Well folks it's been 17 years since I've seen Rare Earth perform. I saw the band perform last night. Riverside is 75 miles from home. For me, that's an hour drive. The band looked and sounded great!
Setlist (almost exactly in order):
1. Big John Is My Name 2. Hey Big Brother 3. Smiling Faces Sometimes 4. Born To Wander (I noticed that a little theme from "I Couldn't Believe What Happened Last Night" was incorporated in the first few minutes of the song). 5. Tobacco Road 6. Papa Was A Rolling Stone 7. (I Know) I'm Losing You 8. Get Ready (complete with Floyd's floor toms falling over...he kept on going) 9. I Just Want To Celebrate
It was a great show. I had a great time. Ya know, the guys all were having a great time. I went up to the band to have them sign my copy of A Brand New World. 2 of the guys signed and next thing I know...someone walked off with it. I didn't get to have Gil, Mike or Floyd sign it. Bird and the guitar player did. Bird was nice enough to get me another copy. Next time I'll get them all to sign it. Oh well...I'm not mad. $hit happens right?!
Well, I don't want to blab but it is now official. He played his first return gig last night. The cat's out of the bag.
Yep, this guy is now back with Rare Earth. You know who I am talking about:
Ray,
Thank you for the invite. It's always nice to see you and chat for a few minutes. And to the rest of the guys. Thank you for a great show. I even ran into Floyd at the gas station just up the road after the show. I needed gas and a beverage. I said "Didn't I just see you at the show. I thought it was over". He smiled. Nice guy. Heck, I still needed a RE fix. So I played Ecology on the way home. Yep, I filled my head with dirt.
75 miles and one hour drive? No speeding ticket I hope :)
Great to hear that Ray is back in the fold. Is Ivan still there or did he leave? I like Ivan. He made a very big impression and contribution on Brand New World.
Well maybe an hour and 5 minutes or so. But basically an hour. I saw 6 cops who all had pulled people over on the way there and back. Not me though. I set my cruise control at 72. No more than that. I don't know any real specifics and I didn't know if I should ask, but from what I was told (and I hope I didn't get in trouble for saying so) Ivan is no longer with the band. I agree, his contributions to A Brand New World were quite good and I enjoyed his playing a lot. I wish I had gotten to see him with Rare Earth. But it wasn't until I found this site 2 years ago that my interest/passion with all things RE was rekindled. It had been many years since I listened to RE.
Anonymous,
Why should we "say goodbye to new stuff for now"? I don't get that.
Mark,
That picture wasn't taken at the show I just need a picture from the net to include in my post. I took one picture with my cell phone. I wish I had though to take more, especially when Ray played with his teeth. That was cool...just like he did in 1992 when I saw the band. Oh wow, the sound was there and the spirit was there. Great show.
Well, the set listed is a throw back to when Ray was in the band before when nothing but the same was happening at every gig. Will Rare Earth continue to play new material or just sit back in to the oldies routine?
Ray and I wrote two of the songs on the new CD and we will be playing them as well as others that feature JR singing. We also will be writing and recording new material this coming winter.
Ray and I wrote two of the songs on the new CD and we will be playing them as well as others that feature JR singing. We also will be writing and recording new material this coming winter.
