David Cassidy on the Web
Passionate fans follow Cassidy to Mohegan Sun
By JESSICA DURKIN
Norwich Bulletin.com
Originally published October 21, 2005
MOHEGAN-- They don't think they love him -- they know they've loved him for more than 30 years.
The clothes and hairstyles may be updated, but fan devotion to David Cassidy, the ex-"Partridge Family" teen heartthrob, has endured since the debut of the 1970s television show.
"He's way sexier now. He melts your pantyhose," Barbara Moses said. "I could listen to him sing the alphabet."
Moses, 45, who said she has been to about 50 Cassidy shows, remembers the first time she saw him in concert in 1972: The shag-haired teen idol mesmerized the crowd with his hit song, "I Think I Love You," wearing a fringed, white suit.
"It was total screaming, pandemonium," the Coventry, R.I., resident said.
Moses and six other die-hard Cassidy fans plus one husband have begun lining up for Cassidy's performance Saturday night at Mohegan Sun's Wolf Den.
The group has become friends through the years after meeting while waiting in line for Cassidy concerts around the country. They plan to hold their place in shifts until the concert starts. Barbara Burgert, 39, of Westerly, will have been in line 24 hours before she takes her first break this morning. Burgert said she "always bought all the Tiger Beat and 16 magazines" with pin-up photos of Cassidy.
"We could be waiting here for three days, without any sleep, but when his concert starts, we are wide awake," Burgert said.
The group has stood in about 20 Cassidy concert lines in the last five years for shows in Phoenix, Los Angeles, Indianapolis, Biloxi, New Jersey and the United Kingdom. Group members have flown through hurricanes and even boarded planes right after 9/11 to get to a concert.
Cassidy could not be reached for comment, but his Los Angeles-based publicist and manager, Jo-Ann Geffen, said, "These women go back to their youth when they see him. It takes them back to the mindset from when they were 20 years old. It's that kind of spirit, it's pure entertainment."
Janie Kaminski, 46, of Boston figured she has stood in the most lines. She has been a Cassidy fan since she was 11, and estimates she's been to about 75 concerts.
"He's just an amazing performer," Kaminski said. "The ultimate performer, and that's not even the singing."
Cassidy has a huge following in England.
Shirley Harker and her husband, Anthony, of Manchester, England, paid more than $2,000 for two airline tickets to catch the Mohegan Sun show.
It's their fifth trip to see Cassidy there. They timed this vacation to catch Cassidy in his "The Rat Pack Is Back!" retro-Las Vegas show at Mohegan Sun's Cabaret theater next week.
"He makes you feel 11 again," Harker, 44, said. "He makes you feel like you've known him forever."
Besides nostalgia, fans say Cassidy, 55, keeps them coming back because he sings his own songs and plays his own instruments.
"His music is not manufactured like those today," said Michele Morris, 43, who traveled from Los Angeles. "Nowadays, there's a lot of pre-recorded music. He sings live. Everything is real."
