Review & Photos by Joe Schaeffer
The Fremont Street Experience’s Downtown Rocks Concert Series in Las Vegas continued over Labor Day weekend with Rick Springfield, Men At Work and John Waite.
Waite led off the evening with a very short set of six songs. Pulling tunes from every era, the solo hit “Change” and the Babys’ “Midnight Rendezvous” stood out, producing some real energy to the crowd. The better-known hits “Missing You” and power ballad “When I See You Smile” rounded out the 30-minute set.
Colin Hay and his band Men at Work emerged shortly after 8:00 pm to the capacity crowd on Fremont Street. After a set mostly of deep cuts and solo songs, the audience finally got invigorated with the closing string of the band’s biggest tunes. The trio of “Overkill,” “Who Can It Be Now?” and “Down Under” were really delivered in fine fashion. Hay’s voice hasn’t missed a beat and sounded as good as when he began.
Rick Springfield is everything a rockstar should be. He is enigmatic and mesmerizing. His vibrant and energetic performance took him to every part of the stage. He was often seen venturing out onto the speaker stacks and even moving along the barrier and into the crowd. His vocals and playing were consistent, and he was positively enchanting as he chatted with the crowd between songs. He even prompted the crowd to sing to him “Happy Birthday,” even though it was back on August 23 that he turned 73 years old.
His set included hits from almost every era of his long career. Top 40 hits, including “Jessie’s Girl,” “Don’t Talk To Strangers,” “An Affair Of The Heart,” “I’ve Done Everything For You,” “Love Somebody,” and “Human Touch,” were all included on this hot summer evening.
A couple of intriguing moments from the show was the live performance of “World Start Turning,” a song from Springfield’s 1988 album Rock Of Life with lyrics that allude to his depression he has battled since the age of 14. Later, during “Human Touch,” he waded through the crowd shirtless. Heading straight into the audience he made his way back up to the stage as fans high-fived him along the way.
The evening ended with Colin Hay and John Waite joining Springfield and his band for a great rendition of the Free song “All Right Now” as they celebrated the last night of the tour together. A fantastic evening was had by all despite the 100-degree temperature.
