Concert Review
Hershey Park
June 22, 2008
Arriving at Hershey Park, I couldn't help but laugh to myself, thinking of that old PF episode where the family went to a huge amusement park. Hershey Park is BIG! The parking lot alone is enormous. You'd think I would have thought to make note of where I parked my rental car..but no, I just parked and went on in. That sucked later when I tried to find the car LOL.
The park opened at 10 a.m. and there was quite a crowd gathered outside before the gates were opened. I found my friends already waiting and shortly thereafter we were let in. We went straight to the amphitheatre to get in line. There were only 2 other girls in line when we arrived.one hadn't seen David before and one had just seen him 3 weeks ago in Wisconsin for the first time. The "newbie" had brought her Cherish album, and she asked us if we thought David would autograph it. We said it was very possible, depending upon the set up of the stage and the convenience of him grabbing it while singing, and we told her to attach a sharpie. During the 2nd show David took her album and signed it! I was so happy for her!
We could see the inside of the amphitheatre from where we were waiting in line, and it looked pretty big. We asked how many it seated and were told 1,500. We could not see the stage from our viewpoint, but some women that had been there before said the stage was very close to the front row, so we were so excited to get in there! By the time they let us in around 3:00, the line was huge. We were front and center, it was fabulous!
By the time 4:00 arrived, the entire theatre was full, and it also completely filled up for the 2nd show. I was so happy for David, the response to him was amazing!
There was a roof over the amphitheatre but it was still open-air style, so it was very hot and humid, especially on stage for the band. David was sweating so much, but it didn't seem to affect his mood, which was EXCELLENT! He was bubbly and smiley the entire time, but had to wipe himself so many times with the towel, he finally said "good thing I don't wear make up anymore!!"
The first show was 50 minutes long. The 2nd show was longer, because he added a few acoustic songs. I think David was handling the heat better for the 2nd show because they had brought a big fan onstage and put it behind his microphone stand so it blew up onstage right at him.
David was quite silly for both shows, with lots of crazy jokes. When he pulled his stool over to the microphone, he first took a towel, and shook it like it was a magician's hanky, and placed it carefully over the seat of the stool. Then he waved his hands over it like he was casting a spell, and then yanked it quickly off the stool and exclaimed "MAGIC!!! IT'S STILL THERE!" Then he sat down and said "OK, that was one of the stupidest things I've ever done!" (I thought it was very funny!)
A woman ran up to the stage in between songs and handed him some puka shells, and said "a blast from the past." He took them and then explained to the audience how he had once lived in Hawaii, was on the beach and saw some pretty little white shells (he said "puka" means "hole" and these shells all have a hole in the middle); decided to put some on a string..next thing he knows, the whole world is wearing puka shells! He joked about someone asking him back then if he wanted to market them, and he said nah.. "and a billion dollars later.." He laughed and said "bad decision on my part!" He couldn't get the clasp open on the puka shells, so he put them on his microphone stand, stepped back a step, and bowed to the microphone stand, saying "OH GREAT PUKA!" like he was worshipping them. See I told you he was silly.
There was some wicked looking roller coaster thing right next to the amphitheatre, and I guess its track went right over the theatre, because every so often there would be a loud ROAR across the roof. Each time David would stop...look up..pull a funny face..then continue singing. He didn't let it interfere with the show, even though it was quite loud.
He sang the usual line-up of songs, but no encore for either show. There were a few minor difficulties in the very beginning with David not being able to hear his monitors, but after 2 songs all was fixed and no problems the remainder of the night. What happened to his red guitar? He hasn't had it the last few shows I've seen.
It was a wonderful Sunday in the park LOL. David was so great. Can't wait for my next one!
Carol Williams
