Reports Where: Gulfport, Mississippi (Grand Casino Gulfport) When: April 10, 2004 Written by: Phil Davies My scribbled notes from seat A14 (in the dark) lists the following: venue sold out, no empty seats. I asked the venue manager about this at the end. As well as via Ticketmaster (a curse on them, they are baffled by requests for seats slightly left of centre both in UK and USA) tickets were available from casino box office, for dinner/concert package and also for Casino premier members apparently, (as well as busloads of marauding soccer hooligans from Blackpool ;-)). The usual 4 piece band with piano tucked back by drum kit 8pm start Slippin' & Slidin' - Kenneth Lovelace Lonely Weekends - Robert Hall Bye Bye Johnny / Sweet Little Rock 'n' Roller - B.B. Cunningham JLL strolls on unannounced at 8:10 Roll Over Beethoven You Win Again ( "not TOO still") Georgia On My Mind Little Queenie Before The Night Is Over Boogie Woogie Country Man Over The Rainbow Chantilly Lace Easter Parade No Headstone On My Grave Sweet Little 16 Short piano intro, sounded like a mix of Lucille and Rockin' My Life Away, cut short by JLL Drinkin' Wine Spo Dee-O-Dee Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On Great Balls Of Fire show ends 9:04 Excellent response from crowd. First time I've seen JLL outside of Memphis in the US. A few small kids in my row were on their seats clapping like mad. Crowd responded well to both ballads and rockers, the roar that greeted the opening section of Chantilly Lace was delightful. JLL looked very relaxed and was in good humour throughout, talking and joking with people he knew in the front rows, including his lawyer. Top marks for the venue and staff: a seperate theatre from the Casino, bar with drinks available, plenty of leg room and no restrictions on still photos. Sound was superb, superior to the recent UK tour, piano and JLL vocal crystal clear and each band instrument could be identified in the mix. A lesson for future promoters, two large video screens either side of stage featured excellent front and back views of JLL, with great close ups during vocals and piano breaks, with shots of Kenny and the boys during their solos/accompaniment. This show would make a great (Blondell free) DVD. No merchandise or progammes on sale. Due to Kenny being the only guitar man on stage JLL took more solos. Easter Parade was a treat on Easter Saturday, following it with No Headstone was inspired, ah if only he's done Mott The Hoople's Roll Away The Stone, for an Easter hat trick ;-). Vocals were in great shape, especially on the slower songs and there were many fine lengthy piano breaks from a smiling JLL. Kenny asked JLL do to SL16 but JLL did my personal fav Little Queenie instead. Later JLL said that he'd done the wrong Chuck song earlier and did SL16 then, with a fine rocking solo too. Pauline said it as the best show she'd seen JLL give. Des was pleased that his son Fraser had finally seen a great JLL show to help him understand why his dad was a Lewis fanatic! After all the earlier panic about the clash between Gulfport and Blackpool it was a great experience to see shows at both venues Kenny was in great form and he, BB and Robert said they had really enjoyed the show afterwards. A perfect end to a great trip, special thanks to Des for tempting us to go.   Where: Gulfport, Mississippi (Grand Casino Gulfport) When: April 10, 2004 Written by: Steve Montgomery Jerry played for a solid 50 minutes, he took the stage at 8:15 PM, and left at 9:05 PM.  I must say that Jerry has really lost a lot of weight since the last time that we saw him, he looked great. His piano playing and singing were all very strong, this is one of the better performances I have seen Jerry give in quite a while.  Below is the set list, many of the songs were extended versions with added solos, verses etc.    1) Roll Over Beethoven 2) You Win Again 3) Little Queenie 4) Georgia 5) Chantilly Lace 6) Before The Night Is Over 7) Somewhere Over The Rainbow 8) Boogie Woogie Country Man 9) Sweet Little 16 10) Easter Parade 11) No Headstone On My Grave 12) Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-o-Dee 13) Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On 14) Great Balls Of Fire (kicking over the piano stool to a very loud applause, and exiting the stage)

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