| Summer Celebration Muskegon, MI On The Road With MaggieMay... SueC masterfully took charge at the end of The Moodies Summerfest concert and dragged me (almost dead) and CL out of the venue to the taxi stand she had scouted out before the concert. Our cab driver took us thru back streets and alleys at 60mph and I had the passing thought that he *might* take us out to a field and kill us. It turned out later that all three of us were thinking pretty much the same thing. LOL Well, fortunately, the taxi driver didn't have that in mind. What HE was probably thinking was "how can I get rid of these three women as quickly as possible?" We fell into seats in the lobby bar and I don't think a cold Diet Coke has ever tasted so good. 
I felt very tired, and after a pleasant sit excused myself from their company
to go to bed. Ah, but if only it was that easy! sigh I
got the card key from CL and trudged upstairs, put it in the lock and, nothing.
SIGH I turned around, went back downstairs and across the lobby to
the front desk, not bothering to turn my head and see the Girls watching
me with sympathetic amusement. Babette gave me a lecture on the care
and feeding of magnetic keys and scolded me for having put it next to a credit
card or a battery. I told her that *I* hadn't been carrying the damn
thing, but that didn't stop her. She was bored and I was a moment's
fun. sigh I felt like a small dog jumping in the air to get a
treat which is held out and then snapped away. Finally at the point
I would have gnawed off my hand to get to a bed, she relented and handed
it over. It was cheering to run into someone by the lobby who claimed
to be even more tired than ME. LOL "Knackered" is such a great
English expression, and I would have nodded vigorously in complete agreement,
but I was too tired. Two concerts left and then home was our mutual
wish, and I pushed myself upstairs and to BED.And then I wrote all night! LOL We had a fair way to Muskegon on Tuesday, and it was finally time to check out of our hotel. They were starting to piss us off with a few little things and we were ready to leave their uncooperative and surly wait staff. They made the huge mistake of "messing" with my coffee, and at one infurating late night moment, offered me a last cup of coffee, then THREW OUT the pot without taking care of me. Aaaaaargh! I'm not saying I would have beaten her to death. SueC would have demanded her turn. Staying up all night saves so much time that is otherwise *wasted* in unproductive sleep. ; ) We had planned to leave around 10am, but there it was, 5:30am and I had finished whatever I was working on. (Appleton, I think) I couldn't write any more - I was wearing that "done" feeling and unable to start a new project. There was no way that I was going to even be able to wake SueC and CL up short of smelling smoke, though I "suppose" I could have entertained myself with a jar of petroleum jelly and a feather pillow. Heheheh. I really would have needed a video camera too. Payback is a bitch and these two would have gotten me back if it had been the LAST thing they ever did so I decided to pass on the practical jokes, tempting though it was. I showered and got dressed and joined Milwaukee businessmen for breakfast. Sitting comfortably with a cup of coffee and a cigarette in the lobby was a mistake and I unfortunately found myself relaxing...I barely caught myself drifting off. We got on the road and I was thrown into the back seat like a sack of cabbages. The sun beat into the back window of the Malibu and heated me up like a potato in the microwave. I caught what sleep I could and at some point the Girls woke me wanting directions into Muskegon. Were they kidding? Why did they think *I* would know where we were or where we were going? *I* called the venue yesterday? That was me? Hmmmm I shook the fuzzies out of my brain and brilliantly directed CL to a parking place across from the venue. There was applause all around. Summer Celebration is on the line of Milwaukee's Summerfest. It's another multi-day concert bash, this time at the edge of Lake Muskegon. The Moodies had originally been set for 6:30pm at Heritage Landing, but the website indicated a change (Thanks to LindaB for the heads-up) to the Jeep/Chrysler/Dodge Stage at 8pm. We were darn thankful for the change. 
The drive was long and ridden with traffic and accidents and though we thankfully
weren't involved, we *were* held up by them. I had realized the day
before that there might be a time change, too, and there was. We pulled
in to Muskegon at a none too early 6pm EDT, jumped out of our car and made
our way to the front gate. You really can't *miss* Summer Celebration.
It's right against the water on Lake Shore Drive, next to the railroad track.
There were signs at the front gate forbidding cameras yet again but we ignored
them, picked up our tickets from will-call and journeyed on to the Stage area.
Security was out in FORCE and went through our purses and even felt up the
lawn chair bags to make sure we weren't sneaking any cameras into the venue.
Really! All this effort is becoming ridiculous! CL had a camera
in her purse and they confiscated it. That was pretty funny, since
she doesn't even take concert photos. A tent with turnstiles had been
set up and there was MORE security there. You had to show your driver's
license if you wanted the option to drink, and I like to keep my options
open. SueC and I had to go over to ANOTHER security guard since we
had out of state driver's licenses. The man didn't want to let me in
because I was from Indiana. LOL The venue area was huge and stretched from the stage hundreds of feet to the water. There were no seats - it was a bring your own (with seats available for rent, too). Despite that, they had laid out the grounds in sections. The sections nearest the stage were advertised as "Chairs Only", but there were blankets laid out in the sections behind us. We put our three chairs (thoughtfully provided and packed by CL) as close as we could get without obviously encroaching on other people's space about 15 feet from the front gate center and past Norda. I didn't see any advantage in trying to get closer because the 4 ft gate was SOLID on our side. It was mesh in the center. You had to sit lower than the gate and the stage was at least 10 to 15 feet from the gate and not much higher than it. It was really a poor setup. We were far enough back that we could see the stage and enjoy the ambience (meaning why beat yourself over the head if there's nothing you can do about it). After marking our territory, we walked around the huge field to the lake, passing food stands and rows of port-o-lets. It was WARM and shade was at a minimum. At the very back of the venue, I discovered the most WONDERFUL thing I had ever seen: a people mister. It was a huge round fan that blew cold water into a mist. I stood there forever and wanted to move my chair back there in front of it to watch the show from 300 yards back. That would have been perfect! Elephant ears, corn dogs and Diet Rite Cola (yes, Angel, I said DIET RITE!!! It's her favorite.) on one side and port-o-lets behind me. Who could ask for anything more? THE VENUE I am heartbroken that I don't have any photos of Summer Celebration, because it was one of the neatest sights I've seen this tour. It looked very festive and had almost a medieval flavor with lovely white tents dotting the field, banners flying overhead and from numerous may poles. 
I wouldn't have been too surprised to have turned my head and seen knights
jousting. Hmmmm I may suggest that as an appropriate addition!
The Jeep/Chrysler/Dodge stage was a large tent with two "peaks" and flags
flying from them. It was big - maybe 80 feet across and tethered out
to the sides. There was quite a metal infrastructure under it with
a light stand overhead and across the back behind the drummers and another
at the front of the stage. There were two large poles on each side,
about ten feet in front of me. The green pole had two lights and the
black pole held a set of 24 stage lights. The green poles held the
Jeep/Chrysler/Dodge banner, which stretched across the front of the venue.
I didn't even consider pulling out my dangerous and illegal little camera
and was reduced to SKETCHING the stage in my little notebook. I waited
for someone in authority to come up behind me, grasp my shoulder with a gloved
hand and say Miss, there's no note-taking at this venue before, during or
after the concert and absolutely NO SKETCHING! I'm afraid you'll have
to come with us. And I'll take that pen right now! The area in front of me was crowded and I couldn't see the stage very well. The layout was of the stage was the same as usual. There were stairs down the front of the stage (which did jack for US since there was that gate - lol) The mikes looked well back, several feet from the edge of the stage. I would guess that we were at least 40 feet on the diagonal from TDMH. It was not an intimate setup, but what the heck! We could see them. There was a curtain-covered walkway on either side of the stage and a curtain across the back of the stage where you could see various band members and roadies walking back and forth. Just past the stage, stage right, was an area set up for handicapped seating and beyond that was a large trailer, which I assume was for the Band, keeping them nicely refrigerated until they were needed onstage. I don't know about you, but personally, I *prefer* a nice, cool and fresh, refrigerated Band rather than one that has set out in the sun all day. It's very similar to carrot sticks. There was a large, multilevel scaffolding on either side of the stage, about 20 feet past the stage and all the way to the gate and at least 4 sets of huge speakers were stacked on the various levels. I eyed it with trepidation and fear. Cranes held video screens on both sides of the stage and two more video screens midway back on the field. It's nice to see that someone in power thought about the crowd's view of the stage. My compliments to Summer Celebration, for their consideration. The entrance to the handicapped seating area, the trailer and whatever backstage existed was several feet from me and SueC and we were startled to see one member of the Moodies entourage come out into the crowd not once, not twice, but THREE times. It must have been the lure of the ELEPHANT EARS! LOL Hey! Get me one next time, too! THE FASHION REPORT GE - Jimi Hendrix shirt, black slacks JL - SHADES, black tank top, white long-slvd linen overshirt, leathers, boots(?) Darn it, didn't ANYBODY pack bike shorts? JH - Sherbet pink long-slvd shirt, BLUE JEANS Gordon - Shades, White short-slvd shirt, white slacks Paul - White long-slvd shirt Bernie - Shades, White outfit Norda - Shades There was no intermission, therefore no change of stage clothing. Duh! It was just too far to see anybody's feet onstage tonight. If the studded boots were up there, *I* sure couldn't see them. JL came out a total killer in that fabulous black tank top and white shirt with SHADES. WOW!!! (Of course, no photos were allowed. Wouldn't you just KNOW it.) It was a very fortunate thing that JH came out bare faced, because I don't think my heart could have stood the sight of BOTH The Jays in shades. I guess Norda wasn't wearing clothing at Muskegon...at least, I don't have anything in my notes. ; ) I *do* remember thinking that her shades made me think of The Matrix. It was a great look for her. Bernie looked good in her shades too, but is much too sweet looking to be in The Matrix, Reloaded or not. Norda looks like she could kick some ass in those shades, as does Gordon. JH's new pink shirt looks wonderful and looked even better as the warm evening wore on. Even from where *I* was sitting, I could see how well the hot peach went with the pink. ; ) This was made even better by an additional undone button by evening's end. (I was legitimately far enough away to warrant the use of binoculars for stage details.) There are times when a hot evening is a very, very good thing. I don't think I could EVER get tired of those blue jeans. They look fantastic, and go perfectly with sherbet. We weren't just standin' for Question! I *must* say, The Fashion Report has CERTAINLY been a lot more FUN lately! : ) Rockin' pink shirts, blue jeans, leather, shades - it's been GREAT!!! THE CONCERT The evening began with a very rare occurrence - a warm up band! The two man band Switchback began at 6:30 while the Girls were checking out the lake and *I* was deep in conversation with the People Mister. We could hear them from the Back 40 and got to enjoy them on the outer video screens. I liked them! They'll be back in Muskegon for the Irish Festival for those of you in the area. It's just two guys, two guitars and a lot of heart. We wandered back to our seats and became victims of the afternoon sun. The guys played and played and played - they ran right up to 8pm. There was a good crowd when we got there, but it got bigger as the evening went on, and was probably one of the biggest crowds Switchback had ever played to. One of the guys broke a string and was ably assisted by The Moodies guitar tech, JohnB, and now "they" want one. LOL The only song I recognized was "What do you do with a drunken sailor?" (I have my own thoughts on this, but of course, it *depends* on just how drunk he is!) Hey, it sounded great. Switchback was very enjoyable and they were a pair of cute young guys that didn't mind signing arms and yes, CHESTS after the show. Honey, I sure hope that black marker comes off, or you're going to have a lot of explaining to do! There was a flurry of activity after Switchback finished to get ready for The Moody Blues to take the stage. I noticed Russ carefully going over the keyboards with what looked like a dry paintbrush. The concert? Maybe it was the heat. Maybe it was the SEVEN HOURS the drive took to get from Milwaukee to Muskegon. Whatever the reason, I can not remember a THING about the Muskegon concert except: Norda broke a guitar string. Bernie fell going back to her stand after the New Woos during Singer. (It's ok, folks, she's ALL RIGHT.) JH unbuttoned A BUTTON on his shirt. Despite the 10 plus big speakers, the sound sucked. It was loud, it was distorted, it was truly awful. I could have made a fortune selling ear plugs. 
Nothing else sticks out in my mind. Oh, and JL went DOWN
a step from the stage (I know that bit is pretty shocking) I remember
it was a great concert (ear plugs work wonders), very enjoyable and with
a huge (and in this case, PAYING) crowd. One early unofficial estimate
was 15,000. There were some minor incidents in front of the stage,
mostly involving people at the fence insisting on standing. The crowd
seemed to grow and grow, but was mellower than Summerfest's Milwaukee beer
guzzlers. Summer Celebration had a nice atmosphere and it was a very
relaxing experience. I remember the sight of the rides off to the right
of the stage, the neon against the night, and the feel of my toes in the
grass. It's that easy to be seventeen again. MaggieMay It was beautiful, glorious, We were riding on a wave, With foolish hearts and foolish love, We would give ourselves away... Photos courtesy of SueC, who was also afraid to get out a camera during the concert. |
Clarkston