Live at the hampton beach casino ballroom, aug 15th
By; kevin fox


First off, i have to say the the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom is a terrible
venue.  it was clearly not designed with a concert in mind. Picture a
rectangular room with the stage slightly inset in the middle of one of the
long sides. around that pack people at small tables, sardine fashion. But i
must thank them for the excellent seats as i was arms length from the stage
and had it not been for the attractive girl at the front, i would have ended
up with a pick from Robert (she also got a kiss from senor hanna - i'll take
the pick, thanks)

the opening act was terrible.  some local cookie-cutter country act. the guy
even had a southern accent in his songs. i wanted to remind him he was from
new hamshah. but if any band doesnt need a warm-up act, its the mavs.

the set list was a wonderful combo of old and new:

Dance the night away
Tell me why
I should know
* Someone should tell her
Pretend
* (Tonight) The bottle let me down
I've got this feeling
Things you said to me
Missing You
Foolish Heart
Dolores
Dream River (acoustic)
Can't Help Falling in Love (acoustic)
>From Hell to Paradise
* Guantanamera
What a Crying Shame
I dont care if you love me anymore
Save a prayer
-
Here Comnes the Rain
There Goes My Heart
All You Ever Do is bring me down
Dance the night away(?) -->
Twist and Shout
La Mucara
-
* Help Yourself
* The Lion Sleeps Tonight

* - Not on Printed setlist

okay, so i took a peek at the setlist on the mixing desk. i couldnt help
myself. i still got some surprises, though, as there was quite a bit that was
not on there (the astirisked songs, and the acoustic set was just two tracks
labled 'acoustic')

all versions were incredible, not a bad one in the bunch. raul joked after a
slightly botched whistle solo that 'i dont get why you people clap for that.
i still do it night after night, though' he then itroduced the elvis classic
with 'this os one of the most beautiful songs ever written' and was it ever!
it was worth the price of admission by itself.

the old stuff shounded great, all being well augmented by the presence of the
havana horns. the encore was a high energy affair, the first three songs
having little or no pause between them. they then went into what was listed
on the mixing desk as Dance the Night Away. whatever it was it was great.  it
was a slow instrumental which could very well have been DtNA, before an
effortless segway into twist and shout (it may, in fact, have been a long
intro into twist and shout, though)

after a great version of la mucara, they went off and came back with what
seems to have been an entirely impromptu second encore consisting of the tom
jones song 'Help Youself' and 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight' which also included a
neat little instrumental intro jam.

no question: a great show

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