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Review: Eric Burdon at Silver Reef Casino, June 11, 2005

by  George Clark

c.2005 blueslamp.com

(06-19-05)          How can I ever thank Eric and Dave Meros enough for making my meeting with Eric Burdon possible again ... AFTER 39 YEARS! ZOWEE BATMAN! What an honor to meet the man that Brian Jones said was "the greatest blues singer to come out of England"! I could not believe that I would get this opportunity.      Eric Burdon and the New Animals put on a great performance at the Silver Reef Casino (Ferndale, WA) on Saturday, June 11th. Yeah, the show was great! The audience, composed of mostly Baby-Boomers, was enthusiastic. It was a sold-out crowd in the relatively small room (about 400 people), but an additional concert was quickly scheduled the next day, Sunday, June 12th for the overflow.

Bellingham's George Clark chats backstage with Eric Burdon (L-R) photo courtesy of George Clark.

Eric Burdon and the New Animals comprised of bass player/road manager Dave Meros, drummer Bernie Pershey, keyboardist/cd seller Martin Gerschwitz and I believe (but not absolutely sure) Dean Restum on guitar did an outstanding job backing Eric up. Eric started their first set with a rousing version of "Boom, Boom" and followed it up immediately with a scorching "When I was Young". The old hits kept coming, such as "We Gotta Get Outa This Place", "House of the Rising Sun" and "It's My Life".  A number of exciting new songs off his recent CD's (such as "Once Upon A Time" off his latest CD titled Eric Burdon My Secret Life)  were interspersed in the show.      The musicianship throughout was terrific and Eric's voice superb. The man and his band are consumate professionals and absolutely drove the crowd wild. I was just glad to have been there! Needless to say, I told him anyway "Well Eric, if ya ever need a drummer..."! ABOUT THE AUTHOR: George Clark is a Whatcom County blues drummer and singer from the Cathouse Blues Band. Clark has performed with numerous Northwest bands in a variety of genres including Jimmy Murphy and Margaret Wilder and is a contributing writer here at the Blues Lamp.

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