05.05.21 Mandalay Bay

Las Vegas, NV

Setup:

I had just finished my graduate degree in Library Science at the University at Buffalo and needed a break.  A few weeks earlier I had been trolling ticketmaster searching to see if anyone I was interested in was playing shows anywhere.  Typically, I would search for bands like Phish, or Trey, or Spinal Tap, and every once and a while I'd search for Stevie Wonder.  Never having seen him before and growing up listening to my parents playing his records (yes records) I knew most of his songs and viewed him as an iconic figure.  To say  I was startled when I found he was preforming at Tiger Jam VIII an annual benefit that Tiger Woods puts on would certainly be an understatement.  While its hard to remember exactly I doubt I hesitated and most likely just purchased the tickets.  I knew the show would happen soon after graduation and like I said I needed a break.  So Kristy and I headed out for a four night jaunt in Vegas.

Stevie Wonder:

I was really excited going into this show and totally disappointed when I realized there was no event poster.  Anyway if you can make out the setlist on the right you can see he started out strong and just kept it going.  I definitely don't know the names of all the songs and did the best I could scrawling on the back of a Mandalay Bay cocktail napkin. What can I say hearing Higher Ground was awesome it built and built.  One thing I really started to notice at this show and this is by no means a criticism but rather an observation but my god every song is about love!  Back to the show,  our seats were good, just off to the left of the stage not too far back on the side and we were diggin' every minute of the experience.  I was having flashbacks of my living room when I was growing up hearing the music again.  I kind of felt like I was representing the family 'cause I know my parents would of loved to have been there.  Truthfully I was waiting for Superstitious, and I doubt there were many in the crowd who weren't. Finally, it started and as the groove was just beginning I heard this little guitar riff that was real familiar.  What happened next I'll never forget as my panties melted right off me.  Off to the side of the stage I saw this little man in a purple unitard ripping up the guitar.  There he was, Prince jamming along with Stevie Wonder playing Superstitious.  This has to be one of the top ten concert moments of my life, I mean come on Stevie Wonder and Prince on the same stage, that's right Stevie Wonder and Prince.  Neither of these guys play many shows to begin with (I'd been searching for Stevie Wonder tickets for a couple of years at this point) and here they both were right in front of me.  After superstitious things got a little weird.  Stevie started getting the crowd to sing along with this Tiger Jam groove which was alright but seriously I didn't pay over a hundred bucks a seat to listen to the idiot next to me sing, and frankly I think Prince was with me.  For the first few stanzas Prince kept looking over at Stevie and trying to play but Stevie just kept the sing along going, eventually Prince had this real unhappy look on his face and he unplugged and walked off the stage.  His tech was on stage within a minute or two reeling up Prince's cable while the show was still going on.  I don't at all want to represent this as an unpleasant experience I was shocked that the two were on stage together to begin with.  Prince had headlined the show the year before so I'm thinking he stopped in to jam a little.  The rest of the night is kind of a blur.  I imagine after the show we wandered the strip for a few hours and returned to our hotel Terrible's (just off the strip). 

Counting Crows:

 I'd never been a counting crows fan and really didn't care who was opening for Stevie but I will admit that this show was pretty sick.  I think as good as it was much of the "awesomeness" was the product of Boyd Tinsley the fiddle Player for the Dave Matthews Band.  This was the second time I'd seen him and he tears that freakin' fiddle up.  I don't particularly remember many songs from the show right now but funny as it was for the next 2 or 3 days there were counting crows songs in my head and not so many Stevie Wonder songs.

The rest of the trip:

The rest of the trip was filled with shopping and eating at as many amazing places as we could afford.  There was some gambling though not too much and certainly with little success on my part.  Kristy on the other hand hit the slots for a couple of bills and bought us tickets to Cirque de Soleil's "Ra".  This was an awesome show but more on that later.  On our last full day there we decided to rent a car and head out to play some disc golf and enjoy the area.  We played a pretty sweet course that although mostly flat was well manicured with in ground springlers which often became hazzards for us playing in the fairly early morning.  After the round of golf we headed to a canyon and took a couple of mile hike.  We'd had enough of the strip for one trip and this was just what we both needed.  So much more to write  and clarify but this is to be left for another day.