We see a LOT of shows ... well over 40 this past year alone ... so narrowing them down to pick the ten best is a difficult task. (So difficult, in fact, that this year we have once again listed our Top 20 Shows instead!)
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You can catch Rick all over the Chicagoland area in the months to come ... just visit his webpage for all the latest details: http://ricksaucedo.com/pages/schedule/Schedule.html
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We'll be counting down our Top 20 Favorites over the course of the rest of this week ... so please check back daily to see where some of your favorites finished on the list.
I will say this ...
A couple of shows that we were really looking forward to seeing (based on previous performances) were a bit of a let down this time around as the acts didn't measure up to the standard they had set for themselves the last time we saw them.
Others seem to pour everything they've got into every performance, which makes for a very special experience for the audience ... we've given especially high marks to these artists this year.
And, we've got a few "newcomers" on the list as well ... acts we've never seen before who knocked us out right out of the box.
Rather than list our biggest disappointments, let's focus instead on the positive as we count down
THE OFFICIAL FORGOTTEN HITS
TOP TWENTY SHOWS OF 2017 LIST
#20 - Rick Saucedo (May / The Chateau in Normal, IL)
Say what? Rick Saucedo? The Elvis Guy???
Yes … we caught Rick at a special performance during an Oldies Weekend down in Normal, IL, and, incredibly, with just Rick on stage singing to pre-recorded, piped-in background music, he put on an incredible show of Elvis classics. (I think what impressed me most was the way he did his first set as "Vegas Elvis", dressed in the white jump suit with the scarves and doing the "big band" versions of his hits … but then came back in Set Two as 1960's / Movie Star Elvis … and was able to modify his voice and vocal arrangements to sound just like the much younger Elvis of the day.
Rick's been around doing the Elvis schtick for a LONG time now … over 40 years! … but he 's still got the magic to captivate his audience. (Word of mouth has always been good ... and I watched him win over quite a few new fans who had never seen his show before that night ... but had heard about his incredible career.)
From my original review:
Rick Saucedo has now been doing Elvis longer than ELVIS did Elvis!!!
2017 marks his 45th year as one of the premier Elvis impersonators ... he's traveled the world, played Elvis on Broadway and entertained fans here in Chicago for four and a half decades ... and he still plays the part to perfection ... the minute you hear his booming, powerful voice, you are completely drawn in. Even after all these years, he still makes for a very believable Elvis. (It's that incredible voice ... the moment he opens his mouth, you are transported back in time ... it's actually a bit eerie in a way ... he sounds that much like him. But all these years of experience have allowed him to prepare and present it as perfection. It's automatic now ... he opens his mouth and this is what you hear ... Elvis comes out and it sounds like the real deal.)
In reality, the show was pretty much Elvis karaoke ... there was no band ... just a laptop loaded with instrumental tracks and two female assistants ... one to run the board, stopping and starting each track precisely on cue for each new song ... and one to hand him bottled water and towels to mop up along the way.
It has to be kinda weird to be up there on the stage all by yourself with no support band ... but I think Rick has been doing this for SO long that he's comfortable now in any setting, even if it means just movin' and groovin' all by his lonesome. It's just what he does ... and all he's EVER done ... so playing Elvis has become more of an instinct. (That being said, he still seems to truly enjoy it ... it's all he's ever known ... but he's a master of his craft and at the top of his field ... he has earned the right to be "The King" ... and doesn't appear to have lost a step along the way.)
I was completely impressed by his voice ... in fact, it seems stronger and more powerful than ever ... yet he can still bring it down for a tender moment or two, rendering a much "younger Elvis" sound in the process, while he performed Elvis' hits of the '60's and assorted movie tracks.
All-in-all, a very entertaining night ... but now I want to see him with a real band ... or better yet, a rock group with a small orchestra section.
You can catch Rick all over the Chicagoland area in the months to come ... just visit his webpage for all the latest details: http://ricksaucedo.com/pages/schedule/Schedule.html
19 - A Salute to the '60's - The Grass Roots / The Buckinghams / Herman's Hermits (starring Peter Noone) (Star Plaza / January)
This was a fun show as all three of these artists produced some of the best feel-good music of the ‘60’s (or any other decade for that matter!) Helping to make this night extra special, each artist also donated a pair of tickets so we could take a few of our Forgotten Hits Readers with us to the show … so it was a really fun night. (The show we saw in January was the 26th Anniversary Show of these same three artists performing at Star Plaza in Merrillville, Indiana. Sadly, this venue closed their doors for good last month after providing decades of some of the biggest shows and artists to hit our area.)
We got to visit backstage with Mark Dawson of The Grass Roots and Carl Giammarese of The Buckinghams before the show and both were looking forward to taking the stage. (Incredibly, that same night, before any of the artists went out to perform, they all signed contracts to come back again in January of 2018 and 2019, making it TWENTY EIGHT consecutive years … as a result of these recent changes, these shows have since been moved to another venue.)
From my original review:
We saw Herman's Hermits (starring Peter Noone), The Buckinghams and The Grass Roots at Star Plaza in Merrillville, Indiana, on Saturday Night (the 21st) and, as expected, ALL of these artists put on an incredible show. (They are seasoned veterans, after all ... and the music just doesn't get much better than this ... whether it be the '60's or fifty years later.)
The Grass Roots kicked things off with a great set of music that included the hits "Sooner Or Later,""Temptation Eyes,""Midnight Confessions,""Heaven Knows,""Let's Live For Today" and "Two Divided By Love" ... plus more, including "Don't Pull Your Love Out," the Hamilton, Joe Frank and Reynolds hit that The Grass Roots turned down back in 1971. (A shame ... as the song went right to #1 for the newly formed singing trio with the law firm name.)
After a brief intermission, The Buckinghams came out and they played all their big hits from the '60's ... as well as a medley of hits by recent Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Inductees Chicago, who (back in 1968) they recommended to their manager at the time, Jim Guercio, as being worthy of checking out ... and the rest, as they say, is history. They sounded great with The Buckinghams horns in full force. The big surprise of their set was their stripped down version of The Beatles' classic "This Boy," featuring the beautiful harmonies of Carl Giammarese, Nick Fortuna and guitarist Dave Zane, who just may have turned in the best vocal performance of the evening on this one.
And then, after another short break, the ALWAYS entertaining Peter Noone and Herman's Hermits took the stage. He turned in yet another brilliant performance of numerous Hermits hits from the '60's as well as various other hits from The British Invasion like "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" (a song that Peter said makes Herman's Hermits songs sound far more intelligent!), "Ferry 'Cross The Mersey", "Love Potion Number Nine" and "For Your Love", the Yardbirds hit that Herman's Hermits actually recorded first. (Truth be told, the same can be said of "Bus Stop," later a hit for The Hollies ... as well as a song The Grass Roots performed during their set, "Where Were You When I Needed You", which became their first Top 40 Hit back in 1966!)
Peter was in excellent voice and humor (LOTS of new bits this time around) and particularly excelled on his reading of "Listen People," a #3 Smash in 1966. Another personal favorite for me was "I Gotta Dream On," a Herman's Hermits B-Side that I think stands right up there with their very best hit material. He also ventured out into the audience to perform a couple of songs and meet some of the fans ... a very exciting and entertaining night of music all 'round.
Collectively these three groups featured some of the very best music of the '60's and early '70's.
18 - Timothy B. Schmit - City Winery (April)
I didn't really know what to expect seeing Timothy B. Schmit in a solo show.
I mean, I love his voice … and he's been a GREAT compliment to The Eagles (and, at the time, after the passing of Glenn Frey, it was uncertain that The Eagles would ever perform together again. Of course by now you already know that they've put together a full-scale tour for 2018 with Glenn's son Deacon and Country Superstar Vince Gill onboard as new members of the band. Doubling up in certain cities with Jimmy Buffett or James Taylor, this looks to be one of the major tours of 2018)
What I liked about the Timothy B. Schmit show was the fact that, although I wasn't familiar with most of the music he played, I enjoyed all of it … enough to come home and download some of his solo material just because I was so impressed with what he played.
From my original concert review:
He's a soft-spoken guy with an absolutely pure and beautiful voice ... and, to my surprise, played nearly all upbeat material, rocking out FAR harder than I ever would have expected. (Schmit played to a near capacity house on Easter Sunday Night, the first gig of his new 17-city tour.)
This is one of those shows I enjoyed so much that I wish they'd release a live, dvd of the complete performance so you could enjoy it again and again ... being unfamiliar with most of Timothy's solo work, he completely won me over with a set that never dragged and completely enchanted the crowd. (I've already downloaded seven of these "new to me" tracks ... and just may come back for more!)
Timothy and his band (I guess I can refer to these guys as "his other band" since all night long he referred to The Eagles as "his other band") opened the show with "One More Mile" and we were instantly hooked. Other immediate favorites were "My Hat", "Red Dirt Road", "Ella Jean" (a song about the long vacation his wife took in Hawaii while Timothy labored at home alone trying to crank out his next album), "White Boy From Sacramento" (which really highlighted his trio of female back-up singers) and a killer rendition of the Poco song "Keep On Tryin'", stripped down to just Timothy on guitar while the entire band and chorus rallied around him with spot-on, perfect harmonies. (I will say this ... throughout the performance this group delved into a wide variety of styles and genres ... country ... rock ... gospel ... balls out rock and roll and soft ballads ... and they excelled at each and every one of them!)
During a short mid-set acoustic break that Schmit did on his own, he paid tribute to his recently departed bandmate Glenn Frey by singing an absolutely beautiful version of "Peaceful Easy Feeling" that drew massive applause from the crowd. He didn't do one of his OWN Eagles songs, however, until an hour and forty-five minutes into his set (which is a LONG time to wait for the songs you really came to hear!) ... but he completely satisfied his audience with a touching version of "I Can't Tell You Why", my personal favorite by him. (He did two more Eagles tracks as part of his encore ... the equally stirring "Love Will Keep Us Alive" and "I Don't Want To Hear Anymore".)
All in all, an excellent show and highly recommended if he happens to hit your area.
This is one of those shows I enjoyed so much that I wish they'd release a live, dvd of the complete performance so you could enjoy it again and again ... being unfamiliar with most of Timothy's solo work, he completely won me over with a set that never dragged and completely enchanted the crowd. (I've already downloaded seven of these "new to me" tracks ... and just may come back for more!)
Timothy and his band (I guess I can refer to these guys as "his other band" since all night long he referred to The Eagles as "his other band") opened the show with "One More Mile" and we were instantly hooked. Other immediate favorites were "My Hat", "Red Dirt Road", "Ella Jean" (a song about the long vacation his wife took in Hawaii while Timothy labored at home alone trying to crank out his next album), "White Boy From Sacramento" (which really highlighted his trio of female back-up singers) and a killer rendition of the Poco song "Keep On Tryin'", stripped down to just Timothy on guitar while the entire band and chorus rallied around him with spot-on, perfect harmonies. (I will say this ... throughout the performance this group delved into a wide variety of styles and genres ... country ... rock ... gospel ... balls out rock and roll and soft ballads ... and they excelled at each and every one of them!)
During a short mid-set acoustic break that Schmit did on his own, he paid tribute to his recently departed bandmate Glenn Frey by singing an absolutely beautiful version of "Peaceful Easy Feeling" that drew massive applause from the crowd. He didn't do one of his OWN Eagles songs, however, until an hour and forty-five minutes into his set (which is a LONG time to wait for the songs you really came to hear!) ... but he completely satisfied his audience with a touching version of "I Can't Tell You Why", my personal favorite by him. (He did two more Eagles tracks as part of his encore ... the equally stirring "Love Will Keep Us Alive" and "I Don't Want To Hear Anymore".)
All in all, an excellent show and highly recommended if he happens to hit your area.
17 - Petula Clark (Arcada Theatre – December)
Petula Clark is a living legend … so to FINALLY have the chance to see her perform some of her biggest hits was a real treat for me. (I had seen her before in the role of the mother in “Blood Brothers” to sons Shawn and David Cassidy … but THIS time she was going to be doing the hits that made her an international recording star. (At age 85, I couldn’t believe that NOW she was going to take her act back out on the road … but she also has a brand new album to promote … so it all made sense in the long run.)
From my original review (kicking off with a recap by FH Reader Tom Apathy, who saw her a few days before we did, in Ohio):
She opened the show with You And I / Meant To Be, and then went right into the first hit of the night, Don't Sleep In The Subway. Pet then talked about her friend Peggy Lee, and channeled her, singing Fever. She next talked about starring in Finian's Rainbow with Fred Astaire, directed by a then unknown Francis Ford Coppola, and his friend, George Lucas. In an Irish accent, she sang Look To The Rainbow and How Are Things In Glocca Mora.
My Love was her only hit not recorded in London, but in LA ... but Petula sang the hit as if she recorded it in Nashville.
Next was From Now On, from her new CD ... then into a couple hits from Stella McCartney's Dad (Blackbird) and his former partner (John Lennon)'s Imagine, telling of her meeting in Toronto with John and Yoko.
Petula then sang With One Look, from her play Sunset Boulevard ... then went into a medley of Who Am I / Color My World.
She told a very entertaining story about Charlie Chaplin writing This Is My Song ... and of her meeting with him ... and how she did not get the role in the movie, which went to Sophia Loren, who may have had a better body, but could not sing ... ha! The concert finished up with Living For Today, I Know A Place / Sign Of The Times, When You See A Chance, I Couldn't Live Without Your Love, Downtown and Rainbow. -- Tom Apathy
It sounds to me like Petula put on essentially the same show ... about 75 minutes from start to finish ... and we found her to be in good voice and good spirits throughout. (There were a couple of shaky notes here and there, but overall she put on a pretty strong show. At one point, after a particularly rough finish to a song, her pianist / musical director brought her a bottle of water ... but she rebounded nicely from this point forward.)
In Petula's case, that's saying a lot because the entire performance rests squarely on her shoulders without so much as a single back-up singer to pitch in here or there. (Her band was a pretty stripped-down five-piece, looking a bit like a jazz combo although sounding nothing at all like one ... actually, they were pretty "vanilla" throughout.) She covered the majority of her hits (as described by Tom above), although a few more than we would have liked were performed in medley-form. (She seemed to be favoring some of her show tunes and tracks from her brand new album instead, giving them full-length performances, while combo-ing some of her more familiar material.)
The sold out crowd was very appreciative throughout, awarding her with multiple standing ovations. Oddly enough, for me, two of the stand point performances of the night were quite unexpected ... first, her reading of the Charlie Chaplin tune "This Is My Song" (a #3 Hit in 1967 and never one of my favorites ... but it sounded outstanding Sunday night) and then her beautiful arrangement of Steve Winwood's "While You See A Chance," which had some nice synthesized background sounds and voices mixed in by her other keyboard player.
Petula is not a real dynamic performer ... but came across as very likeable and with a great sense of humor about herself. (Her band didn't really allow or offer anything in the way of theatrics either ... but together they all combined to play a very satisfying evening of music.)
I'm glad we finally had the chance to see her ... and she seemed to be enjoying herself up there. Petula Clark is a voice of our time ... and it was great to finally see her.
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The countdown continues tomorrow in Forgotten Hits!