Cyprus Gardens

Review by Michael K (Switch to
)
5/14/2007

"Murphy" was in the house at Cyprus Gardens. This was a show that tested the bands' patience and resilience as they were plagued throughout the show with every possible type of equipment failure possible. After the opening song (Hello Again), and a prolonged attempt to correct problems with Elliot's setup, Todd suggested that the band leave the stage until the problem is corrected. As soon as they were off the stage, the guitar was working again and the band headed back. Continuing on through the set, they experienced failing monitors, exploding lights and problematic instruments. Despite feeling like they were playing the show from hell, it was an awesome show....we all loved it!

Todd's stage charisma, patter and rock-star poses quickly won over all the casual fans who were there for the free show that came along with park admission. Black Maria was amazing and easily the best guitar solo of the evening. Moving in Stereo was probably my favorite Cars tune of the evening though Todd made all of the songs seem like his own. Some additional thoughts on the evening:

- Greg had to spend an hour before the show tweaking his keyboards and sounds. During the show, he seems to absolutely enjoy being on stage and playing the tunes again....good for him! I'm so glad he's gotten the chance again to be playing the music he loves.

- Elliot spent about 30 minutes before the show battling with his equipment....a loosing battle. Actually for all the sound processing equipment he has, I would have expected to see a better performance. I think his playing is great on the albums, but I was under whelmed during the show...but I'll assume that he was upset with his equipment.

- Todd just walks on and plays. He fussed with his amp a little during a few songs and he seemed almost upset that Elliot had so many problems. But as Todd said during the concert, "It's ok if my guitar doesn't work...but we definitely need his!"

- Don't try to sneak Coronas into a park that just sells Budweiser (guy in front was busted).

- The crowd was small, and the reserve seating (cost $15/seat) was empty. It was an odd setup...the first 5 rows were pretty much empty (those seats probably reserved for band and scalping websites?)...then a handful of people...then another 20 or so rows empty...then the people who didn't pay for reserved seats. Considering how much the radio was pushing the show, I'm surprised there wasn't a bigger showing.

A final note on Cyprus Gardens....while we live in Orlando with all the big theme parks, on my first outing to the smaller Cyprus Gardens (with my 10 year old) we had a great time. I think my son went on all the major coasters 10 times each...most of the time they just let us stay on the ride without getting off and going on line again. That's cool.


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