THE CONCERT HALL

Riverfront Green Park
Peekskill NY
July 12, 2000

    We came armed this time.
     Actually, our preparedness was probably what resulted in our lurching across the lawn at the park just as Scott started up "I Am Your Man." I was weighed down with the cooler o' snacks,  Rissa was managing the cumbersome blanket, and Dawn and Trish ("they walk alike, they talk alike") were bringing up the rear--just because they're slow in general. In any case...
     By the time we squeezed our way into a spot on the heavily-populated grassy tundra that is Riverfront Green Park, all the guys had already bounded onstage and the first set was underway.  Kevin happily pointed out between tunes that  we, the audience, were lucky enough to have the blinding late afternoon sun right in our faces while they, the performers, had a smashing view of the already-risen moon. That Kev, always making the best of things... Such as was the case with the solar interference, photography was a delicate matter at best, despite the fact that I was armed with my brand-new, freshly-charged digital camera (and as anyone who has one knows...you can't take a bad picture with those things). I was attempting to hold the camera steady while shielding my eyes from the almost nuclear sunlight. Fun. The results aren't too bad, though. But then again, I would be biased.
     If you blinked (in the sun) you would have missed the first set--it was only four songs. Elliott did his thing with "Kingdom of Shy," which has the enjoyable tendency to get played like musical theater in the live shows. Bear dominated the stage in, praises be, a pink shirt which apparently Jeff was willing to pay him not to wear again. "Hey, it's Banana Republic," Bear pointed out rationally. "Use Me" was smokin' as usual but didn't garner the typical hoot-and-holler reaction. Then again, not like you could really SEE the ass-shaking all that well anyway... Along the same lines, Jeff seems to have decided that he is now possessd of The Funk and proceeded to get down with his bad self. Oh boy.
     There ended up being six of us in attendance, so we decided we'd have to generate enough whooping to make up for everyone else's polite golf claps. And thankfully, Fred was on hand to manage the sonic output, which meant a huge improvement from last hear. Fred is, in all matters of faders, the man.
     By the time the second set began, the solar rays had quieted down a bit, providing a better view of the stage. Kevin went crowd-surfing and was so impressed that one mother in attendance, Chris, was so calmly managing a brood of (count 'em) six kids that he hauled her up onstage for "Pretty Woman." The other musical theater portion of the evening, "Long Cool Woman," was similarly electric, thanks to some prime rear view and Scott's always astounding vocal fireworks (is there anything that man CAN'T sing the hell out of?). When the time came for Barry's intro to "60 Minute Man," we gave our usual show of support for the Bottom Line. "What?" Bear shrugged. "It's a club in the city...where they treat everybody badly..." Quite frankly, I don't care if they play the Starbucks on Astor and LaFayette...I just want a Manhattan show. Bad.
     While the exclusion of songs like "People Change" and "Moments of You" was a little disappointing, the fact that the closing encore consisted of a completely kick-ass rendition of "Keep Smilin" more than made up for what was a comparatively short show. I highly doubt they'll ever lay it down as an album cut, but even if they did, you would miss the freestyle rap jam that makes up the tail end of the song. That simply has to be seen to be fully appreciated.
     After they took their final bows for the night, we collected our considerable battery of park-going gear and migrated around back of the stage to where the Rockapella trailer d'tour was stationed. As would be our custom, we hung back until the majority of the crowd dispersed (though it's always entertaining to observe the fluttery Jeff groupies have a strategic huddle before The Single One appears). Nightfall came quickly, as it has a tendency to do in the more rural areas of the Empire State--and of course with the evil West Nile skeeters lurking about, we decided that we better snaps the pics, schmooze and be gone. Bear decided to pack it in early, hopped on his bike and roared off into the night. Trish and I chatted with the always-charming Kevin for a bit before deciding to roar off ourselves.
     The lucky fivesome will be off to enjoy the moderate climates of the West Coast next. Got to better than the sticky, fish-tinged air on Manhattan.  [SJE]

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Here's some more visual stimulation.....
have a look at the rest of the pictures
from the show

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