Anticipating large volumes of traffic for my 200+ mile journey, I left early to be certain I would be in Atlantic City for the 8 pm show. Luckily, the traffic wasn’t as bad as I anticipated, and I arrived at 5:00. After parking, the first item on the agenda was to find Club Eleven-33 in Resorts Hotel & Casino. (OK, it was the second item, but the men’s room was on the way to the club, so that doesn’t really count).

As I approached the lobby near the boardwalk entrance, I could hear Joe’s bass pounding out Kamikaze during the sound check. This was simple-follow this familiar music and I’ve found the band! There were large embrasures that allowed me to watch without entering the club. As they ended the song, I called out "Pass the Sake cup!" Joe turned around, shaded his eyes from the spotlights and says, "There ya go, Frank! Yeah!"

Back at 7:50, the club was already starting to fill, and at 8:00 sharp, our heroes came out on the stage. I’m sorry I can’t tell you the set list, but they played all classics for about an hour and 10 minutes. It was my intention to shoot the first show from all different angles and just watch the second show. It didn’t turn out that way, as for the second show, I was sitting right up at the stage.

Again, not knowing how a Pack-less show would go, I didn’t think this conglomeration of musicians was going to ‘be the same.’ Well, it wasn’t. It far surpassed my expectations. Tollak’s voice hitting the high notes with ease, Ricky singing Biggest Part of Me and Joe using his powerful voice proved that they could pull this show off without a hitch. Yes, it wasn’t the same without Dave, but with a band a tight as this, the performance was excellent. I can say I was truly shocked at how well it went. So much so, that this may just be the best performance I’ve seen by them. Chris, fulfilling all expectations with his wild antics, performed the best I’ve ever seen. Burleigh, beating out his ever so perfect rhythm on the drums, introducing the band, and opening Somewhere I Never Travelled with And… was great. Two encores after the first show and they were off to prepare for the second show.

For the second show, Bill & Colleen, sitting at the front & center table, were nice enough to let me ‘steal’ one of their seats. I actually just sat, watched, listened, and enjoyed much of the show, but I have to admit I gave in to the temptation to photograph parts of it. I know I was actually relaxed when Bill jumped up and started dancing to many of the songs and I joined right in. The band played off that, taking their songs to one more depth of enjoyment for themselves.

I was mesmerized by Mike’s playing. As I said, I’ve never seen him perform before. The man is fantastic. Listening closely, I noticed that he hits every note you expect to hear from the Ambrosia original recording, then adds a few notes of his own. I think most guitarists, adding something of their own, would make the song sound ‘busy’ or ‘junked up’, but his talent added a depth to each song. It was fantastic and I hope to see him perform again.

The second set included many of the classics and also contained two newer releases, Mama Don’t Understand as the opener and Hopes and Dreams (my favorite). Half way through the second show, the band had to fiddle for time while Chris made an emergency repair on his organ for about two minutes. They started playing Gloria and thereby christened Chris’s organ "Gloria Hammond." Yes, Chris exposed his organ since he had to take the front cover off, but no one (to my knowledge) was offended. The cheering by the audience brought Ambrosia out for not only the planned two encores, but a third. It showed that they really enjoyed the show, the fans and the interaction with the fans. Truly a night to remember for all.

After the second show, the band came down to the floor and mingled with the fans. Many fans were toting vinyl albums to be autographed, and the whole band made themselves available for photographs and conversation. Chris pulled out a new pair of sun glasses for the photographs, as his old "Baby Blues" met an ugly demise under someone’s foot in San Antonio. I asked Chris if I’d ever hear them do Danse With Me George on the east coast. He said "it’s a west coast-only thing" and that I should notify him if I ever come to the west coast so they can prepare to do it. So, if anyone is interested in Travelling to the west coast to hear Danse, let me know and we can make it a group trip, ‘eh?

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