Show #3909

Darrell & I had the pleasure of seeing Riders In The Sky perform at the Copley Theatre in Boston, Mass for their 3909th appearance of their career.

We started out for Boston on Amtrak on Friday afternoon. They were calling for snow in Boston so we figured it would be easier that way than driving (especially Rte 95). We got checked into our hotel very early Saturday morning and found out that we were only a block or 2 away from the theatre so we could walk over without much problem.

Saturday came cold and kind of grey. The sun came out every now & then but fortunately no snow. We grabbed a newspaper to see if there was any mention of the Riders at all; there wasn't. We walked over to the theatre to see if they had made it from Alexandria, Va. where they ahd performed the night before. Alas no new motor home in sight. So we went sightseeing along part of the Freedom Trail.

Saturday evening we went out for a nice seafood dinner early and the hoofed it over to the theatre. Still no motor home in sight but the doors opened at 7 PM. Darrell figures that they parked underground because when we walked the block earlier he noticed a big garage door leading into the building.

The Copley is a very new theatre that seats only about 500 people on 2 levels. We checked out the sales table for anything new or different and then made our way down to our seats. Fortunately we were lucky enough to have second row seats again; the first two in from the righ aisle.

As we waited for the show to start we started to get concerned about the size of the audience. Right up until show time there couldnt have been more than 100 people in attendance. We started to chat with the couple sitting behind us. They live in the Boston area and said that it was very difficult to find out any information about the concert. No radio or newspaper advertising was done. They said they found out about it by checking the Riders website and then calling around to find someone who would admit to knowing about the concert.

The lady had to laugh when I pulled out my Joey Fan Club Tshirt. I didnt wear it that night as it was 15 degrees outside & I wanted to wear something a little warmer But she saw that I was ready to wave it around and cheer. So she asked Darrell & I if we've attended many of the concerts. We told her that we've seen about 7 so far and gave her an idea of what to expect especially once the Riders had seen the shirt.

Finally about 5 minutes before the concert was to start most of the downstairs portion of the theatre filled up. We guestimate that there were only about 200 to 300 people there.

The Riders came out and started in fine fashion with How the Yodel Was Born. Most of the show was taken up with tunes from the new album: Wahoo, Palindrome, Cimerron Moon, Cowby Camp Meeting, Autumn Down The Trail (One of my favorites), etc... Of course they also did some of the other standards such as La Malaguena, Souix City Sue, Rahwide/ Bowling, Hoop De Do, The Phantom of the Chuckwagon [Dont cry for me Massachusetts], and Joeys other 2 solos Texas Sands and his instrumental.

When Joey first did his bit I started to wave the TShirt and cheer for him. Immediately afterwards Ranger Doug said for me to stand up so that they could see the shirt and asked what was on the back. I stood up & replied imitating Slim the best I could "Play that funky music Slovenien Boy!" and everyone started to laugh. Ranger Doug then said that I would blow Joeys cover in the Witness Protection Plan. He also said that they found Joey along the side of the road with a sign that said "Will squeeze for food".

Question time came and went with a gentleman asking if they would consider coming back and playing with the Boston Pops Orchestra. Ranger Doug replied that they have performed with symphony orchestras before; that they have full scores ready to perform with whichever one invites them; that they would like to play with the Pops; and that the gentleman just won the 8 track. One other question asked was what were they doing afterwards. Ranger Doug said we're going home; its the end of the tour for right now. You could tell the Riders were kind of tired.

The rest of the show was the tribute to Roy and the standard encore. They didnt do Wild & Lonely unplugged though. I wish they had but.... Slim has a new thing now where he throws out his cactie at the end of the show. When we were at Frederick MD last October he tossed it out and the guys in front passed it back to me. This time he aimed the other way.

Anyway we waited for most of the crowd to dissapate before we went out to greet each of the Guys. Everyone asked where was the ice cream. I told them that Roberta had said not to bring it before at Frederick, MD. Slim said not to listen to her. Darrell & I promised to bring the ice cream for BCF in June. Slim & Doug said that they have to think about doing a Joey Tshirt after they saw how much of an impact the ones we had made made on the audience. We left them tired and happy with one more day left in Boston for us and them on the road for Nashville and Idaho that night.