Review of Ambrosia at Café Milano May 28, 1999 in Nashville, Tennessee
by Darryl Jones

The last time and the first time I saw Ambrosia was last November 6 at the Coastal Carolina Fair in Charleston, South Carolina. (See my review on this site). It was quite a long haul in the car to Charleston but the show was well worth the trip, so naturally I was thrilled that Ambrosia would be playing in Nashville which is only a four hour drive from Birmingham, where I live. Todd Troulias, who is a musician and a fan of all kinds of music, joined me for the trip. He has recently been exploring country music and was exited to be going to Nashville, the "Music City". Todd was not exactly an Ambrosia die- hard like many of us but he was familiar with the music and even owns a copy of Road Island. (Which I have borrowed from him long-term.) I filled Todd in on what to expect out of Ambrosia live as we made the trip.

We secured accommodations near the downtown music district, at some pretty stiff prices, I might add.

But the price of convenience allowed a walk to the show at Gibson’s Café Milano, which is just a couple of blocks off of Broadway. Arriving at the venue we were seated right away and enjoyed a delicious meal before the show. Café Milano is a first rate place all around. The service was world class and the food and drinks were some of the best I’ve had.

The room was filled to capacity for the first show. The room at Café Milano is very intimate with the stage setup such that most of the seating is right up-close. There really is not a bad seat in the house. Finally the anxious crowd cheered the band on as the introduction was made and the guys emerged from backstage.

The band rocked right away, opening up with "Kid No More". Joe Puerta kicks this tune with a solid bass punch and vocals with attitude and the rest of the guys follow his lead. The band then without hesitation jumped into the modern arrangement of "Nice, Nice Very Nice" including the reggae-styled verse and full-blown instrumental section. It was a glorious performance and the audience was ready for more.

Joe Puerta kicks it!!

It became noticeable to me from the first tune that the vocals were not as crisp and clear as I would have expected. Café Milano has masonry walls behind the stage and on each side of the room, which while adding to the beauty of the room may give problems to the sound crew. It sounded as if the vocals and instruments were competing for acoustical headroom during the show. However, the instrumentals were very clear for the entire show and David Pack’s guitar work was especially good tonight. David’s guitar playing is always upstaged by his voice but is obvious that he knows the instrument and how to make it work with all kinds of styles, especially the big lead solos which are always put-together well.

Dave overcomes the acoustics!

Dave’s acoustic guitar opens up "How Much I Feel" and the crowd mellows to the sound. The band also plays "You’re the Only Woman" and Chris North gets his chance to shine. The organ solos on this tune add the tension and release that make it a wonderful live tune. I was pointing out the organ work to my friend, Todd, who is a big fan of the Hammond B3 sound. Burleigh pulls the strings on "Time Waits for No One" which seemed to work better in this smaller room than in a larger venue.

Chris North shines, as usual!

The regular members of Ambrosia were joined tonight by Olsten Tollack and Rick Cosentino playing additional keyboards and percussion respectively. The harp playing of Tollack was well received by the crowd but perhaps the highlight of the night was "Living in Angola" which included some catchy audience sing-along led by Joe. Spirited drumming by Burleigh and a "pull out the stops" percussion solo by Rick really fired up the crowd.

Burleigh kicks arse & overcomes any mix problem!

Ambrosia unveiled a new song called "Freak Show". I could not hear the lyrics to most of the tune and I hope to hear it again with a better mix. Or perhaps it will show up on a future Ambrosia release. Also included in the set was "Mama Don’t Understand " which I feel is one of the best of the newer Ambrosia tunes.

Another highlight of the show was "Holding on to Yesterday " to finish the set. Again, the song lacked something, due to the vocal mix problems, but the instruments were especially good with Chris and Burleigh driving the tune. Ambrosia was in good form from my perspective, despite the sound problems. Coming off of a successful show with the Doobie Brothers in Cerritos and having friends and family in the audience, the band truly seemed to be enjoying the night and looking forward to the future.

The standing room only crowd cheered the band back on for one more tune and an extended arrangement of "Biggest Part of Me" was the encore. With another show to do and another crowd gathering outside for the second show, the fun came to an end. But before the Café Milano staff ran us out to make room for the next show we were able to get backstage and greet all of the guys.

Todd Troulais , Burleigh, The Infamous Mike Granger & Darryl Jones

Footnote:

While checking out the local shops the next morning I found a neat place called Lawrence Record Shop.