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| For Previous Fan Reviews & Interviews click here! Concert review of Ambrosia's concert at Twin Palm's in Newport Beach, CA on Saturday,
January 16, 1998/by David Horn Ambrosia played two shows, 7:00
and 9:30, at Twin Palms Restaurant/Bar in Newport Beach, CA. Both
shows were, needless to say, outstanding! My wife, Kim, and I drove
up from San Diego in rush hour traffic to see the first show, damning the
gridlock in San Diego for nearly an hour. We got there at 7:05!
As we walked into the Restaurant the first person I saw was Rich Rees,
Ambrosia's Road Manager. I asked him what time the guys are hitting
the stage.....he replied, "Right Now!" I had arrived just
in time! Lucky for me Kim's sister, Erin,
had arrived at 5:30 to save us a spot at the bar in the tiny "SRO"
section. She had the best spot in the bar to the left of the stage
about 20 feet from the band and right next to David Pack's wife and kids.
To my surprise she had been sitting next to Bob
Hicks (personal friend of the band) as she was waiting for us.
I had corresponded with Bob via the internet a few times and had sent him
a tape I recorded of a radio show Joe Puerta did here in San Diego (See
Heart To Heart on the Multimedia page). It was good to finally
put a face with the e-mail. We tipped quite a few beers and enjoyed
the show. Bob also snapped a lot of pictures of the band with a cool,
digital camera. The stage was pretty small.
Nearest us was Chris North using a couple of synthesizers instead of a
real Hammond organ because there was not enough room for the B-3 they had
brought. Next to him was David Pack and directly behind David sat
Burleigh. Immediately to David's left was Joe, then to his immediate
left, Tollack, and directly behind Tollack was Shem's percussion
setup. The first set consisted of most of the hits starting off with; 'Time
Waits For No One". The harmonies were a little off in the beginning
then kicked right on in during the second chorus of "Time Waits". Sorry but I didn't write down
the songs during the first set due to my enjoying every minute of the show.
One of the highlights, however, was when Joe and David brought up on stage,
and introduced Colleen Ford who looked no older than 16. They said
she won the Star Search vocal contest at 11 years of age and that she was
the girl who did the female backup vocal parts on "Mama Don't Understand"
on the Anthology CD. She shared the mic with David and did a very
good job on backup. My sister-in-law talked Kim
and I into staying for the second show. Rich
Rees walked by us after posting the 2nd set song list onstage and I
asked him for a copy as he walked by (Rich said "Say Please")
so I wouldn't have to try to remember or write down all the songs they
did. 2nd show (around 10:00p.m.)
1) Time Waits For No One (Perfection) 2) Livin' On My Own, (Shem did an excellent job on Royce's part as usual) 3) You're The Only Woman 4) Nice, Nice, Very Nice, (The reggae intro version) 5) Mama Don't Understand, w/ Colleen on backup vocals again 6) Kamikaze (awesome) 7) How Much I Feel 8) Angola (Shem on bass/solo) 9) Free Wheelin Man, (Sung by Chris North) 10) Biggest Part Of Me The second show was shorter
than the first with one encore song, "Holdin On". According
to the set list that Rich gave me they left off "Heart to Heart"
(which they sung during the first show), "Ain't No Big Deal",
"Magical Mystery Tour", and the last song was supposed to be
"Drink of Water", or "Mama Frog", but they didn't do
either because of the volume outside. You see, Twin Palms is actually a
big tent connected to a real bulilding which is right next to The Four
Seasons hotel and the police had gotten a few complaints. The second show was shorter
than the first with one encore song, "Holdin On". According
to the set list that Rich gave me they left off "Heart to Heart"
(which they sung during the first show), "Ain't No Big Deal",
"Magical Mystery Tour", and the last song was supposed to be
"Drink of Water", or "Mama Frog", but they didn't do
either because of the volume outside. You see, Twin Palms is actually a
big tent connected to a real building which is right next to The Four Seasons
Hotel and the police had gotten a few complaints. Ambrosia's show had to
be cut short or they would have received a hefty fine. Bummer!
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