"It's Saturday Night Out By The River"
By Catherine A. Carr
HLN Today Reporter
Burlington, Iowa; Burlington Steamboat Days; June 19, 1999 - It was a sunny and breezy June 19th in the town with the "most crooked street in the world," according to Ripley's Believe It or Not. Speaking of believe it or not, this was Huey Lewis and the News' first performance in Burlington, Iowa and it certainly won't be the last.
The audience waited patiently in the 80 degree weather for the gates to open at 5pm. While standing or sitting on lawn chairs in line for the festival seating, Huey and the News could be heard entertaining the vendors that lined the parking lot of the Memorial Auditorium with "My Other Woman's Got Another Man," and "(She's) Some Kind of Wonderful." One could also hear "Little Bit of Soap," which features a vocal solo from Sean.
At 8pm the crowd cheered as the News strolled to their places. When Huey walked on stage, wearing his burgundy suit, the crowd stood on their feet. It was definitely entertainment for all, including the hearing impaired, thanks to an individual signing to the audience near stage left. Kids were either sitting on their parents' shoulders or dancing about on the picnic tables. Repertoire included the aforementioned songs minus "Little Bit of Soap." Before continuing, Huey acknowledged Iowa as "backhoe country". Some of the old songs performed were: "Doin' it all for My Baby," "Heart & Soul," and "Power of Love."
The introduction of the band preceded the a capella set. Huey introduced Sean, then Johnny, "Rock of Gibraltar" Bill was next, and last but certainly not least was Chris of the musical Hayes family. "The youngest gem & we have him!" Huey claimed. "60 Minute Man" followed the intros after being dedicated to the ladies. Then Huey invited the audience to get involved with "It's Alright."
The "final" set included: "Heart of Rock & Roll," "If This is It," "He Don't Know," "But It's Alright," and "We're Not Here For a Long Time, but We're Here for a Good Time." Then came the encore, and Huey introduced the horn section before leading into "Plan B" and finally "Workin' for a Livin'."
In short, HLN was in fine form - they left the audience stunned and screaming for more.
