I knew this evening was going to be great, when a certain Ambrosia insider told me he had arranged for a backstage visit after the show.

I arrived late, thanks to my neighbor not being ready on time, and heard the opening act, Shem! He was absolutely great. He sings as well as he plays. He did mostly his own tunes, but when he did a Sting number, he made it completely his own. To me, that is always a sign of class.

We had good seats, just off to the left of the stage. I noticed right away the sound was crystal clear. While Shem played, I asked the waitress about the marked improvement in sound. She happily informed me that the club had a new owner, and all the employees were celebrating. With two of the new speakers pointed right at the table, the sound was great; not too loud, and every instrument audible. The sound stayed this good throughout Ambrosia.

The club was only two-thirds full, for some impossible-to-fathom reason. But there were benefits to this goof by the public; Club Caprice tends to get noisy with talkers in the rear section. The crowd was very respectful last night. And the band earned the respect. But I also noticed the club had new lighting, (that the band used to full advantage). Colored moving lights, spotlights, all precisely timed, AND, good food and wine were served.

"Kid No More," then "Nice, Nice" both sounded good, but I began to worry this was just a repeat of the Cerritos show. Just played better, with more enthusiasm.

"Time Waits for No One" performed with the necessary precision. "You’re the Only Woman" with an introduction to a couple that got engaged with the spotlight on them, right before Ambrosia came out. Must be tough to say "No" under those circumstances. But the band was playing with great verve, and the audience was rapt with each time change. The band seemed to be having so much fun playing. I remembered there were some hard feelings between certain Ambrosia-persons and Club Caprice; I began to surmise that maybe the new ownership of the club, in conjunction with the liberated and relieved attitude of the employees (akin to "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead"), had lifted the band’s collective spirit as well.

"Holdin’ on To Yesterday," just great with a very powerful ending. At this point, I was anticipating the live album. And I did notice a video being made of most of the evenings’ performance, by someone with a very conspicuous backstage pass. So, Pat B. has his work cut out for him.

A truly moving version of "I Want to Know," with Chris and Tollak adding those great runs during the "I want to see though all the barriers.." portion.

"How Much I Feel," just great as usual. I noticed that there was no longer any wood-block played by Shem during the song (see my review of the Cerritos show). Vast improvement. I wonder if my review had any effect on the band? There’s a heady thought.

My last writing lamented the lack of unusual material at the Cerritos show. NO such problem tonight. "Freak Show," followed by "Hopes and Dreams." And I was happy to see Dave really getting into the playing of Joe’s new songs, as did the rest of the band. No selfishness there. Then, Joe’s best moment, a new song, that was solo Joe. Dedicated to his cousin’s recently deceased son, named JD. It was beautiful. During the intro, a drunken patron yelled for "Harvey" and Joe gracefully deflected the interruption, Thank goodness the bouncers did not throw the requester out of the club. I could not have reviewed the rest of the show! We were then treated to "Magical Mystery Tour."

"Life Beyond LA," and "Angola" both sounding as good as I have heard them. "And/Somewhere I Never Traveled," with Burleigh singing a cappella some difficult key changes. Just great, with a very appreciative audience. It was obvious "the boys" were getting along and enjoyed playing together.

For the two encores(!) we got "No Big Deal," "Biggest Part of Me’, and "Mama Frog." The audience loved them. Ambrosia played as well, and looked as happy, as I have ever seen them. Later, backstage(!),  Burleigh  told me they had just played eight dates back east, and so were really tight; he was right. .