Rockford, IL

Coronado Theatre

March 9, 2001

The secret word for today is: long. As in, "Lisa's reviews are very long."

Click here if you don't have the time for it all.

MON. - THURS.

After 3 shows in a row in SSM and Green Bay, had a few days in Chicago with my brother, Chris. Man, it was so good to see him. It sucks living so far away from my baby bro and his wonderful wife, Jean. That week they were kind and gracious enough to make time in their busy schedules for me. I also caught up with some old theatre/college buddies around town. Great to see them all...

On a music-related note, I got to see Jean's band, Flammable Dress at the House of Blues. They're a great pop/folk/rock band and the venue was stellar. I could spend days on end just staring at all the cool art and decorations in that joint. Wow. Tippler was another band on the bill that night. Fun, funky stuff with a great sense of humor. Check 'em out.

Thursday was the best day of the week. Chris took me on a tour of his school (he and Jean are both high school teachers in Skokie) and we had a little bit of brother/sister quality time. So proud of that guy.

OK, enough mushy stuff... Some CT content - sorta...

After a morning at Chris' school, I headed up to Milwaukee to meet up with Ron, Kai, Kim and Sam to record a CT cover. Although most of my singing experience is from musicals, I've always felt like a frustrated r-n-r girl. That afternoon in the studio was a blast. Thanks to Ron and Kai for letting me be a part of their project. Cool! More fun than humans should be allowed to have.

SHOW DAY

I headed out to Rockford on Friday. It was a beautiful, mostly sunny day. The weather gods had truly been smiling on me during all these travels.

Stephanie and Maria were there already and had a nice lunch with them. They had some cool pictures from our time up north. Some day I'll get some of those posted... Maria had been to the Minneapolis show, which sounded fun. All reports were that they played "Lookout." Damn! I've never heard that one in person. Some day...

That afternoon I met up with Ron, Kai and Dale at the Beef-A-Roo. LMAO! We dined at the booth next to the CT shrine, of course. Afterwards we headed down to the Coronado Theatre. Just from the outside it's beautiful. By that time the marquee was lit and all it said was: CHEAP TRICK - SOLD OUT.

There was a small Illinois state icon on the sign that looked familiar. After checking out some old pictures from my CHRISTMAS CAROL touring days, I confirmed my suspicions that the same logo is on the marquee at the Paramount Theatre in Aurora, IL. I'll wager that it's prolly on other old theatres around the state, too.

But I digress.

During the photo op time in front of the theatre I think I really scared Dale, poor guy. When he told me he'd let me take his seat closer to the front for the second half of the show, I screamed "I LOVE YOU!" I don't know what hurt his ears more - my screaming or sitting so close to the amps that night.

The four of us met up with Maria and Stephanie at Founders next door to the theatre. It didn't take long for Ron to locate the 2 CT cds in the jukebox (Busted and Lap of Luxury, for the curious). Various local establishments had hung "Welcome CT" banners in honor of the event - just like they did for the 25th anniversary show. Cool.

One of the bartenders and I chatted about some CT related stuff. She told me her son got to sit next to Rick in a commercial for the Coronado Theatre. In Rockford you can play "6 Degrees of Rick Nielsen or Bun E. Carlos." It'd be an easy game though - seems like everyone in Rockford has a CT story or connection of some sort. :)

We headed for the theatre around 7:30. I wanted the time to chat with other friends who'd be there. Plus, I didn't want to miss the openers, Harmony Riley. This would be my first chance to see them...

Once inside I couldn't stop staring at the walls, ceiling, etc. The folks in charge of the renovations did a fantastic job. Inside the auditorium, it looked like one of those old movie palaces: red velvet theatre type seats and ornately decorated walls plus a "blue sky ceiling" complete with pinpoints to simulate starlight. Wow...

The stage looked to be of good size - with plenty of room in the wings, upstage and above for a decent fly system. There's an orchestra pit with a lift where 2 extra rows of folding chairs were set for some lucky ticket winners and family/friends of the band. Ian and Holland Zander were in attendance along with many of the Carlos clan.

Some more of the CT family were by the merchandise table (i.e. the Candis'). John had told me in Michigan that there might be a new Silver shirt available for the show and indeed there was. It's grey with the artwork from the new CD on the front and back, plus a CT/Silver logo on the arm. Very nice. I bought one, of course. Didn't have the money for the specially-made, limited addition posters, though. D'OH!

Before the show started I met some new friends (Tinaa and Pat from the CT BB) and caught up with some old ones. Brian from Dallas was there. Good to see another Texas resident in attendance. :) Also got to chat with John and Kevin - both of whom I'd met at TF3, but hadn't seen since. Nice to see all yous guys!

THE SHOW

Harmony Riley took the stage a little after 8 pm and played a short set of 6 or 7 songs. I really enjoyed them and wanted a CD, but they were sold out by the time I got there. D'OH! Anyway, I liked their stuff and look forward to catching them again. How cool for them to open for CT – what with 2 members being related to Rick and all. :)

Actually, dad came out right after they finished, encouraging applause and said, "What a great looking band!"

After a short break, CT took the stage like the hometown heroes they are.

FASHION REPORT

SET LIST

MISC.

Call me the World's Most Spoiled CT Fan: I felt very far away from the action in my 10th row seat. However, it was interesting to have more perspective for the first part of the show. I even got a pick back there. Speaking of picks, it was pretty funny to watch the diving that happened every time a pick flew into the crowd.

From where I sat, the sound was good. When I traded spots with Dale though, it got painful being right in front of those amps. So I reluctantly put in some earplugs.

It was nice to see another show with so many smiles coming from onstage. Robin was working the crowd along with Rick. There were some great exchanges with Tom and BEC, too.

RN BANTER

Looking out into the crowd, Rick said he knew everybody. He chided them for not helping with his groceries at the store.

Rick pointed out that there was a mayoral election coming up, so he encouraged all the locals to vote – no matter who their choice was. "Follow Rockford tradition and vote twice."

He rattled off the high schools that Tom and Robin graduated from - claimed that Tom had been valedictorian. Tom had a good laugh at that and tried to remember the name of the elementary school he attended. Rick said it was actually for the best that Tom hadn't graduated. If you believe Rick, Bun E. is the poker champ of Rock Valley College.

He mentioned the new CD, of course - being sure to point out that it had been recorded right there in Rockford. He thanked Harmony Riley for opening - mentioning again how good-looking they were. :)

He asked how people were in the balcony, going on to ask how his seat was up there. He told that seat holder to look underneath because he'd left a "present" there. Hmmmmmm...

(On that note: I saw the seat from a distance after the show – way cool! It's covered with checkerboard fabric and looks really great in that sea of red. There's not a plaque on it yet, but Rick told me later that there are plans to embed some silver plated picks on the armrest. Wonder if it costs extra to get that seat? :) It's the one I'd request if I ever went to a non-CT show there.)

I'm sure that Rick said a lot more, but I've forgotten most of it, in light of the wildest moment of the night...

SNIP

Needless to say, the event of the evening was right before the encores. Immediately after "Surrender" Daxx and Carla appeared on stage with a pair of scissors. Rick said that he in light of some other changes he'd made in his life he was going to do something… "So here it goes - keep your eyes out on eBay or whatever..."

Daxx held the braid and after Carla snipped it off, Rick held it up for the crowd. The loud thud you heard coming from northern Illinois was the collective sound of about 1500 jaws hitting the floor. It caught all of us of guard. I couldn't stop saying "oh my god" and neither could many of the people around me.

Go to the photo gallery at the official site for pictures of the event... You can order a copy of "Silver" there, too BTW.

As the time stretched out before the encores, we all had a feeling that Rick must be shaving off the whole beard. It wasn't until Robin introduced him as "a guest guitarist on the next song - Rick's evil twin" that we knew for sure.

Rick took the stage to tremendous applause and a clean shaven face. "Smooth as a newborn baby's bottom." Just to mess with us he'd changed jackets. He really looked like a new person...

It was amazing. I can't get over how different he looked without the beard. Although I've always liked the beard - I think he looks great with the new "old" look. He even flipped up the bill of his cap and gave a thumbs up when he first came out. During all of the encores he tried to stroke a beard that wasn't there... LOL!

Robin or Tom told him he looked good, to which Rick replied, "Even though my wife is here, I'm still available."

His last comment for the night "Now I need new guitar picks!"

POST SHOW STUFF

Afterwards, a group of us got something to eat at Steak and Shake. It was fun, but I think I was pretty bleary-eyed. Lack of sleep over the last several days was hitting me hard and heavy...

Turning in that night, I realized just how homesick I was. Hotel rooms and restaurant food off and on for 4 weeks had grown very tiresome. Bleh.

Oh well. Despite that I felt lucky to have been at the Rockford show. It was a great night and an amazing venue. And I still had it in me to make one more show. :) Milwaukee would be the next and last stop for me in my CT binge.

Thanks for reading....

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© Lisa Jebsen, 2001