Huey Lewis and The News rolled through NY last night and put on a memorable show for all ages.
To be honest, I'm ashamed to say that despite being a lifelong fan of these guys, I have never seen them live. When Huey (who's quite the showman) asked the crowd if there were any first timers, I was one of the many that shouted. Huey then sarcastically said something like "Where have you all been? We've only been doing this the past 39 years?" Laughter ensued and then the band jumped into the next song on their list.
That was a common theme of the night. The band would play a few hits. Huey would interject with some funny anecdotes to get the crowd laughing, and then go right back into another song. Needless to say, there wasn't a dull moment during the show.
So, overall how was the show?
AMAZING!
It was everything I expected it to be. The band sounded as tight as ever. For those of us (like myself) that were too young to see them during their prime in the 80's, this was as close as you could get to experiencing that. Sure, this wasn't the Sports tour, but if you were to close your eyes during the show and imagine you were there, you'd be able to go "Back In Time" and live that moment.
To open the show, the band came out to Heart of Rock and Roll which the audience responded with a raucous applause. They then jumped into My Other Woman, and then I Want a New Drug. Following that was an extended version of Jacob's Ladder, which was one of the highlights of the night that featured a wonderful harmonica solo by Huey. The run time of the song was just over 7 minutes long!
Of course, they then proceeded to play fan favorites like Hip To Be Square, Heart and Soul, and Power of Love. In the midst of all that, they even squeezed in a recent song titled While We're Young. The catchy tune is a testament to the band itself. While they may be getting older in age, they're "not quite done yet" as Huey said introducing the song.
And thankfully for us fans, they aren't done yet. They're still touring with the energy and passion of a band in their 20's. And hopefully, it stays that way for more years to come!
A huge thanks to Huey's manager (pictured with me below) Lol Halsey for setting all of this up.
