Monday, March 3, 2014

Chuck Negron Concert Review

Chuck Negron says: 
A man wanted to know why I wear dark glasses on stage ... and it was night.  I didn't know it was night. Floyd Sneed and some of the other band members put together this song.  Cory and Danny weren't there.  When they came back they pulled me aside and said, "Man, are you high?"
"That's a good bet, but why are you asking?" 
"You're singing about a freeking frog!"
And, after overcoming frog prejudice and bias, Jeremiah became famous. 
And the phoenix rises from the ashes.  

Floyd Sneed was there!  He played drums and bongos on some of the most memorable songs ever recorded, but I had never seen him perform before and now in front of me the original drummer of Three Dog Night was pounding out rhythms with Chuck Negron as in times past.  Chills.  The concert rang out like my Three Dog Night Greatest Hits album.
Years ago, with two cars full of my kids and their friends, we headed to Meadowbrook Park in Hamden, CT.  "Mom, are we really going to see Three Dog Night?" 
"Well, we are going to see two out of three of the Dogs."  
A few years later, Chuck Negron returns to tour and I tell them, "It is now time for you to meet the third Dog." 
Hence when I texted my son saying I was at a Chuck Negron concert with Floyd Sneed on drums, I received this response.  "Wow, that sounds awesome!  I LOVE Chuck Negron.  Did he perform Eli's Coming?" 
I love my kids.  

I will jump right into 'Eli's Coming' for my son Troy, 
and Kent's Frannie.  OOOOOOMMMMMMGGGGGG!!!!!
They gave the most amazing call / response version I have heard. 
Howard Laravea on a Hammond B3 started stage right with vocal tones.  Danny Mishkit picked it up stage left in response vocals.  This continued for a minute before the words ELI'S COMING rang out from Howard, to be echoed by Danny.  Chuck steps up to the mic and claps for the show-offs (;-P) then hits hard with the strong announcement that ELIIII'S COOOOOMING.  Let me tell you that I had chills way before Eli showed up in force on the stage.  I just hope I never meet him now, but I have definitely been warned.  Frannie, you shoulda' been there!
To quote my son, "Chuck Negron is like a fine wine. He has gotten better with time."  His vocals are strong, and remembering that he was one of three lead singers in the same group staggers the mind to think of the power of three.  Still nothing is lost here with the single.  Starting with 'Family of Man' and ending with 'Joy To The World', this was a dynamite place to be.  A packed house, with listeners at the wall, and autograph signing afterward.   

Here is a change ... no encore.  We honestly sat, just trying to think what he left out that could be an encore (we thought of about four possibilities between the six of us).  Nobody was cheated here in any way.  Floyd was a dynamic beat accomplice, switching to conga and tambourine as needed.  "You guys BETTER say hi to me!  Not bad for a grampa!"  Let me name the other three who completed this tight unit:  Frank Reina on drums and percussion, John Leftwich on bass, and Terence Elliott on guitar. 
I was with a couple of friends who are true-blue Negron fans and they kept telling me, "He's just a really nice guy."  Well, I sent him a short tweet to ask for the names of his band and less than four minutes later there was a return tweet with my answer.  You know, maybe he's just a really nice guy, but he's for sure a great singer. 
-- Shelley J Sweet-Tufano 

With all three members of Three Dog Night out touring to full houses (and sounding GREAT by the way!) it really IS a shame that they can't resolve (or set aside) their differences and team up to bring back one of the greatest and most successful bands of all time. 

We're seeing the "Two-Thirds" version of Three Dog Night in March (March 28th to be exact) at The Arcada Theatre, where Ron Onesti has brought Cory Wells and Danny Hutton back after a sold-out show a year ago.  They, too, have a couple of original band member on board ... and now that Chuck Negron is back playing with Drummer Floyd Sneed, it just seems a natural.  (I'm telling you, a world tour would rake in MILLIONS ... and leave millions of satisfied fans in its wake.) 

Chuck Negron will be back as part of the 2014 Happy Together Tour ... and he'll once-again wow audiences just as he did last summer as a headliner.  Scroll back on The Forgotten Hits Website and you'll find all the tour dates ... and then be sure to pick up tickets when the show hits your area. 

Arcada Theatre tickets are ALWAYS available thru the oshows.com website ... and besides the Three Dog Night concert on March 28th, you'll find an INCREDIBLE list of acts coming up in beautiful Downtown St. Charles!   (kk)