The best concert at "The Fred" ever

The Citizen has certainly done its share of picking on The Frederick Brown Jr. Amphitheater in the past and not without reason (semi-annual REO Speedwagon/Foreigner shows anyone?), but the kick-off to the 2008 Summer Concert Series was fantastic.

Huey Lewis and the News took the stage Saturday and Sunday night and brought the house down with their many, many hits. They were outstanding. On the way to the concert, my wife and I tried to name all the hits we knew from Huey Lewis and the News and got stumped around eight. Over and over again during the concert, we would lean in and tell each other, “Oh yeah, I forgot about that one.” By the time the encore rolled around, I couldn’t think of what other songs they could play and then rocked out to songs like “Working for a Living,” and “Do You Believe in Love?”

(As an aside, after hearing it live, one could make an argument that “Power of Love” is one of the best songs of the 1980s.)

On the way home, after a great time with perfect weather and polite fans, we tried to remember all of the shows we had seen at “The Fred” over the years and how this compared. The Huey Lewis show was easily the best concert we have ever seen there.

Maybe there needs to be more Sunday night shows in the future.

The remainder of the acts on the first part of the concert series certainly don’t have catalogs comparable to Huey Lewis and the News, but hopefully “The Fred” will have more weekends like this one.

I also hope that this show sends the message that it is time to have more acts from the Huey Lewis era (and perhaps even more recent) and less from the Doo Wop era. It was a younger crowd than I have seen there in the past and it was the most fun I have ever had at "The Fred.

Doobie Brothers #1 at Fred

Submitted by blazing2006 on Mon, 05/05/2008 - 1:11pm.

I have seen Huey Lewis before and they do put a good show on. I took my wife to see Bon Jovi this past week so there went the spending money for a while ($$$$$). I have to say though that the Doobie Brothers still have "the best concert ranking" at the Fred for me. I have been going to concerts now for ten years and they were amazing and in my opinion "the best". You know I am still trying to figure out how they got them in a venue this small since almost all of the places they play are triple the size of the Fred.Glad it was great concert and you had so much fun. Wish I could've been there.

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The Best Fred Concert

Submitted by borntorun on Mon, 05/05/2008 - 7:48pm.

I thought Huey Lewis was a good concert also but agree with blazing2006 that the Doobie Brothers was "the best" at the Fred. Would love to see them back again!

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