Concert Reviews
David Cassidy: Alive and Kickin' in Atlantic City
September 8, 2000.
I may be in my thirties, but for two nights back in September, I was seven years old again. That's because my childhood dream of seeing David Cassidy in concert finally came true. Of course, it helped that David picked Atlantic City for the location of his show. It's only a three hour drive from my New York apartment. Plus my friends have a house in the neighboring town of Brigantine, which is practically walking distance to Harrah's. What more could a Cassidy fan ask for?
Seven months earlier, I had flown out to the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas to see David perform in "At the Copa." But that show featured a different David than the one I used to know...one that wore a suit and sang songs from the '40s and '50s. The David I remember wore puka shells and overalls and sang hits from a show called "The Partridge Family." That's the David I longed for most. That's the David I wanted to see.
The ride from New York to Altantic City was rather uneventful. Unlike Las Vegas, which has more David Cassidy billboards than they know what to do with, there was (literally) no sign of David in sight. Not one of the giant billboards on Route 30 featured that gorgeous face. No posters in town did either. Bummer!
I arrived in Brigantine at roughly 4:30 p.m., figuring I had an hour to relax before I headed over to Harrah's. Then I called the hotel. They told me that the box office opened in 30 minutes. OMG! I barely had time to shower and change and I was out the door.
I arrived at Harrah's around 6:00 p.m. and headed straight for the box office. One woman on line told me that people had been there as early as 11:00 a.m. Wow! I guess I wasn't the only one who waited 30 years to see David perform live! His fans seemed serious about getting good seats, but most of them seemed to keep to themselves. Luckily, the couple in front of me-Wayne and Geralyn from Long Island-were friendly and a lot of fun. They were quite generous too; as we walked into the theater, Wayne (who had comp tickets), told the usher that the three of us were together, so I ended up sitting in the second row with them!
My new friends and I got to our table around 6:45 p.m. As we started talking I discovered that, like me, Geralyn was another "deprived child" who had never seen David Cassidy in concert. She had never seen "At the Copa" either so I filled her in on some of the details, musing about how and if David would perform some of his "newer" material for the Atlantic City crowd. Let's face it, this was David's first live concert appearance in over a year-and a lot has happened for David in the last year! Given the popularity of his Las Vegas shows ("At the Copa" and "The Rat Pack is Back"), it was obvious that he would probably incorporate some of his new songs into this show. But how would he do it? Which songs would he pick? Most importantly, what was he going to wear? At 8:10 p.m., we were about to find out.
My first surprise at the curtain's rise was seeing an orchestra on stage, and hearing David being introduced as "Johnny Flamingo" (his character from "At the Copa"). My heart sank at first, I'll admit it. As much as I like the Lon Bronson Orchestra, and as much I loved "At the Copa," I was much more interested in David's music. But as we would soon discover, there was a method to this madness.
Decked out in a shiny silver suit and a black fedora, David (aka "Johnny") opened the show with a finger-snapping version of "Come Fly With Me," followed by "Get Me to the Church on Time." Then David paused to do a dedication to Bobby Darin, a man he called "the finest singer of his era," with a rousing rendition of "Lazy River." ("Lazy River" was included in the initial previews of "At the Copa" before being removed from the show's final repertoire-so for those of us who hadn't seen those previews this was an extra treat!). David also performed "Luck Be a Lady Tonight," and "Mack the Knife," another "At the Copa" favorite. No doubt about it. David's alter ego was a hit. And by using "Johnny Flamingo" as his opening act, David had found a brilliant way of bridging the gap between his two musical styles. It was also a great way to bridge the generation gap in the audience, whose members ranged in age from about 12 to 70.
After "Johnny's" set, there was a brief intermission featuring the big band sounds of the Lon Bronson Orchestra. Aside from the horn section, this is the same orchestra that plays with David in "At the Copa" and they are fabulous. The 14-member ensemble was accompanied by three back-up singers, including "At the Copa" Associate Producer Doug Voet. The intermission was a wonderful idea, because it helped build the excitement of David's show even more. By the time the emcee announced "the one, the only David Cassidy," I was screaming like a schoolgirl. It was such a thrill! What made it even better was that David opened up with "Heartbeat," the same song he used to start his concerts with back in the "old days."
"Heartbeat" was followed by another Partridge Family favorite, "I'll Meet You Halfway." After Geralyn and I sang our hearts out, David fast forwarded in his career for a moving rendition of "No Bridge I Wouldn't Cross" (from his 1998 CD, "Old Trick, New Dog").
Before breaking into "No Bridge," David admitted that he loved being back in his "semi-home state of New Jersey." He thanked "Frankie" for a wonderful introduction (I think he meant "Johnny"- was that a Freudian slip?). He also said that there were some songs that he "regretfully stopped doing" over the years. One of them was "Summer Days. "
Now, if I could have picked one song, and one song alone, for David to sing to me in concert, it would have been "Summer Days." Words cannot even being to describe how I felt when I heard this song. What made it even more special was David's confession that he had "forgotten was a great song it was," and that he missed its creator, Tony Romeo. David got an incredible response from this song; it was really touching. After the song was over, David made a point of saying how much this show meant to him, and how much he'd like to do it again. He also used this time to talk about the many blessings in his life, including his family and his recent success in Las Vegas.
Some of the songs David chose for his Atlantic City show were being performed live for the very first time. "Echo Valley 26809" was one of them. David said that this was one song that he was "asked many times to do" but never did. He also joked that it brings us back to a more innocent time when we were "slightly less old." The best part of the song came during the spoken part when David says, "Hello Operator, get me Echo Valley 26809." Instead of saying "You have reached a disconnected number," the operator said "You have reached a disconnected decade."
During the hour-long show, David managed to sneak in a few tunes from his post-Partridge Family career. In addition to "No Bridge" he sang "Lyin to Myself," a song taken off his self-titled 1990 CD. Even though he warned the audience that he wouldn't try hitting the high notes in that song, he tried anyway. (You got to give him some credit for doing that!). "Lyin' to Myself" was co-written with his wife Sue Shifrin, who he called "a fantastic songwriter in her own right."
David closed his set with three songs currently featured in "At the Copa," "Cherish," "I Woke Up Love This Mornin," and "I Think I Love You." "Cherish" brought a lot of "oohs" and "ahhs" from female audience members, but the arrangements for "I Woke Up in Love This Morning" and "ITILY" were very disappointing. Both songs were dwarfed by a strange, polka-like beat that made it sound like David was trying to rush through them. As soon as ITILY ended, David dashed off the stage. But that wasn't all, folks!
David's encore started off with a real surprise-a high energy, hand-clapping version of "C'mon Get Happy." (Could he be proving once and for all that he's made peace with his "Partridge Family" past?) David ended the show with a rousing rendition of "Rock Me Baby" that sent fans out of their seats and towards the stage for handshakes and lots of smiles all around.
I had only a couple of complaints regarding this show, the main one being David's wardrobe. For someone who missed David's "comeback tour" in the early '90s, it would have been nice to see him in jeans or some nice leather pants vs. the "Johnny Flamingo" outfit he chose to wear. (Anyone who saw "At the Copa" will recognize it from that show). Also, the cat calls and carrying on by some of the female fans was incredibly annoying at times. (Does anyone really think screaming "I think I love you" is original?). During his last set, David even joked about it, saying his favorite part of the show was "when the audience heckles eachother." Sometimes the heckling got out of hand; the great part was that DC always seemed to have the perfect comeback. For example...
Frenzied Fan #223: "You still got it!"
David: "I'm trying to get rid of it!"
Rumors about a repeat performance of David's Atlantic City concert have circulated ever since I returned to New York. Judging by the way the crowd reacted, and the fact that both shows got sold out, I'm sure he'll be back. After all, David's already planned a similar show for Laughlin, Nevada, in November. This could be a trend! If it is, I will definitely go back for more. Especially if it means getting to hear "Rock Me Baby" one more time.
David's rendition of "Rock Me Baby" was definitely the highlight of the show for me. I hadn't heard heard that song since the '70s, but I was still able to remember most of the lyrics. I also remember the many times I sat gazing at that album cover as a kid, staring at David in that rocking chair and wishing I had a pair of those oh-so-cool silver cowboy boots. Now, at an age when most performers have retired to the rocking chair, David is still rocking the house. Now that's entertainment! ("Sing it Johnny!).
Magdalin Leonardo
Also, Amy Shatzen took some wonderful photos and you can see them by clicking here.
