Eddie Money - Barely Alive and Sweaty at Clearwater Casino
Posted: April 22nd, 2018, 1:59 pm
Actually to be honest, I have to give his band credit. They were trying their hardest to cover up for the headliners bumbling and sometimes incoherent ramblings. His daughter sang back up and she was good. His son who looks like he could of been a younger punk rock Stuboy when Stuboy was in high school, did a good job on drums. After the concert, My wife and our friends had a discussion of what it must be like to be Eddie Money's kids. I mean the band Coleflatch has their dad in it although he mostly does background stuff when they are on stage like play a chord or two on guitar and call his sons Stu when they fuck up on stage...which is quite often. So in a way, Eddie Money's band is kind of like Coleflatch only in reverse with the dad as the lead and his two siblings doing back up singing and drums. The rest of the band were hired hands.
So Eddie was up there powering through his hits, although I swear he missed his hit "I Want To Go Back". At one point he told a joke between songs that maybe one person thought was funny. He was unsuccessful in his attempt to get his wife out on stage, and I imagine she was probably too embarrassed. He even said, "This is the best concert we have done all year!" which is a true statement, if it's the only concert he has done this year. It wasn't worth looking up to see if that was the case. He closed with "Take Me Home Tonight" and most of the crowd was into it although I think that opening song for our group just set the tone for the rest of the concert. I hate to say it but it's probably time Eddie retires form singing. He still has it when it comes to saxophone so maybe he could be the next Kenny G. I'm sure he is probably a really nice guy and he was a talented musician back in the 1980's. I wanted to be him for Christ's sake when ever I saw the "Take Me Home Tonight" music video as a kid. I just remember he got to sing on stage and play saxophone to Ronnie Specto and she wanted to be with him. My 6 year old brain thought, this guy is the coolest ever and knows how to pick up chicks.
The highlight of the night actually came after the concert when we went to the sports bar in the Casino after the concert and Eddie's band came in for some drinks and partying. Actually before that, I we saw Eddie Money's son and wife buying some cigarettes at the smoke shop. I told him good job at playing the drums and he fist bumped me. In the bar, everyone was crowding around his daughter who I never got to complement but I think I complemented their guitarist and bass player, telling them nice job playing Coleflatchian style. Our group sat down and had some drinks and had some conversation when the Eddie's son sat with some of his posse in some plush chairs behind us. He saw me and recognized me and gave me another strong hand shake and fist bump. His kids seem real nice and like I said, I am sure Eddie is really nice himself. I would of probably tried to complement him if he did come to the bar that night but he was no where to be seen.
Overall, the concert itself was pretty disappointing mostly due to Eddie not being able to sing anymore. The highlight of the night was hanging with his kids after the concert and getting to brush shoulders with the rich and famous. I don't think we will be going to see Eddie Money again though. He had a good run, he maybe should of stopped 3 decades ago.