Red Road Trip in the Midwest
Berwyn, IL - Milwaukee, WI - Racine, WI
October 4th - 6th, 2007
By Cele Secor
These were my first back to back concerts, which gave me a different perspective for how much the crowd/audience and the venue has a part in the performance.
THURSDAY Oct. 4th:
The Red Elvises were in Berwyn, Illinois at an informal club called Fitzgerald’s. I arrived before the band with my friends Dave and Cindy. Cindy is a fun loving, retired music teacher and her husband Dave is a jazz trumpeter who plays at Fitzgerald’s occasionally. We sat outside watching the BIG movie size screen TV and had a beer. Soon the band arrived and I greeted them, they unpacked and got ready to set up. I got going with my "job" of setting up the merchandise. It was great having ALL the sizes of shirts and the new Star T-shirts! I hear there are buttons coming? And I did have many calls for hats and a few for condoms. It was a good spot for the merch. It was in the back but with a clear view of the stage. It was a rockin’ time! I loved having Roman Dudok there! The sax and the clarinet added a lot of dimension. The woodwinds really brought out the ethnic sounds in the tunes! Dave and Cindy both were impressed with his quality and also said "Adam was one heck of a drummer!" The crowd was receptive but not large in size...the Cubs were playing one of the ill-fated games and it was right outside on that big screen! Igor later told me that when any of the Chicago teams are playing and the Red Elvises are in town at Fitzgerald’s that the Chicago team loses!
They played a great couple of sets and I was really ready to hear them as my last concert was in early July! I especially was glad to hear "Lara's Wedding" again and of course "Winter Reggae" (my favorite).
FRIDAY Oct. 5th:
My brother Chris (some of you may know him...Chris from Orlando...yes, the father of last month's "Fans [twins!] of the Month") and my sister Melissa from "Sunny Minnesota" arrived on my door step for a "Rockin' Red Elvis weekend!" (Check out May's archives from Rusty’s and see most of the family.) My husband David, Chris, Melissa, and I trucked up to Milwaukee to the casino Friday night. We arrived safely thanks to my phone GPS. The casino is not the easiest place to find. It is down on the waterfront...and it wasn't exactly a choice piece of property. It probably was when the Native Americans owned it the first time! It took a lot longer to park than we expected...so when we got to the theater of the casino we were just in time for the show! Oleg was just coming out of the Green Room and didn't know Chris was planning to be there. He let out a holler to the rest of the band, "Look who's here!" They were all surprised! The concert was very energizing! It was gobs of fun to hang with my brother at Red Elvises' show...after all he's the one who got me into this! The venue was fine...not a lot of room for dancing as it was a theater. The one disappointment of the evening was there was only one set! The show only lasted 90 minutes! They did do "Winter Reggae" so I was a happy camper!
SATURDAY Oct. 6th:
We all went to Racine! Several of my friends, whom I think came just to get me off their backs, were also there. The Pub was much smaller than the other two venues of the weekend. The opening "act" was less than inspiring, which is as nice as I can be! The pub was really ready to hear the Elvises! The merch was laid out on a pool table and hung over beer posters on the wall. I had asked Igor before the concert if he could do "Flaming Cheese" and he gave me a funny look and said he thought they had forgotten it???? I said “Isn't it a little like riding a bicycle?” But he said no. The first set was all songs they had not done the night before; it was enjoyable to hear so many of our favorites! The third song of the second set they broke into "Flaming Cheese!" I loved it and a lot of us danced...sort of! My legs still don't do what my brain tells them any more than they did when I was in ballet at ten years old! We had a great time. The place wasn't as full as it could have been which maybe cut back on the band's energy. Elena didn't seem to be her sparkly self.....and they didn't play "Winter Reggae!"
It took several nights and naps to recover to my normal, “boring" self! For at least three nights I would be half awake and half asleep hearing THEM in my head! The tunes were not even my favorites, but "Juliet." The next night I heard my husband in the shower (he gets up at 3:00 to go to work) and I could swear he had on the "Sad Cowboy Song" full blast! No, it was just in my head! Another time that same night I dreamt the Red Elvises were on my deck, outside my bedroom window and there was a conga line around my backyard. Chris says I have the RED Virus really bad! I tend to agree...and they are not going to be here until MAY!
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