Review of the 4/25/02 show at the Flamingo, Laughlin, Nevada:

Liz and I came to Vegas to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary, and what better way to celebrate than with a Grand Funk Railroad concert...just as we did in 1997 and 1998.

We drove down to Laughlin from Vegas. Laughlin was hosting the Laughlin River Run, an annual biker event, and as we rolled into Laughlin, we found ourselves in the midst of thousands of bikers....quite an experience. We parked in the casino garage and there was some renegade biker driving his bike, with drag pipes, throughout the garage getting a kick out of setting off all the car alarms. There were some very nice motorcycles being exhibited, particularly in the "Hells Angels Only" parking area in front of the casino.

As we were walking towards the stage area, I heard someone calling to us from behind...it was Mickey, and this was the first time we had met...what a great guy and fun to be around. As we approached the gates, Dena motioned for us to come around back and directed us up on stage, during the sound check!! Shortly after, we were joined by Joe and Luanne, George and Mike and Sharon. It was great to see Joe again and meet Luann for the first time. George..it's always great to hang with you, and Mike and Sharon, well, it was really great meeting them for the first time also...what a fun couple. Sound check went great, and it was fun hearing them fine tune the new song.

We were advised that no cameras or bags were allowed into the venue. Security would not let Liz in because she had on a fanny pack...the security guy said it can conceal a weapon...but he wouldn't look in it, so back to the car with the fanny pack...what a joke...they should have checked the bikers for weapons...maybe that would have prevented the shoot out the next day at the casino down the street..... At 9 PM the show started. It took several songs before the biker crowd got into it...Max would later say he thought this was because the bikers drive all day long, then drink all night. In any case, the crowd got into the show later, and everyone was rockin'....the Star Spangled Banner brought down the house, as Bruce really ripped into it. Inside Looking Out also went over in a big way.

After the show, we went in the Casino to try and get one of the many posters of the show. Casinos have this thing about posters...no one has the authority to give them away...but, they didn't know about the "Liz Factor"...so after about 40 minutes, Liz had the casino manager snagging a poster, and swearing he would ask the entertainment director on Friday if he could mail the poster to us. He even gave Liz his cell number, so she called him on Friday to confirm it, and low and behold, he's sending us the poster. Then it was back on the road for the long drive back to Vegas.

All in all...a great show and time...now on to the second show in Vegas...

Jimmy G.