This just in from BPD member BackFromIraq:
Cheech and Chong were un-effing-believable.
Shelby Chong opened the show. She was damn funny and got things started nicely with her sex, drugs and Cheech and Chong jokes.
Cheech wanders across the stage looking trim and healthy and we're off into Up In Smoke. The Led Zeppelin joint, now updated with some ky jelly is a CLASSIC!! From there we're off into Mexican in Space, Let's Make A Dope Deal, Bob and Margaret, Blind Melon, Red and Earache My eye with Alice Bowie, Ralph and Herbie, Old Man In The Park and the great sing-along of Born In East LA with a little Beaners mixed in and the finale of the Up In Smoke theme song.
Periodic smiles from Cheech Marin, as he quickly and seamlessly regressed back into each of his classic characters, melted the crowd's collective heart. Cheech literally had us crying with laughter throughout the show. He is a deeply important modern media figure for my wife's Latino community. One can only imagine what will take place between him and his increasing Latino audience particularly in certain other venues. Cheech masterfully cements a sheer connection with his audience and there is an electricity that forms quickly between him and those who watch his performances.
Tommy Chong was golden in every sense of the word. His sincerity, his unbridled authenticity and his strong and refreshing sense of social critical purpose, provoked tender and at times, socially angry emotions in the audience, which he masterfully channeled for them into deep belly laughs. What a powerful formula Tommy, linking the lightly psychedelic and profound emotional attachment of the audiences' collective memory of Cheech and Chong, with a gentle expanding of their social and political consciousness.
From backstage, it was easy to see that everyone was having a good time. Do I have to say how great it was to meet them?
There's a lot of water under the bridges of those two, yet there were times when the chemistry between Cheech and Chong seemed as strong as ever.
The tour schedule for early 2009 shapes up like this:
1/2/2009 Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun Arena
1/3/2009 Verona, NY Turning Stone Casino Event Center
1/3/2009 Verona, NY Turning Stone Resort & Casino
1/8/2009 Nashville, TN Ryman Auditorium
1/9/2009 Dallas, TX Majestic Theatre
1/15/2009 Mescalero, NM Inn Of The Mountain Gods
1/16/2009 Omaha, NE Omaha Civic Music Hall
1/17/2009 Kansas City, MO Kansas City Music Hall
1/18/2009 Saint Louis, MO The Pageant
1/23/2009 Grand Ronde, OR Spirit Mountain Casino
1/24/2009 Spokane, WA INB Performing Arts Center
1/25/2009 Sacramento, CA Memorial Auditorium
1/29/2009 Cincinnati, OH Taft Theatre
1/30/2009 Cleveland, OH PlayhouseSquare
1/31/2009 New York, NY Radio City Music Hall
2/5/2009 Elizabeth, IN Horseshoe Southern Indiana
2/6/2009 Bossier City, LA Horseshoe Casino & Hotel / Riverdome
2/7/2009 Tunica, MS Horseshoe Casino
2/20/2009 Milwaukee, WI Potawatomi Bingo Casino
2/21/2009 Columbus, OH Palace Theatre
2/22/2009 Green Bay, WI Oneida Bingo & Casino
2/26/2009 Lemoore, CA Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino
2/27/2009 Shelton, WA Little Creek Casino
2/28/2009 Santa Rosa, CA Wells Fargo Center For The Arts
3/6/2009 Pittsburgh, PA Benedum Center
3/7/2009 Reading, PA Sovereign Perf. Arts Center
This is history in the making and you could see it all from backstage. For complete info, visit BackstagePass Direct.
