Asbury Park review

The pre-show AOL meeting did happen here, and the Tuesday nite AOL DP chat regulars may be interested to learn that Dave (Gellis) and I were the only AOL guys there with Dana, Misty, Barb, and Shari, those instigators of some of the more memorable late-nite conversations!

Alas, the conversation didn't stray much from Purple talk, but hey, that's why we were all there! There were some amdp'ers there as well, and although I didn't know them, they were also all very cool people.

On to the show. Asbury Park itself was a barren, dirty place, but the Paramount Theatre was a nice, old building that unfortunately is starting to look run-down. We did, however, have seats (unlike York), and my seat was great! Although I was in the mezzanine, I was in the front row, almost center, and the view was perfect!

Hush rocked, but Fireball kicked it into high gear again. The sound was incredible, even better than York! Jon's finger's flew over the keyboards, Steve was magnificent, IP was a blur behind the drum kit, and RG's bass pounded at us all evening. IG was great also, talking with the crowd, and even wearing 3D sunglasses someone threw on stage!

The song highlight for me was again No One Came, but tonight I could see it, and Oh My God, what a sight! At the end of the song, while the band jammed, strobe lights flashed, and IG danced madly around the stage, swinging the mic stand, letting the music take over control of his body! It was absolutely incredible.

Around this time, the crowd started to loosen up, and by the time they got to Speed King, the place was rocking! The encore was even wilder. The crowd was going crazy, Perfect Strangers sounded especially powerful, and Highway Star was a stunning finale.

An awesome spectacle, to say the least.

Joel Hammerman

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