Of course, I knew of Neil Sedaka for years. Great songwriter, good singer, underrated musician. But I never saw him in concert until Saturday night at Resorts in Atlantic City.
The Superstar Theater was packed, mostly with a mature, late-arriving crowd. Sedaka did nearly a 90-minute set, and I loved how he arranged his show. But first, he looked great for 79. He doesn't do many concerts anymore, so this was a rare chance to see a true legend live. His voice is still surprisingly strong, and although he changed some keys on higher notes, he was on the mark all night. He was full of energy and in good humor, claiming he was the first artist to play the Resorts theater when it opened in 1978.
Sedaka claims he sold 40 million records in the early 50s and 60s, and the early part of the show consisted of doo-wop type tunes like 'Oh, Carol," "Living Right Next Door To An Angel," Calender Girl," and "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do." The audience ate it up.
His daughter Dara wasn't there, so he did the pretty duet "Should've have Never Let You Go" with his gorgeous back-up singer. He surprised those who weren't too familiar with his career ( Sedaka said he has written between 400-500 songs) with a few songs he wrote for other artists, namely, 'Where The Boys Are" for Connie Francis, and "Love Will Keep Us Together" for the Captain and Tennille. Sedaka recalled that Toni Tennille had a lovely voice, but her husband was "weird."
I loved his new songs too, especially the beautiful ballad "You." "Laughter In The Rain" was near the end of the show and the closer was the slow version of "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do."
He's got a lot of hits, but I missed "The Immigrant" which would've been so appropriate in these times.
It was a good, clean, fun show, a show where you could actually understand all the words, with a small band in a relatively intimate theater on a summer Saturday night. Who could ask for more?
By the way, the older theater has nice sight lines and good acoustics but is not handicapped accessible. We needed to board a small elevator to reach the theater and we were seated about midway in the showroom. Despite all the renovations over the years I was surprised they didn't at least have a ramp to get inside the theater.
My last trip to Atlantic City we went to the Tropicana for a show. This time we were at the other end of the Boardwalk. Our Sedaka show was at Resorts, the oldest casino in AC. Since my last visit there, probably a good 30 years ago, they have renovated a great deal.
We gambled a little at Resorts, which wasn't crowded at all for a holiday Saturday afternoon weekend. Shockingly, I found out the hard way that Resorts no longer has a lower, ADA Blackjack table. The dealer we approached had no answer, and neither did a pit boss I questioned. He mumbled something about "There is no longer a commission" which forced the casinos to become ADA compliant- but shouldn't they want to on their own?
We really wanted to check out the new Hard Rock Cafe and casino. Being a big-time music fan, I was looking forward to viewing the guitars, outfits and instruments on display.
The Hard Rock is glitzy and lavish, but surprisingly, we had to make a large loop to reach a ramp to get from the Boardwalk to the casino floor. Again, not very wheelchair friendly.
I played a little Blackjack a the Hard Rock before we had lunch at the famous Cafe. We had a view overlooking the ocean on a cloudy but dry afternoon.
We decided to walk down to the other new venue, the massive Ocean. I liked it. It has class, is roomy, and we found an ADA lower Blackjack table right near the front entrance. I wish we could've stayed longer at Ocean.
The Boardwalk was crowded on a muggy but dry day, as we checked out the old Steel Pier area, including the gigantic Ferris wheel. Back at Resorts for the show, parking was easy and we encountered little traffic both going to and from Atlantic City.
Who knows when we will be back in AC. it sure is different than when I spent many times down there in the 80s with my late family.
By the way, I really wanted to check out the new Sports Book in AC, and put down a few wagers at the Resorts sports book. Exciting to have the opinion to legally bet on the eagles if you want. I only see sports betting getting even bigger in AC as time goes on.
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