Cinderella in Foxboro, MA -- Live Review
On Wednesday, August 3, the Cinderella tour rolled into Foxboro, MA, so how could I not go? To sum my review up in a few words.....it was a Cinderella show. If you have seen the band live over the past few years, you know what I mean. The band has essentially played the same set and put the same show on for years. Everyone knows that Tom will wear the top hat during "Night Songs," that Jeff and Eric will spin their guitars during the Night Songs-era songs, Jeff will have more costume changes than the cast of a Broadway musical, and that before "Shake Me," Tom will say, "Are you ready to get this place shaking? I said are you ready to get this place SHAKING?"
While it may sound like I am complaining about a stale show, that certainly is not the case. I walk into to a Cinderella show knowing I am going to leave satisfied that I saw a great show and clearly I am not alone, as the show was either sold out, or very close to being sold out. The guys are entertaining live and put some real effort into entertaining the crowd, and above all else, they still sound amazing. Musically, they are as tight as they have ever been. Vocally, you can tell that Tom is holding back some when singing, but as someone who witnessed him at his worst during the Poison/Cinderella tour a few years ago, I fully understand why he chooses not to blow out his vocal cords.
From top to bottom, the set clocked in at about 1 hour and 20 minutes, and contained 13 songs. The addition of "Once Around the Ride" this tour was a nice touch, as was "Long, Cold Winter." Personally, I would love to hear "Loves Got Me Doing Time" or "If You Don't Like It", but again I understand what they are doing. You can't drop the hits and risk disappointing the loyal crowd when you know what they want to hear, and Tom probably does not want to do longer sets for fear of reinjuring his vocal cords.
One brief, stand out moment for me was during "Shelter Me," Tom began playing his saxophone solo, but something was clearly wrong with the horn. He took it off and gave it to a stagehand and said, "It's f---ed up." But what he did next, all "rocks tars" should take a note of... he shrugged his shoulders and just went on with the song. No tantrum that things weren't working properly, no storming off stage, and I can't imagine anyone got fired over it. He rolled with the punches and just kept on delivering a show for the people that paid to see him that night.
The band MASS opened the show, but I only caught 1/2 of their last song, so I can not review their set (but I can, however, review the Five Guys burger, as that was where I was during their set).
On a side note, I will say that this is the second time I have seen a show at this venue, and I think this place is amazing. The club is called Showcase Live, and it is a nice, clean, big room with great stage and lights; but most importantly, the sound is fantastic. It is a bit of a drive for me to get to there, but it is definitely worth the time it takes to get there.