Ambrosia

May 18th 2002

The Coach House Live CD Release Party-Review # 2

Concert review by Robert Mercer
Pictures, setlist & ticket by Roberta Mercer
you can watch a cool slideshow of Roberta's great pix here!

"Heart To Heart, baby!" yelled a female Ambrosia fan as the band arrived on
stage to a capacity crowd at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano, CA, a
favorite venue of the band and of their fans as well. The Ambroisacs were out
in force to celebrate the release of the new "Live At The Galaxy" CD.

Ambrosia opened with the energetic "Mama Don't Understand" and the reggae
version of "Nice, Nice." with Joe playing staccato bass, Shem on acoustic
guitar, Tollak on keyboards and harmonica, Chris on Hammond organ and
synthesizer, Doug Jackson playing his purple Fender Stratocaster, and
Burleigh, of course, on drums. Joe welcomed the crowd, "This is our first CD
party in many, many moons!" The ebullient crowd loudly returned the greeting.

Then came the beautiful ballad "In My Life" with Tollak on lead vocals. Joe
and Shem traded instruments and collaborated on backing vocals.

Next, Burleigh sang the intro to "And.Somewhere I've Never Travelled" before
returning to delivering his unique backbeat. The boys were smiling and
clearly having fun. Symbiotically, so was the audience. Shem delivered strong
and crisp vocals and Joe, a thumb-whacking bass solo. Chris completed the
song with his powerful keyboards.

The crowd-pleasing "You're The Only Woman" came next, with Tollak's lead
vocals, Joe's walking bass line and vocal harmonizing with Shem, and Chris
North's classic understated Hammond organ solo. "It's a real good-looking
crowd," said Burleigh. "And I'm not just talking about the band!"

The Byrdsy "Hopes And Dreams" followed, one of the best songs anyone has
written in years. "We get lots of requests for this one," said Joe. Which is
amazing considering that it has yet to be recorded. (It's not on the live
album due to a misalignment of the planets and/or Joe's desire to perfect it
in the studio.) Joe sang lead and Tollak the middle eight. The song had a
hypnotic effect on the audience. People were swaying back and forth like
charmed snakes.

They were dancing in the upper booths as Joe sang, "How Much I Feel,"
silhouettes in the murky light. Burleigh introduced the band from behind his
drums, as "This mass of testosterone on stage." From left to right at their
usual onstage posts: Chris North, Doug Jackson, Shem, "The Toreador" Joe
Louis Puerta, Tollak Ollestad, and himself as "the clone of Tommy Smothers
and Sting."

"Time Waits for No One" followed with Tollak's jazz piano, Shem's strong
vocals, and a nice guitar solo by Doug Jackson. The 32nd notes were bouncing
off the walls.

The band unveiled a "new" song, "Let Me Down Slow." It's slow and sad, about
love gone bad. "Lawyers like surgeons holding pens like knives. waiting to
slice up my life." Great guitar work by Doug Jackson.

Tollak started "Holdin' On To Yesterday" with some tremendous blues
harmonica. The show seemed to peak here, appropriately during the song that
was their first big hit. Joe and Shem's vocals were masterful, as was Chris's
keyboard work.

After a few minutes of screaming and table-pounding by the fans, Ambrosia
came back under the bright lights for a two-song encore: "Magical Mystery
Tour" and "Biggest Part Of Me" where Shem's masterful vocals, particularly
the falsettos, were levitated to their apex.

you can watch a cool slideshow of Roberta's great pix here!

you can buy this AWESOME CD on-line at Coach House Records!