Tour Tales

From HLNWiki

Huey Lewis and the News bring the heat to South Lake Tahoe

By Tammy Sumner -- Wiki-editor

On March 7, 2008, Huey Lewis and the News played at Harrah’s Casino in South Lake Tahoe, Nevada. The South Shore room, where they played, was sold out. It seemed that everyone that was at the concert that night really enjoyed the show.

I went to the concert with Jennifer Green. She’s a fellow Newsliner and also a great friend. Jennifer drove up from the Bay Area and we went to Tahoe together from my place. We were initially concerned about the weather. Going to Tahoe in March isn’t always feasible, due to snow. However, the weather on this day was absolutely gorgeous. We had no weather issues coming home the next day either. We had a great girls night out. Watching your favorite band play and meeting up with old and new friends makes for a great night. We also got to go backstage before and after the show. We saw Rob Sudduth before the show. We got to talk to Sean Hopper before and after the show. We also got to talk to Stef Burns after the show and he took pictures with us individually and together. We were also able to get individual pictures with Huey. Jen asked Huey if he’d take a picture with her and he agreed. After Jen got her picture with him I said, “Can I take a picture with you too?” and he said, “Of course”. So I got a picture with him too. Thanks Huey. Its very sweet of you to spend some time with us and take some pictures. We briefly saw Johnny Colla as well. As he passed by us backstage he said, “Hi Girls”. So, even though we didn’t really get to chat with him, that helped make our night. It was very crowded backstage, but the band was very gracious to spend some time with us. We also got to talk to Lol Halsey (the band’s tour manager) for a bit too. He was very gracious, as always. The band members that we were able to talk to were very gracious and that made our trip, and our night, even more enjoyable.

The concert was amazing. I was a bit concerned that the elevation change might affect Huey’s voice a little, but he sounded just as great as ever. The setlist for the show was as follows:

Setlist:

Long Time Good Time
So Little Kindness
Thank You #19
New Drug/Small World
If This Is It
Heart & Soul
60 Minute Man
Uh Huh
Hurry Back Baby (new jazzy sounding song)
Power Of Love
But Its Alright
Workin For A Livin

Encore:

Do You Believe In Love
Stuck With You
Back In Time

Jen and I had seats in the showroom that were off to the left when looking at the stage. For those of us that know the stage terms, we were Stage Right. ;) All of the seats in the showroom seemed to be good seats. However, Jen and I always like to be closer to the stage, if we can. So during the show, Jen said, “Should we try and get up to the stage?”. I said, “Sure, let’s go for it”. So we went and looked for a way to get up to the stage. We found a path that took us directly down to the stage. We were able to walk right up to the stage and take our places right in front of Stef. He came over to us when we got down there and he played right to us. Huey also walked over to our side of the stage and reached down and touched Jen’s hand while he was singing. Jen was able to get several good pictures of the show while we were down there. We were able to be down in front of the stage for the last five songs of the show. It was awesome to be that close and interact with the band. I was keeping track of the setlist, on my phone, during the show. At one point, the setlist got jumbled up in my phone. I was upset because I wanted to post the setlist to hln.org after the show. I was also sending text messages back and forth to Deb P during the show. Makes me wonder if the band saw that and what they were thinking. Hehehe! I sent her the text messaged because I had called her on my cell phone during the show and she was able to hear part of the show through my phone. So then we had a discussion about it via text messages.

After the show, Stef helped me to get an “original” copy of the setlist. So I was able to post the songs to hln.org in the correct order. (Thanks Stef!) He got us a copy that had two setlists on the same piece of paper. He was so funny when he handed it to me. He told me that I had to share with Jen. So, we cut it in half and I did share with Jen. (So Stef, if you’re reading this. I did share like you told me to.) I was also able to talk to Sean about the new song “Hurry Back Baby” that the band played during the show. He told me that it was the first time the song was debuted to an audience. He also said that he really likes the jazzy feel to this song. I personally loved the new song and I think it has potential to be a great song. Jen seemed to like the new song too.

We were able to meet Angie Annette (hueylewisfan12 on hln.org forum) at the show. She was there with her parents and it was fun meeting all of them. We walked out of the Showroom with Stef, after the show, and we introduced him to Angie. So she was able to talk to him and get his autograph.

We also met up with Newsliner, Kim Smith, after the show. We saw her outside of the showroom. We were all hungry and went over to Harvey’s and had a late dinner at Hard Rock Café. Well I had dessert and Jen and Kim had a late dinner. Jen and I had already been to Hard Rock Café before the show and had dinner. So I wasn’t as hungry as they were.

Then, Jen and I went back to our hotel. I was wired from the show and all of the excitement of the night so I couldn’t sleep. Jen wasn’t feeling well so she tried to sleep, but I don’t think she was able to either. I got online and had to report about the show. I think it was 3 AM before I got to sleep.

The next day, we packed up and went to the Harrah’s buffet for lunch and then we headed home. All in all we had a great time in Tahoe. It was fun to be able to go to see my favorite band with a friend. Having a two year old, it was nice to have a little time to myself and have some fun.