Accompanied by my 65 yr old mother, who is a huge John fan,
we set out for Portland four hours prior to show time. It was a
good thing, too, as there was a wreck (of course), and traffic
ground to a halt at Terwilliger (notoriously bad curves).
Accompanied by my 65 yr old mother, who is a huge John fan,
we set out for Portland four hours prior to show time. It was a
good thing, too, as there was a wreck (of course), and traffic
ground to a halt at Terwilliger (notoriously bad curves).
I used to live in Oregon's largest city, so ever-resourceful, immediately jumped off the freeway. We made our way on into town on surface streets.
Having been too busy lately to be properly anticipatory of this date, I was dismayed when a thunder-boomer descended on us as we scouted the area of the new Rose Quarter. The Honda splashed gamely through hub-cap deep torrents, and we decided to get dinner at the Lyons restaurant on M.L.K. Blvd.
It was a pleasure to discover that part of the meal-deal is that you can use their parking lot during events at the Rose Garden! I started to perk up.
The rain suddenly stopped about two hours before the show, and glimmers of sunshine peeked out! It was a short walk to the venue. Architecturally an interesting building, the venue was primarily built to house Portland's basketball team, The Trailblazers. We arrived just as the doors opened.
The seating chart available when we bought our tickets had us on John's side, but when we got down to the floor level there had been a switcheroo. We found our seats on Ray's side. Still, I noted that there was lots of dancing room in the aisle, and during the show I made good use of it!
A larger audience than any I have been part of, it took longer for everyone to get in. Scheduled to start at 8:00, about 8:20 the overture began. Graeme came out in darkness, and I didn't see he was standing at the microphone. At the cue when he started to recite "Breathe deep the gathering gloom..." he was still in the dark!
Show Time
"The Voice" was being sung, and I had suddenly turned into a lunatic! Or so my poor mother thought, as I bounced up and down, hollered "go Ray!", and "thank you, Justin!" and generally caused alarm. This was different from the casino shows, where everyone acts like that: Caesar's Palace is an intimate gathering of hard-core fans. This was a huge auditorium filled with casual fans. How would my guys be received?
Larry Baird's familiar red head was up there leading the orchestra. A bit spotty, but maestro held their performance together by sheer force of will. Only the third night of the tour, featuring a new set list, the progression of building a musical mood felt a little uneven. Likely the band wasn't used to it yet.
John wore a black silk shirt that was sex-y. He may have slimmed down a bit since last I saw him at Tahoe: looking positively edible! The cuffs of his shirt must interfere with playing, because during "Work away today..." he unbuttoned and rolled them up. :)
Beneath the black suit-type jacket Justin wore a placket- front white shirt. I noticed the roadie physically handling his guitar changes. Whatever the injury, Justin played well. He seemed quite "relaxed".
Ray wore the usual white shirt and black slacks. The tempo change he threw at Bias in the call-and-response came quickly. I could see Bias scramble to come in on time, and all of us in the nearby area had a good chuckle. During the lengthy applause after "Legend" we were hooting and pointing at Bias as much as Ray, and he grinned at the keyboards shyly, pleased.
Graeme dances all the backup vocalists' steps pretty well, although he stayed at the drum kit for it. He was very handsome in the black vest with shiny gold pattern on the back. Gordon jumped up and down at his station almost as much as I did at mine.
At intermission I walked up to visit with Dr. Wendy and Margie. They were sitting absolutely center, row 1. Met a couple of Mary's from Salem... I didn't know there were any other fans here! Then I climbed out to the vending area. Souvenir t-shirts and programs were selling like hot cakes. The program is a great product! Heavy-duty satiny paper, fantastic art work, wonderful head studies of each band member. Definitely a value.
The Finale
The orchestra had warmed up and were getting into it. They added alot to "Nights". J J & R stood at attention, the house held its breath. Justin looked magnificent standing shoulders back, bathed in the golden spots. When the song finished I was overtaken by roars of applause coming down from the back rafters. For once speechless, I stood clapping, proud and happy for the guys.
The second half gets into high-energy rock 'n roll. There was no keeping us in our seats anymore. From time to time I looked around, noticing that the place had to be filled to capacity. Portland has seemed an indifferent quarter to Moody Blues' music, but this response belied that.
At the chorus of "Question", Justin seemed to listen a moment; were we singing to him? Indeed. Ray tossed his tambourine to someone in the first row, and they left the stage. The stadium erupted in whistles and stomping feet. So they came back out and did "See Saw". The crowd was really pumped, and the band were pleased.
There wasn't as much of a rush to the stage, as a slow drawing of people towards it. I was calling, smiling, waving to Justin, and among a drift of others, left my station. Without seeming to look right at me, I knew he could see me, and he walked slowly towards us, walking slowly towards him. I just felt like I had so much to say to him...
Finally he glanced back, and John and Graeme were trying to leave the stage. Quickly he went to join them. My eyes filled with tears as they disappeared. Nobody made a move to the exits. Stomping feet, applause, and whistles continued for several more minutes.
We heard later that as the arena emptied; people going to their
cars; John and Justin came out to the stage door to greet fans. This
is something they never do! Reportedly John gives great hugs.
But, sigh, I was hitting the freeway home.
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