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Click Here For Another Review of The Arizona Charlie's Concert!

Concert review of Ambrosia's concert at Arizona Charlie's

in Las Vegas on July 25, 1998/byCabs Vogel & Tom Vogel

Photos by Cabs Vogel & Tom Vogel

Bruce (Cabs) Vogel is a great Tin Dum/Ambrosia Fan from San Jose! He has seen Ambrosia many times!
This is Bruce's 2nd Review for Traveller's Danse! Tom Vogel (his brother) is also a huge fan!
They both had a GREAT time with their fellow Travellers in Las Vegas!

We (Cabs and Tom) set out……Friday morning from San Jose to Las Vegas at 8:45
a.m. on Friday July 24, 1998 with a car full of food, drinks, and all five
Ambrosia albums, Anthology, Tin Drum and a Bruce Hornsby CD and hit Start on
the first LB in chronological order. The music lasted the entire 8.5 hours,
right up to seeing the big AZ hotel marquee exclaiming “AMBROSIA JULY 25”. We
checked in and saw the promotion poster and said “We have to get one before we
leave”. We staked out the place and promptly began to loose our hard earned
money. But, lets get to the good stuff.

A welcome sign

It started while waiting in line for a late lunch around 2:00 p.m. Saturday.
Tom said “Hi Dave” and I turned around and Dave was standing in line behind us
waiting to get lunch. We re-introduced ourselves and he soon remembered us
(??) and asked us what brought us to Vegas. We say “You guys, of course”. He
was delighted (and even thanked us!) and told us about his late night with
Alan Parsons the night before. He hinted that AP may stop by tonight, but
don’t hold him to it. We offered to buy him lunch but he wanted a quick bite
and then go rest up in his room. I asked him about his solo album and he said
he had eight songs done and was trying to get the last ones completed as soon
as possible. But, lets get to the good stuff.

We wandered up to see if sound check was starting around 4:30. As we
approached the hall doors, Rich Rees walked by. I said “RICH!!”. He remembered
me and allowed us to sneak into the hall and check out the happenings. All our
guys were there banging, strumming, adjusting and jamming. They jammed on “I
Wanna Know”, “World Leave Me Alone” and to my surprise “Danse With Me George”
I was stunned to hear Chris pound out those opening notes, just like the old
record. From behind someone asked “Bruce?”. I met Desiree at that moment and
we instantly knew each other. They played a few other tunes and then we were
asked to leave. You see, Arizona Charlies has hired the old Hitler regime to
help out for the weekend. Many exchanges included “You Vill Leave, NOW!!!”
Then some $2.00 an hour guard would glare and point to the nearest exit. This
happened THE WHOLE NIGHT. We did not feel like a guest at Arizona Charlies,
but an inmate curled up in a fetal position asking for more gruel. We left
with our hands and arms intact and decided to come back at 6:00 p.m. just as
Rex coordinated in preparation for the trip. But, lets get to the good stuff.

At 6:00, we returned back upstairs to the hall lobby. Rex and Suzanne was
there and soon the gang started to file in. Desiree, Pam & Dave, Kirk and
friends, and then Joe P and Burleigh stopped by on their way to dinner to
chat. We all had questions and comments about everything. Then, the Guards
asked us to disperse because they didn’t like us standing there. Although the
doors were not going to open for another 2 hours, and we were the only ones up
there (about ten of us), except for two old guys on their way to the bathroom,
we were a threatening crowd. But, lets get to the good stuff.

Travellers-Dia, Dan, Kirk, Shirley, Tom, Desiree,
Cabs, Pam, & Dave

SHOW TIME. We all gathered up front in line and got our Very Cool name tags
from Rex (Great job Papa Frog). We were now special!! We were an elite group.
WE were the Travellers!! Doors opened at 8:00 and time flew by getting to know
our brand new friends and swapping stories. 9:00 the lights dimmed and the
guys took the stage. Since I don’t have the song list (others will provide
that in their review) let us just go through a series of random thoughts and
comments about the show.

I’ve been wanting to hear “I Wanna Know” and “Drink of Water” for a long time.
I was extremely happy that Joe made a point to say the Travellers requested
this repeatedly. I was also pleasantly surprised to hear “Danse WMG”   (right
Desiree?? It’s her favorite song!!) and “Mama Frog”. These were “new” to me
since it’s been so long since I’ve heard them (circa: 1982).

Mama Frog-Alan Parsons recites!

TAV and I were so close to the stage, it was incredible seeing the guys close
up as they performed. You could really see the energy they put in during a
performance. Now I know how Burleigh keeps his weight down. I’m sure he lost
ten pounds during the show. It was great to see Joe and David singing and
playing at a level that you normally don’t ever get to see.

The "Best in the Biz" Burleigh!

Tollack: Where did you come from? A few times he blew us away with his singing
and I gave him a hearty thumbs up. He said he saw me and enjoyed the
enthusiasm and it was contagious. All of the guys were getting into it because
the crowd was definitely into the music and the band. Ricky on percussion was
jammin back there with Burleigh and he was having a great time. He has come a
long way since the Conejo Valley concert where he was still getting up to
speed. You are there Ricky!!!

Tollack: We hardly knew Ye!

Seeing Joe jump around on stage and “visiting” each of the other guys during
the songs was nice to see. The interaction was infectious with the crowd also.
It’s nice to see some movement on stage instead of just pumping out music with
a bored look on their faces like other bands I’ve seen.

Jumpin' Joe Puerta-infectious!

Chris in his wild keyboard  antics picked up his stool and turned it over. To
his surprise, the top cushion fell off and rolled back toward his amp in the
middle of a song. We all cracked up because he just stood there looking around
with a smile while the stage tech (Go Nate!) rushed to attach the top to the
seat. He quickly got back to the spasm twinkling like the pro he’s always
been. Good recovery Chris.

Chris "The Animal" North & DP

After the gig, the Kojacks at A-hole Charlies would not allow much backstage
entry due to the limited space. We shouted through the half opened door where
we saw Burleigh “They won’t let your ride to the airport through the door”.
They reluctantly let us in. As obvious as the crowded room was, we kindly
obliged Rich Rees when he said we had to leave. Rich has been wonderful to me
in the past, and I was happy to do what he needed us to do with no questions
asked. But the AZ idiots thought they were in Vietnam and us PAYING customers
of the concert AND the Hotel were treated as though we were the North
Vietnamese invading Saigon.

We rushed Burleigh to the airport in record time. We got a map from the front
desk so that we didn’t screw up and end up in Winnemucca. It was during the
drive over that Burleigh mentioned the award winning album, their first, was
recognized by the industry and was the only one NOT on CD. We talked about the
show and he asked which was our favorite tune. I mentioned that if you take a
poll amongst the fans, Drink Of Water is probably the most likely to get a
first place vote. But, that is a hard question to answer because of so many
masterpieces.

Tom & Burleigh

We bid farewell to the best drummer in the business, and found our way back to
AZ’s. All but David and Burleigh were at the main bar drinking assorted
beverages. I talked to Chris about his stool incident and commented how they
made him work his ass off doing Danse WMG. He laughed and agreed and was a
pleasure to be around. Ricky took off a few minutes later to see a friend of
his play in another club. Joe, Tollack (Babe Magnet), Raz, Rich, Nate and
several Travellers hung around talking and having a GREAT time. The last time
I saw Joe and the gang, they were shooting Craps and all a little buzzed.

Cabs, Joe, & Tom relax

Sunday, we saw Travellers Dave and Pam before we loaded up the car to go home.
It was clear that everyone was overjoyed by the whole event. The drive home
was even great knowing that it always gets better whenever we see Ambrosia. We
figured it can’t get any better….. but it always does. We hope next time it’s
a BBQ at our house with all the Travellers and One Sauced Rosemary.

Thank you again Ambrosia and all the crew and management for a wonderful
experience again. You guys are the best and have brought joy and excitement to
the Vogel Boys

THANK YOU,
Cabs and Tom.

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