Concert Review
Lakeside Casino, Osceola Iowa.
June 15th and 16th, 2012
It all started one day when a friend of mine emailed me and asked if I saw that David was coming to Iowa. I usually check his site every couple days for any new concerts, but had not noticed this one yet. Of course I was ecstatic because he was coming back to my home state, Iowa. I of course decided to go! I needed someone to go with but my best DC Buddy could not fly in for this adventure. She was already booked for the 3 Vegas shows coming up. So I called my girlfriend Rhonda, whom has never seen David before, and asked her if she would want to tag along with me. She was cool with that. So we planned the getaway. I made reservations at the Lakeside Casino. It was more expensive but it fit the mood of everything better. A few weeks later the tickets went on sale, and I was lucky enough to get front row seats and center stage. So I was very excited. My trip was coming together. Leading up to going, I kept trying to figure out what to wear to the shows. By now I had found out I was meeting David backstage so I wanted to look my best. I finally decided on a few things a couple days before the show and started packing. Not that I would need that much for a weekend, but you know how that goes.... That Friday the day of the first show, I got up at 8 am and started getting ready to go. I wanted to be on the road by 10 am. I had about a 3 hour drive and had to pick my friend Rhonda up.
As we got closer to the casino, we saw the advertisement for David flashing on the big sign. We had arrived! We then checked in and unloaded everything into our room. After resting a bit we decided to scope the place out. The casino was in the middle of remodelling, so we had to go outside and down the walk to get to the event center and the casino. At the event center I noticed a wall of pictures that were autographed by others who had performed there. It was cool. I heard the band practicing and poked my head in the door. All I could see though was all the chairs. So we moved on and walked down to the gift shop where another David Cassidy picture was flashing. I had my friend grab a picture of me with it. My girlfriend was a VIRGIN Cassidy goer so I brought her a rare Partridge Family t-shirt for her to wear to the show. ( I have never seen it before anywhere) We got all ready and headed down to the venue. People were starting to come in. We had to get in the meet and greet line. I think about 20 or so people maybe this night were in line. It was passing 7:15 when we were let in to meet David. He looked great. Was in an outstanding mood and was glad to see us all. Asked us to be loud and have fun at the show. We each got a quick meet and greet with him and a nice picture. He did not do any autographs as he said no time for that tonight. After we had our pictures, we left the room and headed for the concert. We did have front row seats, but all the VIP's were in front of us. It was cool though.
I think he opened with C'mon Get Happy. I was still in a daze yet so forgive me. He did most of his usual songs and stories. When doing the band intro he got involved and sang Superstition. So that was a nice treat to hear. He also played the drums while Teri Cote sang her song. I love to watch him play, he is like a little kid back there having a ball! The show was really good and he left the stage. No encore. Rhonda and I were starving by now so we went to the casino for dinner and met up with Les and Mae. It was good to see them again. We all hung out for awhile but I was getting tired so we retired to our room around 1:30 am.
Saturday morning we slept in and went down for breakfast early in the afternoon. It was kind of a crappy rainy day so we just hung out at the hotel. Around 5:30 we started to get ready and headed down stairs. The line for the Meet and Greet was a bit longer than the previous night's line. A DC friend from Missouri made the trip up with her friend and got to see her. We met very briefly at another concert so it was nice to finally have some time together. It was getting close to 7:30, and then we were asked to go back stage. David came out and was in a lovely mood just like the night before. We got our pictures and in my case, a hug and told him Happy father's day. We then exited and went to find our seats.
Friday's show was great but Saturday's was electrifying! Even the men were coming up for photos and saying stuff to him from their seats. Lots of men were there in fact, which was quite unusual! The concert was pretty much the same as the night before, but the crowd was much more into it this night. He sang both Davey Jones tribute songs this night, whereas on Friday he only did one. During one of the songs, (I think Cherish), I went up to the stage and touched David's hand. We were not suppose to do any filming but managed to get some footage. By the time ITILU came up, the stage was getting pressed with the ladies. I got touched a couple more times and then he was off. Everyone was still at the stage and chanting for his return. But he did not do any encores either night.
I managed to walk over by the microphone and I picked up David's bottle of water! A small group of us posed for a couple pictures, and then we went to supper. Hung out at the bar for a drink and chatted about the shows. It was one of the best travels I have had seeing David. My friend Rhonda also had an incredible time. The Casino is building an outdoor amphitheater and we were told they would have David back sometime after it gets completed. YEAH! The next morning all of us met in the lobby and went down for breakfast and said our goodbyes. I had a terrific weekend seeing David, meeting up with DC friends and meeting some new ones. I cannot wait to do it again. Thank you David for making it a weekend I will never forget!
Autumn Bonner
