Southside Johnny and the semi-Jukes (who were those guys on keyboard and bass?) played to a well attended although not quite sold out crowd at the Minnesota Zoo amphitheatre. Former Milwaukee Brewer/Minnesota Twin and St. Paul native, Paul Molitor did the honors of introducing the band. Johnny took the stage and said that this was only the second time that he played at a zoo. The first time was a few years ago in Philadelphia and some gorillas ate the horn section!
Maybe it was the hot muggy weather, but the crowd seemed slow to get into the show at first. It wasn't until Bobby took over for "Caroline" that the show really took off. Security (all two of them) was really laid back and didn't care that a couple dozen people left their seats and came down front to dance.
The (Aretha Franklin?) song "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" was very well done and featured the horns to great effect. The old Sam & Dave song "You Don't Know Like I Know" made a welcome return to the set, but other than that, the song list was pretty ordinary.
After Shake Em Down, the house lights came up and it seemed like the show might be over. After what seemed like as much as 10 minutes, Southside and the band ran back on stage to wrap the night up with "Having A Party". This was a great version and was especially fun because Paul Molitor came back on stage and shared vocals with Southside.
There was quite a bit of merchandise for sale and the T shirts for this summer's tour are much nicer than the ones from last year. Jackets were on sale for $75, but since they didn't take credit cards I didn't get one. They look nice, so if you want one, bring plenty of cash to the shows.
First Encore
Second Encore