~ Searchers' USA Performances 2000 ~

Not everything goes perfect, and with me, I should expect a screw-up somewhere along the line. I had asked my employer for the 30th of June off and they rearranged everything so that I couldn't have the day off. On a holiday weekend, I get out of work at my usual time of 5:00 PM to get up to Connecticut for an 8:00 PM show. After stopping at home, I started my journey north on I-95 which crawled for the first 40 miles of my trip, making me waste a good hour (I might have been better off taking the smaller Merritt Parkway and picking up I-95 further north, but who knew at the time). At least the weather was great: bright and sunny, warm with low humidity, perfect to open the sunroof and crank the stereo. It's a 111-mile drive to the Mohegan Sun reservation, mostly following the south coast of Connecticut just before Groton and New London, then bearing north. I arrived at about 8:05 PM in the parking lot, and by the time I made it inside, the show had already started.

The casino belongs to a native American Indian tribe, and the complex is fashioned after traditional Indian motifs, very well done (if you want an idea, check out their website www.mohegansun.com for pictures and a listing of who is playing in the Wolf's Den for free) and much different from any casinos of Las Vegas or Atlantic City. The Wolf's Den is a small amphitheater-setting in the middle of the casino; you could be at the tables and just look across to the stage and see who is performing. There are tables laid out in front of the stage for dinner, if you get there early enough, and beyond that, circling the stage/table area are more tables for just drinks. There are several bars outside the theater if you don't get in (like me) equipped with convenient gambling machines in case you feel you're not spending enough. The stage is a half-circle with plenty of room for most acts, and the backdrop is a wall of rock, such as you would see out on the desert plains, and the light crew bounce colored spots off the rocks. High above is a huge screen showing excellent live video in case you cannot see. It's a bit larger than any of the places I have seen the Searchers, and being that it's open, the sound escapes and you cannot tell if the crowd is singing along or clapping to the music, it just gets lost along with all the noises from the casino.

On my way in, I could hear the band from upstairs, it sounded like "Sugar and Spice", and no surprise, the guys wore their traditional 3-button suits and looked just great on that stage. Frank was his best as frontman, he has a lot of stage presence and he works hard to get any audience involved in the shows. I don't know if these people were tired or a little tipsy, but it took a lot to get them moving. Frank would single certain people out just to carry the conversation, not being malicious. The tempo of the show was almost bang-bang-bang to keep it flowing; in the U.K., the guys can chatter with the audiences, stop for pictures and relate stories, much more relaxed. The crowd looked to be aged around 40's to 50's, and there were quite a few who came just to catch the band, very good to see!