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Review from the Fourth of July at Fort McDowell Casino
Paul Revere and the Raiders
Fountain Hills, Arizona

Sunday, July 4, 2004

Had a fabulous time at the Fort McDowell Casino on the Fourth of July. Great concert and great fireworks following.

Here's a summary on the show, as good as my written setlist and my questionable memory can come up with. Links to the picture web pages are at the bottom of this page.

It was hot, but not unbearably so. It did cool down (well... relatively. Probably was high 70s) after the sun went down. In spite of the 16,000 people present and the pavement that had baked in the sun all day, it wasn't too bad. The show was set up in what is normally the valet parking area of the casino. They had a very nice, fairly large stage set up. It had a full complement of stage lights and everything. (It was not something set up in one day... they had used it at least for the Pointer Sisters show the night before, if not for other recent shows.) It was roofed over, and it had a nice black backdrop that kept the performers out of the sun even if they were performing before sundown. They also had a nice, fairly large air-cooled tent for the performers... so the Raiders weren't exposed to full sun at all, and not too long to the heat, other than for their soundcheck. They had seats set up. A combination of the resin chairs and stackable chairs. So... what you had was a show set up in a parking lot... with real chairs and a real stage. With an estimated crowd of 16,000... they had a LOT of chairs set up. When we first went in, and for the "opening act" of Elvis and the Cadillacs, only the front section contained people. Walking around right before the PRR show, most of the chairs were full (and I think people continued to arrive...when we left, the sidewalks and parking lot was full of people standing watching the fireworks.) Probably an area bigger than a football field... maybe more like two... covered in chairs and people.

Phoenix's channel 3 (independent station) was there and set up with multiple cameras for broadcasting. If I'd known they were going to broadcast the show, I would have tried to find someone local to tape it for me. (Might have been hard since I dragged all my friends from that area *with* me to the show...so they were not home to tape.) Apparently they DID broadcast at least part of PRR. I believe they might have showed the fireworks too. I think they broadcast for an hour. Sigh.

It was nice to see friends there, especially running into people that you didn't expect to see. I hope everyone enjoyed the show at least as much as I did. I know that I've converted my Phoenix friends to PRR fandom. ;) It's also always nice to meet new friends who are PRR fans. I'm looking forward to seeing some of the people I met on July 4th at future shows. Sometimes, PRR fans seem like a very small world. :)

Paul said about the new RTTW2 cd release date..."later this summer".

The guys were in their black jackets. I was sorry that I didn't get to see the red "summer" uniforms. (What is considered summer? Almost every show I've seen pictures of, from June through the first part of August, the guys were in the black uniforms...)

There was a time limit on the show. Paul said that they had "lit the fuse down in Scottsdale for the fireworks and it was racing up the hill towards us, so we have to finish the show before it gets here". The fireworks apparently were on a set timer and the Raiders were racing to finish the show before their time limit of 9:30 PM local time. (Now I wonder if that was for the fireworks fuse... or for the television broadcast? So that Channel 3 could get the fireworks broadcast as well... ) I had imagined that the Raiders would finish the show with the National Anthem on the Fourth of July... but I think they ran out of time. They started on the dot of 8:00, too... so there must have been a little more byplay than usual.

Paul had started out the show by commenting on how it had gotten cooler, and how there were NO BUGS... he added "yet"... lol. At one point, later on, a big bug flew up and landed on the stage, next to Paul. Paul told Darrin to pick it up and get rid of it... but Darrin was backing away from it, lol. I didn't see it land, and the stage was higher so it wasn't visible to me, but apparently it was quite large. Paul even joked that they should name it and put a hat on it and it could be in the band. But when Darrin would not take action, Paul came around his motorcycle (they were using the Harley front for his organ) and stepped on it. Everyone went "ewwww".... lol. Paul said the sole of his boot wasn't happy, either. I'm not sure if there were further "bug" problems later on... if so, they weren't noticeable to me. (I did hear later that there were more bugs and that at one point a big bug landed on Darrin's leg while he was drumming. I didn't notice but there were apparently a few extra beats in that song as Darrin flailed at the bug. I hope his leg wasn't bruised! ;))
Perhaps it was a Palo Verde beetle, like this:

Ewwwwwwwww!

No bug problems in the audience (of course, at a PRR show, I could probably be mosquito-bit to the nth degree and not notice it until the show was over, lol. I ended up not needing the bug spray I took, fortunately, but was grateful for the sunscreen, since the gates opened at 5 for a 6 pm opening act and 8 pm show. The sun was nearly down before the Raiders took the stage, which made it much cooler for them.)

Eventually, there were RTTW cds and tshirts for sale. I tried several times during the day to get information about whether/where they would be selling... and got conflicting stories. Even though the security people there were very friendly and accomodating and put up with my incessant questions, they were not receiving very good information from their sources... even when they went and checked with higher authorities. I don't know if plans were changing, or if it was really as disorganized as it appeared to an outside person. Unfortunately, this was symptomatic of a great many of the dealings my friends and I had this weekend with the Fort McDowell Casino... the correct information does not seem to be getting to the people who are on the front lines of answering the customers' questions. Hopefully they can improve that. All the workers and security were very pleasant and tried to be helpful... they just couldn't get correct answers. I probably walked a fair piece, walking around trying to find the places I was told merchandise would be sold. (Eventually, they were set up just inside the closer gate to the concert area. I was able to support the RTTW foundation a bit more.) Of course, none of these issues were under the control of the Raiders. I was told when I was at the merchandise area that the Raiders would be signing autographs IF there was time between the end of the show and the start of the fireworks. Since the show went right up until the fireworks started, the Raiders were not able to sign autographs at this show, one of the few shows I've attended where there has not been an autograph line. I believe that was a security/logistical matter, given the sheer volume of people attending the show and the fireworks, and the necessity for an orderly dispersal of the crowd after the fireworks were over. I'm sure some fans were disappointed, though.

Set List, 07/04/2004
Fort McDowell Casino
Fountain Hills, AZ

Just Like Me
Stepping Out/Steppin' Stone
Where The Action Is
Good Thing
Theme from Peter Gunn
Like Long Hair
"song for the old folks"

1st Raider Medley:
Great Airplane Strike
Birds of A Feather
Him or Me

Hungry

2nd Raider Medley:
Ups and Downs
Mr Sun Mr Moon
Let Me

Kicks
We Gotta Get Out of This Place
(Don't You) Want Somebody To Love
For What It's Worth
Fortunate Son
Run Through The Jungle
Some Gave All
Let's Work Together

Righteous Brothers Medley:
You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'
(You're My) Soul and Inspiration
Unchained Melody
YLTLF (Reprise)

Indian Reservation
Louie Louie
You Really Got Me
Born to be Wild
(Get By) With A Little Help From My Friends


FIREWORKS! :)

I'll post some more if I think of anything additional, since I've rambled on here long enough. :) I had a great time with good friends at this concert and I'm really glad that I went, although at one point I was starting to think I was crazy, to go to an outdoor show on the Fourth of July in Arizona.. but it all worked out fine! I just can't wait til the next time.

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Page last updated 08/15/2004.
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All pictures and text © 2004 by Kelpie.












Background image is the post-concert fireworks over Fort McDowell Casino, July 4, 2004, as taken by Kelpie.