LeAnn Rimes Concert

Tuesday, July 21 - Hamilton

Last Sunday evening, we attended the LeAnn Rimes concert at the South Shore Music Circus in Cohassett. If you remember, Sunday was warm and humid. If you've never been to the SSMC, especially on a warm, humid evening in summer, believe me when I say you haven't missed anything.

We arrived in Cohassett fairly early, so we went to dinner at the Blackstone Tavern, which is located on Rte. 3A, just before the turn to get to the Music Tent. Dinner was very good, and the tavern, itself, was very new. Every waitress/waiter had a trainee working with them. The tables were set with white linen cloths, and there was also a good-sized bar/lounge area. Prices were moderate, food was excellent and well presented. Since it was early, the tavern was fairly quiet, so we were able to have conversation while we ate.

After dinner, we made our way to the tent. We arrived at the parking lot at about 7PM, and waited in the car while we finished our Dunkin Donuts coffees (they would not allow you to bring in anything to eat/drink). Upon entering the venue, we walked around a bit, since it was still early. We purchased a bag of popcorn and a bottle of water before going to our seats, and waited outside in the shade for a few minutes. When we did finally enter the tent, it was warm inside. People already seated were fanning themselves with their programs to keep somewhat cool. I was thinking about how the performers were going to handle the mugginess.


At 7:30, the opening act, Chad Berman (who, incidentally, hails from Pepperell, MA) and his accompanist took the stage and performed for 30 minutes - to "warm up" the crowd. By the time they finished their set, both were sweating profusely! The announcer informed us that there would be a "short" intermission while the stage crew reset the stage for LeAnn. I should mention here that the time was now 8:00. By the time Miss Rimes took the stage, it was 8:39! The only good thing about the wait was that, by the time she did arrive on stage, they had managed to "cool down" the stage area a bit by blowing cold air down onto the stage from above.


As I said, LeAnn took the stage at 8:39PM to thunderous applause. She opened with one of her newer songs, and it was at that point that we realized that the sound tech had the mic amps set TOO HIGH! It was almost impossible to understand what she was saying, plus she was being drowned out by the volume of the music being played while she sang. This was a big turn-off for us, because we thought that we would really enjoy the concert in this smaller venue. We had seen both Anne Murray and Trish Yearwood in small concert halls (Lowell Memorial Auditorium and North Shore Music Theater, respectively), and enjoyed them immensely. But we could not say the same for the LeAnn Rimes concert in Cohassett. Her show ended exactly one hour after it began, at 9:39PM. After about 4 minutes of applause, she re-took the stage for an encore (one song, thankfully), then bid the audience good night, and left the stage for good!

The next day, Monday, I got an e-mail from Ticketmaster asking me to write a review of the concert, which I was only TOO HAPPY to do! The review I wrote was very critical of both the theater and the sound system. What I found out, as I tried to submit my review, was that plenty of other people felt the same way we did. How did I find this out, you ask? Simple. When you write a review, they ask you to enter a "nickname" instead of your real name (for obvious reasons). My first attempt at a nickname was "Feeling cheated", which was rejected - no spaces, max 25 characters. I then tried "NOTHappy", but that had already been used! Next, I tried "Disappointed", but that, also, had already been used! I also tried "Robbed", "fleeced", "Cheated" - but all of these had already been used. Finally, I typed in "Screwed" as a nickname, and that WAS accepted! Not many happy concert attendees on Sunday night, eh?

So, my advice to all is, if you wish to see a concert/performance at the South Shore Music Circus, do it on a COOL evening, and make sure the performer does not have a LOUD band!

To top off the evening, the "cape" traffic on Rte. 3 North was bumper-to-bumper at 10PM Sunday night on our way home. Didn't really break free until we got about half-way into Boston on the "expressway?!?". Great, freakin' great! I love Massachusetts in the summertime, especially the South Shore!

Our next adventure begins this coming Sunday, July 26th, as we head down to the Comcast Center to see Toby Keith in concert. We will take the motor home down, and we have reservations to stay at Normandy Farms Campground in Foxborough Sunday night. On Monday morning, we will begin our trip down to Nashville, Tennessee for the week. Be sure to check back next week for details of our "Anniversary" trip.

Until then, Vaya con Dios!