Totally clear, deep blue skies, beautiful pink sunset, NO clouds or rain in sight. Limited free tickets, from sponsors "The Drive 97.1 FM", for chair seating. Thousands more on the lawn. HUGE and behaved crowd. Completely different 'feel' than Summerfest in Milwaukee two nights ago.
Three weeks into the tour, and they're proud to be "The band that can turn on a dime". Thank goodness for the Beatles to get us all together. We're really appreciating the talent of these old rockers. And they're finally starting to dress like rock stars, too.
Todd: Red satin top (no ruffles for Todd) and brightly-printed, nice-fitting red/orange vinyl pants. "Pardon my squirming, but my thong is riding up on me. You don't get that kind of integrity out of most bands playing today, like NSYNC."
Alan: Now, HE knows how to pull off a white ruffled shirt
Ann: Beautiful, bright stained-glass blouse and long black velvet vest and bell bottoms.
John: Blue jean vest w/ rhinestones over a tie-dyed satin shirt
David: Sharp jacket with tartan trim
Godfrey: Lovely lavender top
Keys (John Beck?): Same striped sailor top and white pants as the last three shows, and freshly colored screaming orange carot top. We thinks he's British and doesn't celebrate Independence Day, so he must have dyed his hair yesterday. Wonder what Todd did, hum?.....
Drummer(?): bright colored shirt ("Hey!")
Taste of Chicago had the same set list as Taste of Minnesota, which is probably a good thing since Abbey Road has so many talented musicians who probably have different ideas how a show should go. Taste of Minnesota was on the grass, no seats, and a mobile stage and dressing trailer. Minnesota had a much smaller crowd than Milwaukee or Chicago; "Minnesota Nice", "You bet!"
Summerfest show in Milwaukee was a totally different show than the two Tastes; the band was told to play Beatles songs only, and there was no intermission. The Rundgren Junkies must have felt cheated with getting only "Bang the Drum" out of Todd. Summerfest's Miller Oasis stage was situated right in the middle of the beergardens with crowds of lustful teens making plans for later, local band Monkey Love just finished a set, standing room only and Abbey Road showtime was at 10:00 p.m. Yipes! One thing magical about Wisconsin is the fireflies that come out in the evening.
The Taste of Chicago show was held in a separate venue, with folding seats, security, and a sunny 5:00 afternoon performance. The vendors were outside the venue, so no crowds and noise near the stage. We realized we spent so little time eating and "too much time watching Todd" at the Taste of Minnesota and Summerfest, that we made sure to try the food at Taste of Chicago. We took shifts to go out to Columbus Drive and sample the tastes: shrimp fried rice, jerk chicken, chili, BBQ, Bailey's Irish ice creme, wine, beer, margaritas, brats, cheese curds, pizza, tacos, pies, etc. Chicago sure knows how to put on a Taste!
Though this was the third Abbey Road show for Jody and Lani, we think Betty got to experience the best show ever. She even got a pick Todd threw to her. This is definitely a Magical Mystery Tour.
