Power Station 2 Concert
San Diego, California
15 September, 1997
by Cheryl Baker
I saw Power Station 2 (PS2) in concert in San Diego, California, on Monday, September 15, 1997. I bought the PS2 second CD, Living In Fear (Japanese edition, two extra songs), in November 1996 through a record import store. Let's fast-forward to mid-1997. I was looking through a free San Diego weekly newspaper called The Reader. Section Two is the paper's Entertainment Section. I believe it has a very thorough listing of music artists/groups who will be playing in San Diego (from well-known to the up-and-coming). I was looking at the 4th and B Nightclub concert listing when I saw that Robert Palmer and the Power Station would be at the 4th and B on Monday, September 15, 1997. Honestly, I was in shock! NO (EXPLETIVE) WAY! Should I go? Well, I know John's not a member anymore. But for me, there were other factors to consider: 1) I'll actually see Robert singing with PO2. In 1985, he did not tour with PS, Michael DesBarres did the lead singing. 2) I'll see Andy Taylor play live after 12 years! I've only seen this man twice: Duran concert in San Diego, April 1984, and PS in San Diego, July 1985. 3) I'll see Tony Thompson, who I think is a very talented drummer. 4) The venue, 4th and B Nightclub, is a small place, so I believe the concert will have a nice atmosphere. Well, after thinking those reasons, the choice was obvious: get in the car, go to downtown San Diego (where 4th and B is located) and buy that ticket!
Before I knew it, it was the night of the concert. It rained a little bit that night. I went inside the building and headed for the souvenirs stand. There were four items on sale: a dark blue T-shirt with the cover of the 2nd CD on the front and on the bottom right the words "Living In Fear", and on the bottom left the words "North America '97"; a grey cap with the words The Power Station; the Living In Fear CD (just 11 songs); and also the CD autographed by Andy Robert and Tony. I asked the lady, "How much is the autographed CD?" She replied, "The same price as the non-autographed CD, $17." So I bought the T-shirt and the autographed CD. Then I went to find a seat and waited for the concert to start. I guess 150 people attended the concert. At 7:55 p.m., about 30 people stood in front of the stage. My seat was about 25 feet from the stage. The concert was supposed to start at 8:00 p.m. But it didn't start until 8:30 p.m.
The first song was "Get It On". The audience loved hearing that song. (Besides the three members of PS2, there was a four-piece horn section, a guitar player [what, Andy can't do it all himself? -bitchy ed. note] and a bass player [we hope not the corpse of Bernard Edwards propped up! -morbid ed. note].) Next came "Murderess". Robert introduced that the next song is from their new CD: "Notoriety". Then came "She Can Rock It", "Dope", "Simply Irresistible" (crowd favorite). After "Simply Irresistible", I decided to go into the crowd (which had about 50 people in the front of the stage) and take pictures (about third row between Robert and Andy). Next song called "Hot Pants" (that's when I saw that Tony's head is bald), "Go To Zero", "EverykindaPeople", "Scared", "Harvest For The World", (crowd loved when Andy sang his parts to this song), "Power Trippin'". Robert introduced the next song as this is the title of our new CD and also people might feel like this living in Los Angeles: "Living In Fear". Next came "Bad Case Of Loving You" (crowd favorite). Then, Robert introduced the band: first, the horn section. They did a little bit of the Batman theme song. Next came the bass player, then the guitar player, then Andy Taylor (crowd cheered loudly for him). Then Andy introduced Robert as the lead singer. The last song was (it's obvious) "Some Like I Hot" (crowd favorite). After "Some Like It Hot", PS2 thanked the crowd and left the stage. The crowd did not leave and cheered for PS2 to come back on stage. Of course, PS2 returned to the stage and did one song: "Addicted To Love" (another crowd favorite). PS2 thanked the audience for coming out to see them and left the stage. The lights came on and that marked the end of the concert (9:50 p.m.) (They needed to be somewhereŠ? Another engagementŠ? -bitchy ed. note) During the concert, I notice the San Diego crowd really liked the concert (dancing to almost all the songs and cheering). Oddly, no one shouted, "Where's John Taylor?!" Also, Robert or Andy didn't' give an explanation of why there's only three members in PS2. It's like the crowd accepted that there are just three members in PS2. Overall, I had a nice time at the concert.
Well, I decided to go to the right side of the building and wait for the members of PS2 to come out. There were about fifteen people waiting along with me. There were two silver vans and a tour bus in the parking lot. It started to rain and I went inside my car. At 10:30 p.m., I put my head down for a second. I looked up and saw people gathering around Andy and Tony. It had stopped raining. I got out of the car and headed for Tony. Andy was singing things for fans. I told Tony that I enjoyed the concert. He smiled. Then I told him that I saw PS play in Sand Diego in 1985. He said, "Great. Did you enjoy the concert?" "Yes," I said. Then, I asked if I could take a picture of him. "Sure," he replied. I took his picture. (The picture came out great! Thanks, Tony!) Then, the two vans left the parking lot (Andy in the first van and Tony in the second van). I went back inside my car and thought, "I don't think Robert came out yet. That tour bus is still in the parking lot." I decided not to wait for Robert (since I had the autographed CD I didn't need his or the other members' autographs). So, at 10:40 p.m. I left the parking lot and went home. I'd like to thank Power Station 2 for playing in San Diego and Tony Thompson for letting me take his picture after the concert. Once again, thanks, guys!
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