Last night's Mavericks concert was one for the ages! While driving to the show I was thinking how excited I was to see them again, that I might be too amped up for my own good and that it could backfire on me. I should not have worried, as they blew me (and everyone else in the crowd) away! It might have been the best concert I have ever seen! Every once in a great while the planets align and a concert becomes the center of the universe. Last night was one of those nights. My favorite artists, at a great venue, doing everything I want to hear, playing out of their minds, with an audience that apparently loves them as much as I do!
The Sorentinos opened the show and they were very good, with a rocking' sound and I really enjoyed many of their tunes. After their equipment was cleared away, the stage was crammed with Fenders (tele, jazz, strat), keyboards, accordian, upright bass, sax, trumpet and Paul's drums, sitting way up in the air like Ringo's used to. The second The Mavericks started to walk out onto the stage the entire audience leaped to their feet, hands in the air clapping and welcoming the Mavericks back to live concerts! The Mavericks did just about everything I could have asked for and then some. Most of the new songs were near the beginning of the show and they are all fabulous as far as I'm concerned, especially the new single "Born to Be Blue". Then of course they did big favorites like "There Goes My Heart", "What A Crying Shame", "Pretend" and "Think of Me When You're Lonely". The band left in the middle of the show and Raul took center stage with just a ukelele. Then by himself with his great voice he sang "Stardust" and "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling". It was incredible! The audience was so into this show from the get-go, but they really went nuts with these two solos. Then the band came back and they slowly but surely began ramping the show up again big time. They began a relaxed Guantanamera", which morphed into "Twist and Shout" and for about the tenth time everyone was out of their seats, dancing, clapping and screaming!. Then it just kept getting better and better with so many outrageous uptempo sings, one after another. They finally stopped, took a bow and thanked the audience and walked off, but came back a few moments later for a three-song encore. Then they waved goodbye and walked off again, but came back and finished off the two hour and five minute concert, with a marathon version of their classic "All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down"! Jerry Dale was going nuts on the keyboards, Eddie outdoing himself on his telecaster, Raul grinning at how wonderfully crazy the show had become, Paul happily hammering his drums, Robert roaming all over the stage taking it all in and they just brought the house down!!! They thanked the audience several times for coming out to see them after all this time, with little advance notice and giving them this crazy wild over-the-top reception. What a night!!!