BY MIKE SHALER | Go Venue Magazine
The Summer concert season once again kicks into gear as Eddie Money made his 28th consecutive annual stop at DTE Energy Music Theatre in Clarkston, Michigan [Saturday, May 25, 2019]. Fans young and not so young but young at heart came to party and have a good time as Memorial Day weekend was in full swing.
Opening the show was Sterling Heights, Michigan native D.L. Rossi. Recently moving to Nashville, Tennessee a couple years ago, D.L. has that distinct country rock sound about the ups and downs of life that he and his band performed so well.
Eddie Money walked out to a cheering crowd ready to rock. It’s a been a near three-decade tradition having Eddie Money perform during the Memorial Day weekend at DTE or as the old diehards still call it, Pine Knob. Money is set to have a heart procedure this week and stayed dedicated to keeping his booked shows going because he didn’t want to disappoint the fans.
Eddie was giving the fans what they came for, that sly smile and unmistakable style of play on the sax and harmonica. Belting out a bevy of hits that any recording artist would kill to claim as their own. “Shakin’”, “Take Me Home Tonight”, “Baby Hold On”, “Walk On Water”, “Think I’m In Love” and “Gimmie Some Water”. If you haven’t heard any of these songs, then obviously you live under a rock. I say it’s time you got out from under that rock and listen to some good ole rock and roll.
There were plenty of folks having a great time and a few had maybe too good of a time as the song “No Control” could describe some concert goers lack of discipline to consuming alcohol as I had seen some folks laid out on stretchers while medical staff stood nearby. “Two Tickets To Paradise” may be Eddie’s most famous song, but I think some folks got tickets to the hospital to get their stomach pumped. I was amazed and happy to see so many young fans out enjoying the event, I just hope they learn quickly to use moderation when it comes to drinking alcohol.
Eddie was backed by some talented band members, some of who he made, literally. With three of his children in the band, his sons Julian on drums and Dez on guitar and vocals and daughter Jesse on vocals. With Tommy Girvin on guitar, Lee Beverly on bass guitar, Chris Grove on keyboards and Benito DeBartoli on rhythm guitar. This group kept Eddie going through the night. Eddie would take breaks here and there which gave his kids Jesse and Dez opportunities to front the band on vocals and flash their own skill.
“I Wanna Go Back” is one of my favorite songs of Eddie’s and the crowd would probably say the same thing as it brought them to their feet. We may not be able to go back in time, but we can revisit the songs of that time and play them over and over again. Best of luck to Eddie having his heart procedure and getting a full recovery. I can imagine once he is fixed up, Eddie will be feeling younger and performing to his heart’s content to make the fans proud.
We’re already proud of you Mr. Money. I look forward to seeing you perform again so you can take me and the rest of your fans back down memory lane filling us with smiles and good times. And there’ll be some new songs to learn to sing along to as Eddie will soon be releasing his latest album ‘It’s A Brand New Day’. There’s a lot of rocking and rolling left to be done by The Money Man.
All images © Mike Shaler=====================================
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