.O., Gas?? I got it all baby! Just like any other guy." Everyone laughed. David then walked away with the husband still trying to say something. At one point while DC was talking some guy yelled "Sue Rocks!" David said "Yeah she does and she's goin' home with ME tonight!" (LOL!!) Fans laughed and went "ooooohh." Another fan yelled "Kidscharities.org ROCKS!" David said "THANK YOU! Yes it does!!" and he talked about Kidscharities and how the money from the concert that night was going towards the charities.
David then went into "I Woke Up In Love This Morning." He then talked about the theme song of the PF and how he just recorded it but never listened to it and people would come up to him singing and humming it and he'd go "Huh?" He pointed out his "fellow thespian" from the PF days Suzanne Crough who was in the audience and went into a very funky version of "C'mon Get Happy." I wasn't sitting too far away from Suzanne when he introduced her I could see he moan "Oh no!" when he did but she was lovely to any fans that came up to her after the show. I later heard she even took some of fans who run the "C'mon Get Happy Web Site" back stage with her to meet David.
Fooling around, David then did this very funny bit of the song "The Impossible Dream." David concluded the concert with first thanking the orchestra and Harrah's and his final song was "I Think I Love You." David noticed a fan in the 3rd right row sitting up on her chair with her arms out singing it with him. He pointed then motioned at her with his finger to come up to him. She went up to the stage and he bent down and sang to her and kissed her. Then much of the crowd came up front and David reached down to shake hands and kiss them. David left the stage as the closing music to "ITILY" played on.
After the show, there was a "Meet & Greet" for fans who won a the contest mentioned previously. Some of us waited outside the door of the "Meet and Greet" to see if we could get a photo of him. Some fans asked David they could get a photo taken with him. David said there were too many of us for that. Which was true as just before he came, a group of about 7 younger fans showed up at the door. I said "I have an idea! How about just one Group Photo of all of us with you?!" David said "Yeah, I could do that." I waited for everyone to go stand next to him but only Jeri and another fan Barbara did. Maybe I should have said I was willing to take the photo? I don't know. Anyway, before he rushed off, I took a photo of the three of them with my digital camera but I accidentally cut off everyone's heads. Just my luck! Luckily another fan took a photo of them too and it turned out fine. So my friend Jeri and Barbara were very, very happy about that. Jeri was so excited and quickly told DC what he meant to her. She later told me how he was rubbing her back as they posed together. We waited for David to come out and he did only about 10 or 15 minutes later. I was surprised he came out so soon. There were five winners but I found out later that David only took the time to meet with one of them. Sue and Beau rushed to the car first and then David.
I then had dinner with fellow fan Joyce Theil. Joyce brought her adorable baby David with her to Laughlin and she'd gotten a baby-sitter to watch him during the show and dinner. After dinner, I went up to see the baby who was sound asleep. We then went to visit with some other really fun, cool fans in there room. The other fans rooms did NOT smell by the way. Joyce joined us for only a little while as she had to get back to her baby. The rest of us had a great time talking about David, listening to his music, and someone even brought some great photos to share.
In the morning Jeri and I woke up to our stinky room and we packed quickly to get out of there! I drove Jeri to the airport and then drove home. The room may have smelled but the outdoor concert and seeing my friend Jeri get to meet David and have her photo taken with him and meeting other great fans made it all worth while.
