Chico California Hears the Great "News"
By Tammy Sumner
HLN Today Reporter
Huey Lewis and the News played in Chico, California on October 4, 1997. There was rumor of a Business Expo at the fairgrounds and that's why Huey and the guys were there. The fairgrounds were empty that night except for where HLN was playing. The stands seemed to fill up pretty fast. It was general seating all around, so fans got there early so that they could get good seats for the show.
"Box Set", an upcoming band, also from the Bay Area opened for them.
HLN took the stage at approximately 9:15 PM. When they took the stage
the crowd roared. Huey and the guys played a lot of the traditional Huey
Lewis and the News songs that night. Songs such as: "Heart of Rock and
Roll", "Heart and Soul", "If This Is It", "I Want A New Drug", "Doing
It All For My Baby", "Stuck With You", "Power of Love" 
and "Working For A Living". They also played the somewhat newer "Couple
Days Off" and a few songs from the Four Chords and Several Years Ago album.
They only played two brand new songs and those were "I Never Think About
You" and the more bluesy sounding "Plan B". They also did two a'capella
songs, "60 Minute Man" (which the women fans loved) and "It's All Right".
HLN was having a great night performance wise. They were really getting
into the music and the fans were too. The energy was high that night.
All of the guys in the band sounded great. Chico, California got a dose
of what Huey Lewis and the News are all about. They should have because
the guys played for nearly two hours. Huey at one point during the show
joked about how if you had to be somewhere early the next day that you
should leave now because he didn't think they had a curfew and they were
going to keep playing. (Of course, nobody left.) Huey also mentioned that
there were a couple of Newsliners (fan club members) there that night
and thanked them for coming.
It was nice to see them playing in Northern California again. (North of San Francisco-- their home.) It was a greatly anticipated event because the guys haven't played North of Sacramento, California for what is believed to be 10 years or more. Some Northern California fans even commented on how the News Brothers (Rob, Ron, & Marvin) were a nice addition to the band and how they give Huey Lewis and the News a better sound. If you haven't seen Huey Lewis and the News yet, you are missing out on seeing one of the greatest bands of all time.
Special thanks to Sean for all his help with the above pictures taken in Las Vegas, NV 9/97.
