This town is a hopping little town in the summer with people heading over to Mackinac Island, (Somewhere In Time), the place where Lake Huron meets Lake Michigan, the Mackinac Bridge, history abounds, and a little town of 3500 called St Ignace explodes at the end of June to 100,000 during the Summer Car Show and Cruise (http://www.nostalgia-prod.com/). I was curious on how many people were going to show up at this show but I didn’t care, Todd in St Iggy along with the excellent skills and performance of Ellliot Easton, Greg Hawkes, Prairrie Prince, and Atom (stand by man for Kaz) ……. It had to be good. And oh, how good it was.
I was fortunate to sit in the first row by buying tickets as soon as it was announced and it was nice to see a crowd much bigger than I thought it was going to be, I estimate it around 600.
The New Cars showed what a good band they are and their appreciation of the fans, be it 2 or 2 millions by putting out a great performance. Todd was in a good mood which is a continuance of what others have said in previous stops and he does seem to be enjoying it by having a full band and good musicians. It is amazing that these guys are doing shows night after night, week after week and still playing those instruments until the stings are glowing and the guitars are smoking from the get down and jam guitar playing. Prairie was excellent on the drums, Greg got awes from the crowd on the keyboards and Atom did a great job on base.
The show started just after 7 pm and was limited to 75 minutes so crew could bundle up and head out to Colorado that night. Also I’m sure the casino didn’t want the fans to go home right after the show so they could make donations at the slot machines. The play list was very similar to the previous shows with one change having Todd doing Drive rather than Kasim. The only thing really missing and what I was looking forward to (maybe skipped due to time) was to have Todd intro the band and Elliot for Todd. This show and this band is well well worth attending and meeting other Todd and/or Car fans that all are now The New Cars fans. If you are one of those middle aged rock fans that are not as motivated to get up and go to a concert, don’t contemplate it any more, get that ticket, go to the concert, forget about all those things that held you back, feel young again, remember how to bop to the music, and you will be thankful that you did this. You will have a great memory of this evening in your long term memory on that night that you rode with The New Cars to Utopia.
P.S.
I have liked music all my life from classic to big band to Bing to some country and Motown sound but my favorite is TR music. Back in 1973 as a pimple face sophomore in high school a good friend’s big brother was telling us about this Todd guy and a band called Utopia coming to Pine Knob and we could go with him and his friends. This was my first time at Pine Knob and when we walked in I saw this skinny guy on stage but most amazing was he was playing the national anthem with the guitar behind his head. I was hooked. Right after this the Utopia Live album came out. Here I am 33 years later and been to over 40 Todd concerts. During this time I have been able to see Todd at outdoor concerts with other bands and Utopia, Utopia Live at Royal Oak, to Todd by himself in Las Vegas to San Diego with Ringo, San Fran Redux with Utopia to St Ignace with The New Cars.
In my job I get to do some traveling and when I can I have been able to arrange travel to places that Todd just so happens to be having a concert at the same time. This worked out well in my trip to Cleveland last week. My meeting ended up with enough time for me to catch TNC from beginning to end. Todd and The New Cars liked Cleveland and Cleveland likes TR and TNC. Over these many years as a fan, I have turned a lot of friends into TR fans so when I got back on Friday my daughter and son (15 and 13) were really bugging me to go down to Detroit and see TNC the day before Thanksgiving. My better half who also has been a Todd fan for 30 years now had to stay home with son who had bball practice so daughter, sis-in-law and I went off to Detroit. As others have said in their reviews, it was a great place for a concert, a great crowd and a great time.
Plans were already set for St Ignace and we have a cottage up there. Things couldn’t be better and the wait for a few days was a long one but we made it. On Tuesday, my veterinarian wife and my job as engineer took a time out from the day to day life and north we went. Our dream was to have fantastic weather, get our Amphicar out for a ride, scoot out on the lake, see Todd on shore, pick him up for a magical ride around St Ignace and views of Mackinac Island. Well, when we crossed the Mackinac Bridge we thought we went too far and were in London, it was foggy and cold. The Amphi sat in the garage and we headed over to the Kewadin Casino early, there we chatted with security and met a very nice lady who was taking pictures for TNC and who gave us the song list. The band came out, the show began and the audience was rocking and then it was over. We shook hands with Todd before he left the stage. If there was ever a time to meet Todd, get his autograph and thank him for all the shows and memories, this was the time. The show was over around 8:30 and we only had to drive a couple miles home so we stayed. I had taped the tickets from Cleveland, Detroit and St Ignace together to make a great matte for an autograph. While we waited, Prairie came out, Atom came out, and we met many of the loyal Todd fans. My fear was these people waiting were going to be groupies, stalkers and obsessed fans that might scare Todd away but I am glad to say how wrong I was. These were normal (really above average) folks that shared the same appreciation for Todd’s creativity and music skills. We waited and visited and visited some more and waited. I then bumped into a friend who is 100% Native American and asked him that since he is part owner of the hotel and casino if he could see if Todd was still there and possibly in the conference room on the first floor. He checked it out but no Todd, nobody was in this room.. After two hours, we made many friends and shared some great stories on other concerts but then had to leave. Like I had seen at the other two concerts, everyone was glad they went and for me it was another great concert but yet to meet Todd, maybe a picture with him, an autograph for me and one for the kids but “not tonight”. I suppose there is always tomorrow. Maybe the next concert , could it be, yes it could, I can wait….
Lastly, this band is great. Todd and TNC come to St Ignace at then end of June, you will pack the outdoor concert past the brim, my boat Utopia (on the wave to…) will be in the water so Todd we offer you a cruise on the Great Lakes, under the Mac Bridge over to Mackinac Island back to St Ignace, a pre concert party at the cottage on Lake Huron then into the Amphicar into the water over to the Casino up the beach to the stage for another concert at the end of the Universe.
Ross
