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Click Here For A Review of The Conejo Valley Days Concert!

Concert review of Ambrosia's concert at The Galaxy Theatre

in CA on July 18, 1998/Chris Criner

Chris Criner is a great Ambrosia Fan from California! He has seen Ambrosia many times! Chris had a wonderful night at the Galaxy Theatre Show!

It was a dark and stormy night...well..no it wasn't. I just wanted to
start out dramatically.My wife and I arrived at the Galaxy Theatre in
Santa Ana hoping to see a good show, and we were NOT disappointed.

The venue is  perfect for live shows...good sight lines, flying PA,
and multi tiered seating which afforded  everyone a good view .
The opening act, The Edge, came out and did a really good set, sounding
a little like a cross between Pearl Jam and the Allman Bros.They had a
good vibe going for the crowd that was there, and received a warm
reception.

Before the show started we watched Dave's guitar tech repeatedly pick
up & retune the various guitars .....a true perfectionist! I wondered if
Dave has ever heard of  locking nuts to prevent having to retune, but I
bet he has! Around 9:40, Ambrosia hit the stage, opening with "World
Leave Me Alone". The stage is pretty big , so they were able to stretch
out their setup a bit.

Next up was the reggae version of "Nice, Nice Very Nice", followed by
"You're the Only Woman". They are all in fine form, even the usually
quiet Chris North  giving  out a couple undecipherable yells.Next came
"Living on My Own", one of my favorites, with Tollack hitting the high
notes on the bridge effortlessly.Joe then announced that they had
received a telegram stating a desire to use one of their songs in a
scene from an upcoming movie.The song "Still Not Satisfied", was
next,with Joe singing it with gusto. I got a chance to really watch him
at work, and I must say, he is amazing ! His vocals were perfect, and
his bass playing stellar.

"Time Waits For No One", "Momma Don't Understand", and "How Much I Feel"
were all showcases to the talent of this band. The seamless vocals
really hit home with me. This is one of the very few bands who can
recreate their full "studio sound" on a concert stage.
Joe started "Angola" with his rap about how we take our lives for
granted, and we should compare the "problems"we face compared to some
3rd world countries. He got  the crowd singing some pretty fancy
scat-singing, to the point that we wondered about his possible caffeine
saturation point.Then came "Hopes And Dreams" ,and, my favorite, the
reworked "Life Beyond LA". Dave's acoustic guitar beginning ,along with
Joe's sliding  fretless bass notes really bring this song into a new
dimension. And when they crash into the orignal arangement half way
through , Dave's overdriven banshee of a guitar screaming....well...my
arm hairs stand at attention!

And then....."Drink of Water"! What a great surprise ! The crowd
reacted with a roar of applause for this rare gem. Following that, the
band closed thier set with "You're the Biggest Part of Me", and left the
stage. We were having none of that, however, and they returned a few
minutes later for a great rendition of "Holding on to Yesterday" , and
the finale, another BIG surprise...."Mamma Frog", in it's full prog-jazz
rendition.

It couldn't have been a better evening of   music..(well. I would have
liked to have heard SINT, but..hey ..I'll live) I had hoped they might
have mentioned something about the long rumoured Warner Bros CD
releases, but that wil have to wait for another day. All& all......a
magical evening with the best darn band in the land!

Concert review of Ambrosia's concert at The Galaxy Theatre

in CA on July 18, 1998/by David Horn

David Horn is a great Ambrosia Fan from San Diego! He has seen Ambrosia many times.His band "The Current" opened for Ambrosia when they played 'The Bachannal' in San Diego, 1990.Dave is currently playing with the
fabulous "YES"  tribute band "Roundabout".

It's always exciting to find out that Ambrosia is coming to town for a show.
I found out about 3 months ago when the San Diego Humphrey's by the Bay
Concert Schedule was announced, Ambrosia would be coming to entertain us
along with Christopher Cross and Steven Bishop.  The unfortunate thing for
me was my wife and I are celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary, Oct 3rd,
with a much needed and anticipated vacation to Maui the same week that
Ambrosia will be in San Diego, Sept, 30th.  I immediately began searching
for alternative Ambrosia dates and found out that they'll be at The Coach
House in San Juan Capistrano on Oct 3rd, Yikes!  I'll still be in Maui!
Then I found out about the Galaxy show on July 18 and decided we must make
the drive to Santa Ana to get our Ambrosia fix.  I called The Galaxy and
purchased dinner tickets so we'd be close to the stage. 

Kim and I got a late start with the Ambrosia concert scene.
The first time Kim saw and metthem was in 1989 and the first
time I saw and met them was when my band opened up for
them in late 1990.  Since then we've seen them a number of
times....I'm beginning to lose track.  My humble apologies for all the fans
who live outside of Southern California and don't get the opportunity to
witness an Ambrosia show as often as we do.  They are GREAT! in concert.

Saturday, July 18th, it's Ambrosia day!   I pull out the old, treasured vinyl
Ambrosia albums and play them to get us in the proper mood.   We leave San
Diego early in the day to ensure no traffic problems or unforeseen
occurrences to keep us from the show.  We showed up at the venue a couple of
hours early to pick up our will call tickets, the guy told me I was the 10th
person to buy tickets so I should be right in front.  Cool!

We went to the corner liquor store and picked up a couple of tall Bass Ales
and sat in the car and listened to "Anthology" while we commenced an
evening of Eating, Drinking, and Great Live Music.

7:00 p.m., time to go to our seats.  We walked in and immediately saw
Rich Rees peddling Ambrosia shirts, CD's, hats, etc.   We said "Hi" to him
and asked about the Tom Jones concert with Shem on Bass,  where we had
run into him.  Shem gave Rich a back stage laminate at the Del Mar Fair show      
and Rich was able to meet "The Man" Tom Jones himself.

Rich peddles Ambrosia merchandise.

Kim was jealous. We anticipated seats right in front of the stage
maybe betweenJoe and Dave but instead got a table stage
right between Joe and Tollack, which turned out
to be even better!  For future reference to anyone thinking about buying
dinner tickets for a show at either the Coach House or the Galaxy don't
expect great food and service....you won't get either.  The food was
mediocre and the service was worse.
But hey! I'm here for an Ambrosia Show!

Ambrosia came on around 9:15, just as my Bass Ale and Sam Adams buzz was
kicking in to high gear.  Chris, Dave, Burleigh, Joe, Tollack, and the new
kid in the band on percussion, who's name for the life of me I can't
remember, took the stage and immediately kicked into "World Leave Me Alone".
Great song to get the house rockin'!  They segued into the popular reggae
version of "Nice, Nice, Very Nice".  Then the mood slowed down with "You're
The Only Woman".  "Livin' On My Own" was next with Tollack doing a perfect,
soulful backup vocal on the Royce parts. 

I think everyone has already heardabout the Fax the band
received regarding putting their song, "Still Not Satisfied"
into the soundtrack of the upcoming movie, "54", about the
infamous 54 club in NY.  Joe Puerta rips on this song!  After the song he
commented on how difficult it was to play the bass part and sing the song at
the same time and challenged anyone to try it. 

"Time Waits For No One" was next with perfect
harmonies from all members.  "Mama Don't Understand"
followed, this song has a ton of vocal harmonies on the CD which is very
hard to replicate live.  Especially without Colleen or a female backup
vocal.  They gave it there best try though.  "How Much I Feel" and "Angola"
were next.  Then one of my favorites, "Hopes and Dreams", written and sang
by Joe.  Such a beautiful song....too bad it's not available on disc.  I've
asked Joe a few times when we might hear his new songs, "Hopes and Dreams"
included, on CD.  He hasn't given me a straight answer yet.  Hopefully he
has a plan in mind.  Dave's acoustic version of "Life Beyond L.A." was next.
Excellent version of this song!  I always enjoy hearing this one live.  Joe
and Dave then performed "Drink of Water", just because they knew there were
die-hard Ambrosia fans in the audience.  "Biggest Part of Me" wound up the
set.

It didn't take much screaming, clapping, and whistling from the audience to
get an encore.  They came back out and sang "Holdin' On" and ended on a bang
with "Mama Frog".  Joe recited the Jabberwocky part, quite well I might add.

After the show I went back stage and spoke with Joe.  He thanked me for
coming to the show.  He's always very grateful to all the fans for the
continued support we show to Ambrosia.  He mentioned the internet and how
great he thought it was for all the Ambrosia fans to have a way to
communicate to each other and support the band.  He does check out the
Ambrosia Digest and mentioned that during a lightening storm had crashed his
hard drive back home in Wisconsin.  He hopes to be back online soon.  He
also mentioned that he'd heard my band's debut gig on July 4th got great
reviews. 

I told him about Cliff Woolley and David Cutler-Lewis showing up
and jamming with us on stage.  He suggested we possibly do a show together.
Sounds like a great idea to me!  A Yes Tribute band opening for Ambrosia!  A
night of great progressive music!  Don't think I won't be looking into
setting a show up with Ambrosia next time they play San Diego!  I
congratulated David Pack and Burleigh on a great show.  Chris was nowhere to
be found while I was backstage.

Once again, Kim and I left an Ambrosia Concert feeling quite satisfied.

Joe's Set List!

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