I think you’d be surprised to know that even though I’ve been a fan of Rick Springfield since 1981, the first time I saw him in concert was at the Corn Palace in 2008. It took me 27 years to see him, and I was not disappointed. Fast forward to 2017 - I've now seen him five times! Two of those shows have been "stripped down."

The "Stripped Down" show is just Rick and his guitars on stage. He tells stories about his life and shows memories on the big screens. This is the third time Rick has played Grand Falls Casino in Larchwood, Iowa. His full band played in 2011 and he did his Stripped Down show in 2014. The show on April 29, 2017 was different from his first Stripped Down show with lots of different stories we hadn't heard before.

Accompanying Rick on many of his songs was his "band in a box." It was his Apple laptop with a few backing tracks Rick had recorded.

Here's the list of songs from the show along with some of the highlights. Check out the photo gallery above to see some of the photos that accompanied the stories.

  • I Get Excited
  • Affair of the Heart
  • Me & Johnny - a song about Rick's longtime friend and former band mate. He and Johnny used to steal guitars and sell them, then used the money to buy a car, which in turn, was stolen.
  • Light My Fire - Rick was just in his teens when he and his band were sent to perform for the soldiers in Vietnam and this Doors song was one of the songs they played.
  • Oh Well (Fleetwood Mac cover)
  • Love Is Alright Tonite
  • Jessie's Girl / Stacy's Mom / 867-5309 - Have you seen the meme that says "What if Jessie's Girl was Stacy's Mom and her number was 867-5309?" Rick did a mash up of the songs.
  • Inside Silvia - Hitting all the high notes, Rick used the assistance of cell phone guitar app as his backing musical track.
  • Rollin' and Tumblin' - Rick used to play in a blues band so he showed he could play a blues song using one of the many guitars he brought along.
  • Human Touch - During this song, Rick came into the crowd and high-fived and hugged several concert-goers...including ME!
  • Don't Talk to Strangers - A song he wrote for his wife. In his early days of touring, he wasn't behaving while he was on the road and thought his wife was also being unfaithful...she wasn't.
  • Baby Blue - Rick told about an encounter he had with Todd Rundgren who produced this song for Badfinger. He drove 8 hours to Todd's house to write a song together, only to find out Todd didn't really write songs. While there, Todd gave Rick some dope that didn't have a very good effect on him and it was the last time he smoked it.
  • 4 Billion Heartbeats - A short song Rick wrote for his mother who passed away in December 2016. He said he'll eventually write a longer song.
  • My Father's Chair - A song he wrote for his dad after he passed away in 1981. There were not a lot of dry eyes, including Rick's, in the venue after those songs.
  • I've Done Everything for You - A song written by Sammy Hagar. Rick said Sammy sent him some bottles of tequila and a note that said "you've done everything for me." Rick's sons eventually found the booze and drank it.
  • If Wishes Were Fishes - A quirky song Rick wrote that really let you know what Rick thinks about. He's changed the lyrics every time I've heard it, but you can see the original lyrics here.
  • Love Somebody - From the movie Hard to Hold that also starred Patti Hansen, Keith Richard's wife. Rick was giddy when he got to meet Keith.
  • Jessie's Girl - Yes, there really is a "Jessie's girl." After Rick dropped out of high school, he thought he could become a stained glass master, so he took some stained glass classes. He met the girlfriend of a guy named Gary. He really liked this girl, but she wanted nothing to do with Rick, so Rick wrote a song about Gary's girlfriend.  That didn't sound good, so eventually he changed Gary's name to Jessie and wrote a song about "Jessie's girl."

After the show, there was a short Q&A.

The crowd loved Rick. It was nice to hear such personal stories and get a look into Rick's life.

Here's a video featuring the mashup of "Jessie's Girl/Stacy's Mom/867-5309" and then one of just "Jessie's Girl." FYI: that is NOT me saying "right here, Rick" in the "Jessie's Girl" video.

 


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