Concert Review: The Rock N Roll Legends Show In Wilmington, Delaware On April 27, 2013

On April 27, 2013, I travelled to Wilmington, Delaware for "The Rock & Roll Legends Show". The event featured Jay Siegel's Tokens, Jimmy Clanton, The Legendary Teenagers, The Tymes, The Passions, The Classics and The Chimes. Each act featured at least one ORIGINAL member. The event took place at a theater called The Grand. The camera policy was strange. The security people radically enforced the policy during the sets of The Tymes and The Teenagers only. Very odd.

The first act was The Chimes, with original members Lenny Cocco and Pat DePrisco. I was buying the ticket while they were on and walked in at the tail end of the last song. I will be seeing them again later in the year so I will be able to post an appropriate review soon. By the end of this blog entry, you will see that I did get to see some of the guys in The Chimes perform that night.

The second act was The Classics, featuring original vocalist Emil Stucchio. The music played and vocals were heard although the crowd wondered where the group members were located. This is because the three of them walked into the audience area from the back!! As you can see from the photographs below, they walked up the aisle to the stage and performed "I Who Have Nothing" down there in the pit! After the first number, they walked onto the stage and continued with "Itty Bitty Pretty One". Next up was a song with back-up vocalist Teresa McClean on the lead called "You Are My Reason To Live" (I believe that was the title). According to Emil, this tune landed Teresa a top 10 single on a New York radio station peaking at #8. The forth track in the set was the top 20 hit "Till Then". "Never Let Me Go" with its well-known chorus closed their exuberant performance. 





The Passions, featuring Jimmy Gallagher, was the third act on the bill. This is one group that I really wanted to see and this time they performed five songs as opposed to their three song set from last month's gig (Review here: ). They hit the stage with "Made For Lovers". This was a great one to get the crowd going with ... and one of my personal favorites. The next song was the soft and heartfelt ballad "This Is My Love". The third number in the set was "I Only Want You". This was followed by "Gloria", a song the crowd obviously recognized judging by the applause. The Passions closed with "Just To Be With You". Last month, I stated that the group has a bunch of other songs that I would like to hear in the future. On April 27, 2013, that wish came true. 



Here is a brief clip of "Made For Lovers":

The url for the above video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAEzhvB8kMk

Here is a brief clip of "I Only Want You":

The url for the above video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydwAUFtvLQI

Here is a brief clip of "Just To Be With You":

The url for the above video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mBfXIsJZDg

 The act that closed the half of the concert prior to the intermission was The Tymes, featuring original members Albert "Caesar" Berry and Norman Burnett. Their performance was similar to and the setlist was exactly the same as their performance and the setlist from last month (Review here: ). Tymes opened with a cover tune, "Love Train", and continued with their own hit single from 1963, "Somewhere" ... a song that peaked at number nineteen. The band's chart topping number one smash "So Much In Love" was performed next after an introduction that included a reference to the cover versions of the track that were released over the decades. Next up was "You Little Trustmaker". It was a top twenty hit for the band in 1974 ... a song way past the days of the Doo Wop Era, but certainly an important part of the history of the group. Much like last month, The Tymes incorporated funny skits into the set.


They tore it up out there and I had an opportunity to tell Caesar and Norman in person after their performance.


Some signed items here ...




I walked up to Jimmy Gallagher and he immediately remembered me from last month's concert in Lancaster. He signed the photo of us taken last month:



I was talking to Jimmy for so long that I missed two of The Teenagers songs! I am sure the two songs I missed were "Goody Goody" and "I Promise To Remember", the first two that they performed last month (Review here: ). I walked in during "Share". The next number was "The ABC's Of Love" and the fifth and final song was the quintessential Doo Wop song of the 1950s, "Why Do Fools Fall In Love". Prior to leaving the stage, the guys parted with some fast and efficient dance moves.

Since security was out in full force, it was easy to film than to take a photo due to the flash of a camera. Here is a screen cap made from a video (I only filmed a few seconds in order to get a decent photo):



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCsvriAncRg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siLcJ3WQr48

 The encore and closing moment featured all of the group members. They performed The Spaniels' hit "Goodnite, Sweetheart, Goodnite".



Jimmy Merchant's cousin helped me to get some items signed and also took this photograph:


Some incredible 1950s memorabilia here ...




Last month I only had Herman's signature on this photo. Now I have Jimmy's signature and Tommy Lockhart's signature. One more to go!