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Review of the Ambrosia's concert at Arizona Charlie's in Las Vegas on July 25, 1998

Well, thanks to bad preparation for our cross-country move to Indianapolis
in September, I've managed to either pack or throw away my notes on the
show at Arizona Charlie's. That, plus the fact that I didn't get any photos
(We opted to lug our Hi-8 camcorder instead & our travails with filming the
band at any point in the festivities are well-documented), makes for a poor
contribution from Papa on the Las Vegas outing. Lucky for us that other
Travellers attended and were able to file reports complete with pix & set
lists. I'll try to do my best to recount some impressions from the night
anyway.

Got to venue about 6ish and met the other Travellers in front of the box
office (Des Gear & hubby Mike; the Vogel brothers, Tom & Bruce, Kirk Unruh
& wife Shirley + friend Dan; Pam Doyle & friend Dave, Gloria Zombro & hubby
Vince*). Both Burleigh & Joe, ubermensches that they are, came out and
entertained us at great length. Burleigh invited us to sup with the band.
Well Suzanne & I did that, but Burleigh, Ricky & Tollack were the only
bandmates there. We did get to meet Nate, super-roadie and Raz, their sound
tech who along with Rich, who was also there, clearly looked uncomfortable
with their "family" being intruded upon, but they were congenial about it.
I passed out nametags I designed from elements of "Somewhere I've Never
Travelled" for all the Travellers to be able to tell who each other was. I
even made one for Joe, Burleigh & Rich (who I think thought it was silly,
because I didn't see him wear his.) Joe wore his on his pants leg &
Burleigh slapped his on his shirt, so we had...ahem...stage presence.
People all over were eyeing us like we were a cross between lunatics and
VIPs. But hardly anyone asked me what they meant.

       The infamous Traveller's name tag!

Headed into the showroom after that, which was rapidly filling up with
hundreds of fans (although I wonder how many of them really knew who they
were about to hear  ‹  I suspect some were just at the hotel & decided to
catch the major show in the building that night, the couple we sat next to
clearly hadn't a clue as to who Ambrosia was, when I asked them if they had
heard any of the radio hits, the girl vaguely recalled "How Much I Feel"
and that was about it). I said to the other fellow Travellers there that
this crowd was gonna get their socks blown off.

The show started with a beefy rendition of "World Leave Me Alone", which
I've never heard live before (one of many firsts to be heard this eve).
Dave "announced" the front end of the song with a grungy wah-wah lead-in.
This gritty song with an attitude benefitted greatly from the effect. And
Dave looked the Vegan jet-setting part with his black togs and Ray-Bans.
You could tell he was more into this show than most. I think he thrives on
the energy of the surroundings. As I recall "Nice Nice, Very Nice" was next
with the current reggaefied staccato arrangement. Tollack added a nice
touch with simulated steel drums during the number.

"You're the Only Woman (You & I)" was next, nothing memorable about it
except a few cheesy introductory remarks by Dave about summer love and not
getting along with your significant other. Then came "Mama Don't
Understand" which was dedicated to Joe's niece, Alison. Plus at the end of
the song someone onstage said this cryptic statement: "Thank God for Joe's
dysfunctional niece"!

Next up was "Livin' on my Own" featuring a tremendous keyboard dual between
Chris & Tollack sandwiched between the tightest harmonies of the night
involving Dave, Joe, Tollack & Ricky. Ambrosia does not rest on its laurels
musically speaking. They always seem to push the envelope and we are all
better off for the effort.

Just as on the album, but somehow even stronger (angrier?), "I Wanna Know"
featured Joe's exceptional melodic bass groove over Burleigh's most assured
rhythm of the night juxtaposed with Dave's clean crybaby guitar licks.
Joe's voice was dramatically punctuated and plaintive in its torment. He
made you think that the wounds were still fresh that caused him to pen this
catharsis of a song.. Nice flange job on that axe, Dave!

As I see by the set list that was already submitted on Pat & Billie's site,
"Hopes & Dreams" was next. Just let me say that I've never really taken a
shine to this song....until now. It benefits from Dave's strong vocal
harmony. And where, oh, where has Tollack been hiding his voice all this
time??? Man he certainly knocked me on my can. Great bluesy vocals which I
understand was used to spell Dave because Dave's pipes needed a breather
from overexertion. Or something like that. The performance of "Hopes" sold
me on the song. It is now a favorite. I literally had goosebumps and
shivers it moved me so.

"How Much I Feel" was next, and Dave impressed me with his deft handling of
the wide dynamic range of the tune. As many of you know, this is my least
favorite Ambrosia song of all, so for me to walk out humming it is a
testament to the execution tonight.

The highlight of the band's playfulness this eve was when they did their
oddly Latin-tinged interpretation of "Angola". Though I like Ricky's Tito
Puentesque turn on the tune, somehow a more African percussion flavor would
have been more fitting. Else call the song "Aruba". But it's a small
quibble, really! Joe & company were all cavorting with glee to this fun
third-world (isn't that an oxymoron?) opus. It was very sadly ironic
listening to this semi-serious paean to a developing country & its poverty
sitting smack dab in the midst of a city that flaunts shameless excess. I
got the shivers again, but different from the ones from earlier.

I kept hoping that Ambrosia stuck to not incorporating the tire audience
participation bit that they eschewed the last show I saw them do. But it
was back, with a vengeance...yet I surprised myself by totally enjoying it
this go around. They clearly were not going through the paces and had a gas
pulling it off this time. For starters there was some sort of understood
invitation for folks to squeeze near the stage a dance the Angola Shuffle,
which is any pairing of dance steps that can be synched up to the band's
beat. A tot by the name of Evan was planted on the stage to bust a move.
But he was too shy. Dave branched off into Barney's infamous "I love you,
you love me, we're a happy family" no doubt to comfort the stagestruck
child. Next other members of the audience were encouraged to sing along
with the band. At this point a young, attractive Nubian gal with a great
voice chimed in by echoing Joe's yodel-scat. First, that is! Then she
suddenly stopped following his lead, opting to do her own thing. It was
quite embarrassing to watch, really. He'd try to engage her back into the
synergism of the singing give & take, by trying different tunes on her.
There were snippets of "Big Girls Don't Cry", "The Lion Sleeps Tonight
(Wimoweh)" and "Banana Boat (Day-O)". She would have none of it. It was if
she had cartwheeled into her own personal "Showtime at the Apollo"
audition. Finally the band broke out on Joe's lead into a full-blown cover
of the fab four's "Please, Please Me". That did it. Obviously unable to
relate to or carry on under the influence of Liverpool pop, she retreated
from whence she came. But we were all the richer for having yet another
Ambrosia/Beatle treat.

The other cool thing that happened in this song was
that Pam Doyle's long-time friend, Dave got to actually sing lead on
"Please, Please Me". He had leaned close to the stage as the whole
Joe/female mic hog thing drew to a close and somehow got his mitts on the
mic and proceeded to belt out the tune in fine form. This consummated a
dream come true for Dave. You see, back in the early days of Ambrosia, he &
Pam had attended a show at which Dave Pack got deathly ill because he ate a
peanut (ate a peanut, ate a peanut right now...la-de-da-da  ‹  oops, sorry,
couldn't resist!) and it turns out he is quite allergic to peanuts. In a
quandary, Joe had asked something like if anyone in the audience knew the
tunes or could play guitar or something like that. Pam volunteered her good
buddy, Dave who admitted that he actually knew some Ambrosia repertoire on
the guitar, but he chickened out. So his chance to play with the band was
lost to the winds until tonight. Talk about an action-packed moment.
"Angola" will never seem the same to me again.

A very nice "Lover Arrive" followed (I do believe I heard an orchestra hit
in the middle 8). Then there was "Danse With Me George (Chopin's Plea)"
wherein Chris magnificently replicated all of those lovely classical piano
parts. A rusty Pack added some of the familiar keyboard counterpoint. So,
the man is human, after all. Chris did a hilariously cheesy Farfisa organ
solo as the song steamrolled towards the "Le Danse" finale. Chris nailed a
perfect keyboard interpretation of Ian Underwood's schmaltzy Guy
Lombardesque sax solo.

Now for the moment we've all been waiting for...."Drink of Water", live!! I
wish I could describe the song note for note, but I was so overcome by
emotion (tears, goosebumps & flatulence) that I was barely able to write
any notes. But, I do recall that for all the fabled difficulty that Joe had
in recording the song's vocal range, he seemed to handle the uvular
gymnastics with smooth & effortless execution. My wife, who had as of yet
heard the song just looked at me all agog as to how hauntingly beautiful
the song was. Ricky added some nifty percussive touches during the storm
sequence. This was a big deal, it was mentioned onstage that the Travellers
list had been instrumental in bringing a revival of "Drink" to the current
set-lists. I feel, in a silly way, sorta proud & touched that we mean that
much. Thanks for the boost Joe & gang.

The foreshow ended in "Biggest Part of Me", which I thought was the poorest
song soundwise all night. It could have been performed to perfection, but
the voices (primarily the background vocals) were very muddy to the point
that one felt like they were drugged and plodding slowly & lowly through
the harmonies. Tollack saved the day by emitting his most powerful &
soulful vocal yet. Watch out Dave, he may steal your show, bro. It was here
that Joe informed us that Tollack was the genius behind the harmonica parts
in the theme to TV's "Northern Exposure".

The encore was a twofer of Ambrosia's tastiest hit "Holdin' On To
Yesterday" and grooviest album cut "Mama Frog". "Yesterday" was even
bloozier and sexier than ever and elicited a whole bunch of
pleasantly-surprised "that was their song?"'s from the cheap seats. The
song is truly a timeless classic. The same cannot be said for the other 3
bigger blue-eyed soul hits. They will forever sound lost in the
seventies/eighties. But the irony is the song about holding on to the past
defies epochal categorization. If it were released today to kids who
haven't heard it before, it would be a friggin' smash hit. Remember when
record companies used to reissue songs & often they charted higher than the
first release? Sigh, those days must be gone forever.

"Frog" yielded the biggest surprise of the evening. The iconoclastic Alan
Parsons came onstage, "fresh" from his own concert at another Vegas venue
that night. He carried a podium with him. He then recited Lewis Carroll's
"Jabberwocky" verbatim while the band merrily played the neo-jazzy Mama
mojo in the background. It was fun to see producer/engineer & band
together, but, while properly British, Alan's thin voice was no match for
the rich, deep, resonant narration given on vinyl by Gordon Parry. Perhaps
if he'd had a fifth of Glenfiddich, the result might have been more
effective. I'd just once would like to hear Chris North narrate it in his
Wild Man of Borneo voice. I would have preferred "Tales of Mystery &
Imagination"'s Orson Welles, but an exhumed cadaver, no matter how
Poe-like, would have been a turn-off, even in offbeat Vegas. One sidenote:
the band did an interesting quieter second verse (almost whispering the
words) which allowed for an effective & dramatic juxtaposition with the
cacophony on the balance of the song.

Show over. Stage set: Sunday...I'm down. And my last. Show in town. I'll
be.... (sound of a folding chair being slapped shut resembling the sound of
a gunshot). Yeah I'm sad...it was more than likely the last Ambrosia
concert I'll see in a long, long while. I'm a gonna join the ranks of the
Ambrosia-deprived out in the midsection of America. Ah, well, it was a
great run in California while it lasted. I bet the band will be glad to get
ol' Papa out of their hair. Right Rich?

Afterwards all the Travellers congressed in front of the backstage door.
Burleigh Drummond, God bless 'im, valiantly is trying to get us back to
mingle. But the Az Chaz gestapo would have none of that. (It'd be nice if
Ambrosia is to make Vegas an annual gig to upgrade their hosts stat.) So
Joe invited us all to meet up downstairs in the bar for a drink. Most of us
headed down there. It was like family, but I'm trying to keep it all in
perspective. We are NOT a cult. Just grateful to have been a part of one of
the neatest Ambrosia experiences to be had.

I did find out that handing over my fortune to the slots was the most
foolish enterprise ever dreamt up by man. And I play Baccarat like
Bond...Ward Bond!

Papahead'emupmove'emouoopswrongshow

*as it turned out we met more Travellers after the show (Jim Preston & the
Goodwin sisters from England, Joan & Sue)

Rex Stocklin

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