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Review from the Emerald Queen Casino
Paul Revere and the Raiders Show
Tacoma, Washington

Friday, May 14, 2004

It's not very often that a Raider date pops up unexpectedly on the schedule. Usually their performances are set months in advance. That way, fans have plenty of time to examine the schedule (at Pollstar.com or the Raiders official website.)

Which made it a very unusual occurrence, in May 2004, when a show at the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, Washington, appeared on the schedule for May 14, 2004. Because it appeared on the schedule on May 6th. Can one plan and execute a concert trip in barely a week? I wouldn't have said that it was possible (of course, I always enjoy planning a trip far in advance and having lots of time to anticipate and look forward to the trip.) I'd already looked at and decided against a trip to see their show on Saturday, May 15th at the Cal Expo in Sacramento, California, which had been on the schedule for quite some time. It wasn't quite close enough to my friends in the Bay Area, and the timing also didn't coordinate well with my work schedule as I had a couple of projects that I was on deadline to finish. But with the sudden appearance of the Emerald Queen show, when I checked and found a reasonable airfare, I decided to take a day of vacation and go and see the show. It was an added bonus that I had several friends living in the Seattle/Tacoma area that I'd be able to visit, as well.

Getting vacation approved, booking a flight, a hotel, a rental car, was all accomplished on Friday May 7th for travel on the show date, Friday, May 14th.

Seattle-Tacoma airport was very nice to fly into. Everything was very green even that early in May. (Something that I hadn't even known I was missing, in drought-stricken Colorado.) I got my rental car and with the help of the driving directions I'd gotten beforehand, managed to find my way to my hotel, which was only a short distance from the venue. Checked in, unpacked, and headed over to see if I could find the venue. After three or four wrong turns, I managed to find the Emerald Queen Casino and parked the car and headed in for a look. Made a complete circuit of the venue and grabbed a snack from the snack bar, since I had had no breakfast (since the plane had left Colorado Springs at 6 am, and landed in Seattle not too long after 9 AM, with the time change and the plane change in Salt Lake City.) Unfortunately, the doors to the showroom were firmly closed. I attempted to ask if I could go in, but apparently the showroom was new (in fact, Paul Revere and the Raiders were the maiden concert in the new showroom for the new Emerald Queen Casino) and the last touches were still being put on the construction so it was dangerous and not allowed to go inside. A casino employee allowed me to peek through the doors, to get an idea of where my seats would be that night, and I did spot Matt setting up for the show. I hung around a little while longer, checking out all of the casino, including the outside environs and the stage entrance, and then headed back to the hotel for a nap.

Since seats were assigned, I did not have to worry about arriving in plenty of time to stand in line for general admission seating. The show was at 8:30 and I arrived at the venue about 7:45 PM, I think. Got to go in, check my seats and talk to a few online friends who were also at this show. My seats were very near the center aisle and in the third row, so I would have a good view of Ron, Omar and Darrin, a fair view of Paul, not so good a view of Danny and a profile view of Doug. I got the camera out ready to take pictures, (since that is what I do, lol.)

The casino was making a pretty big deal out of this being the first show in their new showroom. There were announcements by casino personnel and special effects (which actually may have been standard rather than “special” for the first night) of different smoke and background effects with lighting. (That made for a couple of very nice pictures with the smoke in the background.)

It was really nice to see the Raiders perform again even though I’d seen them about three weeks prior in Sunland Park, New Mexico. They had had one concert in the interim, at Pendleton, Oregon, but I was pleased to see how much more confident all the guys appeared in the music and in their own performances. Darrin looked comfortable when he was the front man and it was really nice to see Omar out from behind his drumset for some solo lead vocal work. And the visual and aural combination of Omar and Darrin on Indian Reservation and the Righteous Brothers medley was awesome! Darrin did a super job with Unchained Melody, it brought tears to my eyes.

It was a fairly long concert. As you can see from the set list below, there were quite a few songs included. The concert started about 8:45 and lasted until 10:25, about an hour and forty minutes. (Haven’t *quite* gotten to that two hour show, but this was a nice one and it came close. It was nice to hear a lot of songs.)

I had a great time after the show talking to other fans as I stood in the autograph line. It was great to get a chance to talk to the guys (although Omar was not talking, in order to save his voice for the performance in California the next night… but he was doing good with sign language and notes.) Overall it was a fabulous night and a great concert, I got to meet some wonderful people and see some online friends and visit a beautiful part of the country. I hope that at some point I’ll be able to visit the Seattle/Tacoma area again, because of my friends there and because of the beauty of the area.

Here’s a setlist from that concert:

Just Like Me
Steppin’ Out
Steppin’ Stone
Where The Action Is
Good Thing
Theme from Peter Gunn
Like Long Hair

1st Raider Medley:
Great Airplane Strike
Birds of A Feather
Him or Me

Hungry

2nd Raider Medley:
Ups and Downs
Mr Sun Mr Moon
Let Me

We Gotta Get Out Of This Place
(Don’t You) Want Somebody To Love
For What It’s Worth
Fortunate Son
Run Through The Jungle
Some Gave All
Let’s Work Together

Righteous Brothers Medley:
You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’
(You’re My) Soul & Inspiration
Unchained Melody

Indian Reservation
Kicks
Louie Louie
You Really Got Me
Born To Be Wild

Encore:
(Get By) With A Little Help From My Friends
National Anthem


And here’s a picture that I took on the Saturday. Although it was a grey day, I think that is fairly normal for Seattle. I was more interested in the people I was visiting as opposed to the surroundings, but it was nice to get down by the Port of Seattle. I saw a couple of ships sailing and ate dinner on the wharf. It was a great time!

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Page last updated 02/21/2005.
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