Coronado Theatre
Rockford, IL
December 29, 2001

Just got back from two great shows up north. For those of you keeping score, this was my eleventh CT fix of 2001. It was Baby J's fifth. :)

Before the usual babbling commences, here are the short cuts…

Show day (subtitled: "3 Frozen Freaks Listening to Sound Check")

Preshow (subtitled "The Snaggs, 029 and Bugging Jon Brant")

Set List

The Show

Or read on for the full report…

My flights up to Chicago were relatively uneventful. Had a row to myself on both - woo hoo! My only complaint would be that on the way from Midland to DFW, I sat in front of a family of 4. The youngest daughter sang "Baa Baa Black Sheep" over and over and OVER. *Sigh* Better than a Barney song, I guess...

The last part of my journey was catching a shuttle up to Janesville, Wisconsin. Hadn't done the Van Galder shuttle thing before - so apparently I committed a major faux pas when I put my backpack in one of the bins. The driver was quite pissy about it. I resisted the temptation to tell him exactly *where* he could stick my bag.

ANYway, it was a beautiful, clear night - but a *wee* bit on the cold side. Yikes! After 4 years in Texas, my blood is so very thin... Kim G and Samantha were there to pick me up…

BTW - this whole trip was made possible by my dear friends. Tim was none too keen on sending his pregnant wife on a trip alone up to the snowy Midwest. Thanks to their generous offer to pick me up and get me to Rockford (not to mention, giving me a place to stay and some meals!) - I was able to convince Tim to let me have one more CT fix before Baby J's arrival. :)

SHOW DAY

To some extent, the weather continued to cooperate. Although it was bitterly cold, the roads were clear and it wasn't snowing! In fact, it was a beautiful, sunny day. We rolled in to Rockford a little after 4 pm and by the time we got to the Coronado, sound check was in full swing.

If you were very quiet and there was no traffic going by, you could hear "Night Time World" "You're All I Wanna Do" and something else, which escapes me now. I think that part of my brain is still frozen; it was oh, so very cold. Some guy from the apartment building behind the Coronado had a good laugh at us. Can't say as I blame him - even *we* thought we were pretty dumb to be out in the elements.

Dinner at Dos Reales warmed us up considerably. Their burritos are as big as your head! LOL!

PRESHOW

We headed back to the Coronado around 7 - it's just as beautiful as I remember it. I just love the blue sky ceiling with the pinpricks of starlight. Of course, Rick's seat up in the balcony is a highlight, as well. :) Looking at the schedule of events, they've got an impressive slate of tours coming through. The renovation folks did an excellent job of creating a stage area that can accommodate tours like Rent, Les Miz and Stomp.

Before the opening acts, there was time to chat with lots of folks from the various boards. Great to see so many friends, old and new. Seems I had a lot of people looking out for me. Thanks to everyone for all the well wishes for me, the lil' mister and Baby J.

Thanks also to Carla for putting me on the aisle both nights - it really helped this pregnant chick stay comfortable. Not to mention the added benefit of extra space to dance around when the spirit moved me. :)

Another shout out to Junko for the gift. She brought me 2 C.C. Lemon Soda bottles from Japan with The Simpsons on the label. :) Junko was also the one to give me the bad news about George. I guess he's no longer with CT. I forget who he's working for now... Hell, it doesn't matter, I'm still bummed. He was such a nice guy - he'll be missed.

Another bit of sadness was at the merch table - it was so strange to not see John C there... If he *had* been there though, I'd've told him had too many cool shirts for sale! *Four* new ones! I bought 3. The next night when Flis introduced me to the designer (Mike from Jersey) I cursed him for tempting me so…

The openers started at 8 pm on the dot…

The Snaggs are a 5-piece pop/rock group out of Rockford. They played a short set of about 7 songs - all of which were original. I think. Don't quote me though.

Anyway, Robin's daughter Holland is their lead singer. I continue to be impressed with her tonal quality. There were several times when her eyes looked *so* much like dad. I think if she can get an "edge" for some of the songs, she'll be a helluva rock singer.

Zero to Nine - a four piece band out of Chicago - were up next and I really dug their tunes. They seemed to have a good sense of humor, which came through in their lyrics. Good hooks, too. Their guitarist looked sorta like a young Johnny Rotten. LOL!

Before CT came on, Kim pointed out Jon Brant to me in the crowd. Actually the guy was practically sitting across the aisle from me. How I missed him, god only knows. Being the geek that I am, I decided to say "hi." When I told him I became a fan while he was in the band, he got a big smile on his face. He was very gracious: asked me my name, introduced me to his wife and told me to enjoy the show. Nice guy. Glad I decided to bug him for a moment. In fact, I was surprised that more people weren't doing the same.

THE SHOW

CT took the stage around 9:30 in a very cool, very classy way. Black curtains opened and there they were - all four standing together. They smiled and waved before taking their places. It was wonderful to see Bun E up there again.

FASHION REPORT

Not sure what my problem was, but my fashion report is kinda spotty... Maybe it's because that part of my brain was still frozen?!?

SET LIST

RICK BANTER

The most touching moment of the night was when Rick explained his t-shirt to the crowd. He said that John was in CT Heaven, going on to add how much he would be missed.

After he had the house lights brought up for the first time, I got a "Hi Lisa" before his usual run down of all the folks who'd come in for the shows. Woo hoo! I don't know who screamed more after that - Cheryl or me. LOL!

He told us that the show was sold out and that there were 70 tickets left for the next night - so we should "come back."

At one point, Rick came out with a stack of papers listing all the places they'd played in Rockford over the years and read them all, tossing the sheets of paper on the ground as he went. My favorites were the Jewish Center and "someone's field" between 2 streets. Robin and Tom really laughed at that one - then one of them added that they smoked pot at that gig. LMAO! Rick was quick to say that they don't even *think* about doing that now…

He gave us all a scare by telling us he'd been in a head on collision on the way to the theatre that night. He quickly added that everyone was OK - but it made him *really* glad to be there. Us too, Rick! His last comment on that topic was that it "knocked some sense" into him. LOL!

During his intro of Tom, he pointed out his new bass. Tom corrected him, saying he had 3 new ones, so Rick announced that after playing them once, Tom would be giving them all away to lucky audience members.

The most bizarre moment of the night was when Rick read a letter from an audience member. Basically the guy was requesting an autograph for someone's birthday and wrote a letter (that was slightly shorter than War and Peace) which included every possible justification the guy could muster. One of the them was something like his brother's cousin's girlfriend works at the office of Rick's wife's OB/GYN. Tom let out a huge laugh at that one, while Rick made a face and asked if that was the doctor for "down there."

MISC.

The playing space for the guys was huge. This was good for Rick because it gave him plenty of space to run around which always fun to watch. However, I think this put the guys at such a distance from each other that interaction between them was kept to a minimum.

BEC came to the mic to thank the folks who won the auction for tickets to the show. Proceeds went to Habitat for Humanity. Cool! Afterwards Rick said that was the most he'd ever heard BEC say.

Holland came down front for a few songs early in the set. Robin called her over and gave her a hug and a kiss. Awwww! It was a very sweet daddy/daughter moment.

During "Dream Police" you could see Dave frantically trying to signal the folks on stage left. I think it was to let them know that "Gonna Raise Hell" had been cut. DOH! Not sure exactly why they did that - but by the end Rick was really struggling with his ear piece. In fact, there were lots o' sound problems that night. Bummer.

Despite that, it was still a fantastic show and a great set list. Definitely worth the trip! I had a great time.

After a bit of mingling, Kim, Sam and I headed back to Madison. What a day - plus another show to look forward to! Woo hoo!

Thanks for reading. Review of the next night coming up!

Back to 2001 reviews

© Copyright, Lisa Jebsen, 2002