Last night I saw 80s pop star Rick Springfield at the Tropicana Showroom in Atlantic City, NJ.
Predictably, the nearly sold-out Saturday night crowd was mostly female, age range 40-60. The Trop Showroom is a nice, sparkling yet not overwhelmingly huge venue. Perfect setting!
A pre-concert video, illustrating Springfield's long career as singer and soap opera actor ( he played Dr. Noah Drake on General Hospital) heightened the anticipation. The video screen was used to OK effect all through the show.
Springfield started out the concert with a=en energetic trio of "Light This Party Up", the Sammy Hager rocker "I've Done Everything For You" and "I Get Excited." it was all upbeat all night, with nary a ballad or dull moment.
Springfield was best when he stuck with his more familiar songs, especially those form the albums "Working Class Dog" and "Success Hasn't Spoiled Me Yet." To his credit, Rick hasn't stopped recording. His last album was "Rocket Science", a nice mix of rock, pop and even country. The singer told the audience he has a new record coming out soon, titled "The Snake King." He didn't preview any songs form the new album in AC.
Before kicking into high gear for the rest of the show, Springfield confided that he had torn a muscle in his arm and could not play the guitar ( he is an underrated guitar player). But "I can still move" he warned, and move he did, crossing the stage for a solid two hours. Springfield has always been an agile, athletic entertainer, not one to sit still.
A really good, guitar-driven cover of Katy Perry's "Roar"w as a highlight. Two more songs form "Rocket Science" followed- "Down" and "No One." And, because he had a "broken wing" due to his injury, he gave the crowd a snippet of Mister Mister's "Take These Broken Wings."
There was an oldies melody of hits, such as "Celebrate Youth", "Bop Til You Drop" and "What Kind Of Fool Am I", among others. "Love Is Alright Tonight" followed, another hit form Spriingfield's heydays in the 1980s.
"Don't Talk To Strangers", one of Springfield's signature songs, was an entertaining sing-along. Rick invited several kids form the audience upstage to sing along. Ut was a funny and cute break for the crowd and the singer to relish.
He finished with a rousing "Human Touch" and "Love Somebody", ( a song form the really awful movie "Hard To Hold"), while Springfield went out to meet fans in the front rows ( warning those overzealous fans not to forget about the injured arm).
And just when you thought he was done, Springfield came back with an encore of "Jessie's Girl" ( the one song most younger fans knew) and the energetic "Kristina."
All in all, a good time.
The Trop Showroom is a nice place, but like many venues, their accessible seating is a problem. The section is in the middle of the theater- no big deal- and the aisles are wide. But the accessible section is not elevated, so when the people in front stood up, you couldn't see much. Luckily, after the first few songs, people in the front didn't stand as much.
Venues don't get it. Either put the wheelchair section in the front or elevate it. The site is ADA compliant, but that doesn't make it right. Once again, these venues need input form people actually using chairs to let them know of the good and the bad in accessible seating.
I saw at least four other wheelchairs other than mine at the show last night. Getting out after the show was also a hassle, as there was only one aisle leading to and from the lower seats, so the crowd passed directly in front of the accessible section. Most of the wheelchair users sadly left during the encore to beat the crowd.
For a relatively new setting it was a bit of a disappointment..
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