RICK SPRINGFIELD

Twin River Casino Event Center
Lincoln, Rhode Island
May 12, 2018

Photos & Review by Dan Wenc

When it comes to 80’s rock / pop culture icons, the name Rick Springfield is probably one of the top names that will ring true to that meaning. Rick Springfield has had numerous 80’s popular rock hits, including “Jesse’s Girl”, of course. Rick has a many attributes to go along with his music career that spans nearly fifty years in the entertainment business. Rick is a jack of all trades when it comes to being a star. In addition to his music career, he has a long list of television and movie roles since the 70’s, with his most notable as Dr. Noah Drake for various spans on the Soap Opera Television show, General Hospital. Also a Grammy Award Winner for Best Male Vocalist in 1982 for “Jesse’s Girl”, just to mention a few.

This night there was a room full of fans at the Twin River Casino Event Center in Lincoln, Rhode Island that were well versed on Rick Springfield’s attributes and stardom. The venue was packed. Once the lights went down, everyone stood up and the crowd went right to the stage to stand at the feet of this iconic music legend. The night’s performance was prefaced by a video on the large screen at the back of the stage with a very entertaining video homage to Rick’s career, with clips from music videos, television interviews, his acting career.

The night was full of the classic Rick Springfield hits, but there was more. Rick is much more that just the classics. He has been making new music, post 80’s era, with a number of releases in the early 21st century. The latest album, The Snake King, was released in January of 2018 on Frontiers Music SRL. An album most appropriate for fans of all music genres. The new album is a mix of blues, country and rock. Although fans come out for the classic tunes to be played, Springfield’s new music is a great addition to the set list and any music collection.

Rick and his band took the stage. Everyone in the room probably felt like they were sixteen again, and Rick played like he was thirty again. Rick’s band is a mix of amazingly talented musicians who bring the classic sounds of the collection alive with superior sound.

The room was energized and the night started off with “Light This Party Up”, followed up with “I’ve Done Everything for You” and “I Get Excited”. The night’s two hour set went fast. Song after song, the night was full of excitement in the room and on stage. The set included, “Down”, from the 2016 Rocket Science album, another example of fresh and great new music. Rick stopped at various points in the set to talk to the fans like they were old friends at a party. The energy of the night increased with “Affair of the Heart” and continued with the musical montage. And there were the roses. Rick was presented with roses and they were soon blown around the stage with a few strokes of the guitar with the roses.

Rick took a moment to talk about his new album The Snake King and his continued progress in making music today. He said, “we’re having fun”… Rick pulled up a stool and donned his blue steel guitar with his slide and played “The VooDoo House” from The Snake King, inviting the crowd to join in with the chorus. A great song which was an easy listen and very catchy with a blues based sound. I bought the album the next day.

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Out came the old Fender, guitar, which Rick explained was a surf guitar and initially manufactured as a jazz guitar. Then it was into a showcase of his guitar skills, with some beach surf riffs and straight into a guitar solo, concluding with “Wild Thing” written by Chip Taylor and made famous by The Troggs.

“Don’t Talk to Strangers” was a hit of the night, which turned into a huge audience participatory sing along. Rick went down to the front of the stage and handed out a microphone which was passed along in the crowd with each taking a turn with the chorus of “Don’t Talk, Don’t Talk to Strangers”. Then Rick brought up the youngest fans in the room a 4 year old girl and another who was 6 ¾, Rick was dancing on stage with them and had them each have a turn at the chorus part of the song. Rick closed out the song saying that it might have been the longest version of “Don’t Talk to Stranger’s, ever.

There was no shortage of human touch, when Rick left the stage and traversed the crowd and venue floor for about half the song, “Human Touch”, making for many happy fans. One of the many highlights of the night and another treasured experience form the many lifelong fans who were present that night.

The night rounded out with “Love Somebody”, “Jesse’s Girl” and “Kristina”. All in all, this was a great show and a night of great music. Rick Springfield has a list of continuing tour dates throughout 2018, check out the his webpage for an updated list of tour dates and cities. Don’t miss this performance if it is at a city near you.

http://rickspringfield.com