Concert Reviews
DAVID WAS AWESOME
Showboat Casino, Atlantic City, NJ
April 28, 2001
By Lynn G
DAVID WAS AWESOME !!! I never enjoyed myself so much at a concert as I did Saturday night at Harrah's Showboat. I saw David twice last year in Vegas in At The Copa, but both times I was far back from the stage and stuck near a bunch of old people with long faces who wouldn't even applaud the songs, never mind scream and dance for them. David's concert Saturday night was finally one I could let loose at and join in with the other screaming fans! It was great!
David looked amazing! I think not doing such a hectic schedule of 8 shows a week anymore really agrees with him, he looked rested, and refreshed with those totally gorgeous Cassidy looks beaming away, you would think the man was in his late 20's up close instead of his early 50's. WOW!
He started the show in a brightly colored shirt (purple I think) and black pants that still accentuate that awesome butt he is so famous for! *LOL* He sang "I Can Feel Your Heartbeat" just as though it was 1972 again and created some great energy for the audience, really got everyone bopping along. He then shouted out "What were you doing the summer of '72?" and quickly went into "Summer Days". (My sister shouted back to him after his question "I was at the CNE Grandstand in Toronto seeing YOU!" We both laughed and I reminded her that I am still mad I wasn't allowed to go with her that time. She reminded me I was only 6 then. Oh yeah that's right, oh well. She took me there 6 years later to see Shaun at the same place so she said she made it up to me. And how!)
David then went into "I'll Meet You Halfway" and really razzed up the screaming girls by changing the lyrics to "will there come a time/when we can find the time/to reach out and TOUCH each other" *LOL* You never heard so many 30 and 40 somethings screams so loud! David just responded with an ear to ear smile flashing those pearly Cassidy whites, damn those men have charm!
He then sang "No Bridge" and thanked everyone for making his Old Trick New Dog album so successful. He paused to sip some water after this, and sat on a stool to chat with the audience, reminding them that he was born and raised in New Jersey and thanked them for welcoming him "home". One girl screamed out "ANYTIME DAVID !!!" and he just smiled at her and did his best Joey Tribianni impersonation from "Friends" and say in a low voice "How YOU doing?" *LOL* It was great. He then talked about his parents Jack and Evelyn being thespians who took him to AC as a young boy to watch them in Summer Stock productions and mentioned other south Jersey cities they also performed in while people who lived nearby these cities clapped. (sorry I can't remember the names off hand)
David then started talking about Tony Romeo writing most of these songs in the Partridge Days and said when he looked at the songs years later he realized how good they are and was so glad to sing them again. He mentioned that Tony was no longer with us, so he looked up above him and said "Tony this one is for you" then went into "Echo Valley 26809". The part where David has to say in a talking voice "operator? Get me Echo Valley 26809" Candace from the backup singers said in a nazel voice "Sorry - you've reached a disconnected DECADE" *LOL*
After this he went into "I am a Clown" and explained how he fought Tony Romeo when he first gave him the lyrics saying "I'm not singing THIS, I'm a cool guy, this is going to make me sound like a fool!". Apparently Tony told him the fans will love it and someday David would see the significance of the lyrics. David said now he realizes what Tony was trying to say about him in the lyric and thanked him for being so prophetic and knowing him better then he knew himself at the time. (almost like the woman in New York that Shaun wrote "She's Right" for huh? :)
David then introduced Candace and they sang "River Deep Moutain High" together, and in my opinion, Candace sang it SO much better then Sheena Easton, so much energy and they had much better chemistry. Very well done. David gave her this cute little hug after the song resting his head on her shoulder (she was taller than him, I then realized how short David must really be
David came back onstage in a black and silver shirt, (still with the same great cute-butt pants on mind you *LOL*) and talked about his recent Vegas career and said he would bring a little Vegas to Jersey for those who missed him there, and had us snapping our fingers saying "just imagine you are at Hayte Ashbury and its the late 60's" and broke into "Try A Little Tenderness" (amazing performance, better then he did it in Vegas even) then also sang "Mack the Knife", "Rock Me Baby" and finally "Lyin to Myself" crediting his "wife and best friend" Sue for helping to write that one with him.
He then thanked everyone for being such loyal fans to him throughout the years and was glad he could be part of our lives for so long. He said his website "davidcassidy.com" was doing great and thanked us for our support there. He said he went on there recently to see what songs fans were requesting him to sing in concert and said the next song was by far the most requested so he dedicated it to all of us - "Cherish". David sounded so great, adlibbing the lyrics again saying "and I do/STILL cherish you". He sang with such sincerity that it almost brought tears to my eyes, so sweet!
After a rousing ovation, David said "lets pick up the pace a little bit" and picked up his guitar and waled into "I Woke Up in Love This Morning" with so much energy that it had everyone dancing in the aisles and clapping along. After this he talked about his musical influences growing up and that guitars fascinated him so much so as a boy he just had to learn to play one. He did this amazing guitar solo ala Jimi Hendrix then over the cheers when he was done looked up at the ceiling again and said "ah Jimi, I luv ya man".
It was then time to introduce the band, so each of them had a solo and David stood in front of each instrument and danced, jumped and air guitared along with them. You can tell this is a man who LOVES music and performing, it was so evident. He ended the big solos with an almost rap/funk version of "C'mon Get Happy". David explained to everyone how he recorded the theme song so fast during a break doing the Partridge Family that he hadn't actually heard it for years. He never saw the show as there were no VCR's back then and he was touring every Friday night when it aired. He joked that he used to think fans were out of their minds when they would come up to him years later and just start singing it in his face!
David then broke into the grand finale and belted out accopella "you know I've been sleeping... " then the band geered up into "I Think I Love You". Fans started rushing the stage like crazy, so I grabbed my sister's sleeve and shouted "LET'S GO" and we ran as fast as we could to the left side of the stage where we had this amazing view of David on it. He was so strikingly goodlooking up close, my sister joked "my god, he almost looks fake he's so beautiful!!" *LOL* David started shaking hands and high fiving the girls (and some guys) who reached up to him. He took bouquets of roses and handkerchiefs from them, grinning from ear to ear along the way. Those Cassidy whites look even better up close! He then came to our side of the stage and since my hand was the first up he shook mine first, I thought I was gonna faint! *LOL* He continued along to get everyone's hand then double tracked his way back high fiving my hand this time, then shook my sister's hand then came back to mine and HELD it this time, even squeezed my two fingers slightly! HURT ME (in the words of Sharry) was all I kept thinking!
He then left the stage with his flowers and towels and everyone screamed for an encore. After a couple minutes he slowed walked back on stage with a new towel around his neck and sang "Cry". Everybody started flashing pictures so I joined in too running to center stage and got some great shots of David! Can't wait to show them to everyone when I get them scanned. (I took some pictures earlier from the side stage too and I'm still surprised the security guards didn't throw me out for this, but oh well David was worth it!) After this song he threw the towel into the audience and it landed RIGHT in front of me! I was in such shock I just stood there instead of bending down to pick it up
We ran to the stage door after the lights came back on, following a few other fans clutching their Partridge records, games, puzzles, CD's, books and Rolling Stone magazines. Security stopped us pretty fast as we said we just wanted a quick autograph. A lady named Robyn came out and told us David had to do a Meet and Greet with some VIP's first (high rollers with comp tickets I guess) and that he had family to see backstage (realitives of Evelyn's I think, they sorta looked like her as they passed us, and some younger cousins with small babies in their arms) but if we waited for her, she would be back and let us into the backstage hallway after the meet and greet was over for our autographs.
We waited and waited and waited. Finally Robyn came back after 30 minutes or so with this sad look on her face. I knew the news couldn't be good. She said David was just zonked after doing two shows and it was already almost 1 am so he went up to his room already. She said he had to get up at 4 am to fly back to the coast so he just couldn't sign anything more tonight. There was this big "AWWWWWW???????" sigh of disappointment from everyone. Some girls just left storming away while others bravely told her they had flown miles just to see David's show tonight (one girl from England, one from St. Louis, one from somewhere else) and were really disappointed. Robyn apologized and said she appreciated the distance and dedication everyone had so she gave us her e-mail address and said if we write her with our mailing addresses she would have David autograph a picture and mail it back to us. I piped up with a smile "I came from Canada, can I write you too?" She kinda smiled and said "of course, Canada counts too" *LOL* And at that, we left and I went to sleep in my hotel room dreaming sweet David-hand-holding-dreams that night!
So there's the scoop everyone. Sorry this e-mail is so long, I didn't realize it would take so much typing to explain it! *LOL* The good news is that I finally got to see David close up and got to shake (and hold!) his hand, even if I struck out with the autograph (and the slots later) it was still a great trip and I can't wait to do it all over again with Sharry in July!! WOOHOO!! I'm packed already girlfriend!!
Thank you to Lynn G and Erik (David Cassidy Fan Site of Norway).
