Some still got it...

Some don't.

After reading the post about the Thursday night Village Fest in Palm Springs, a couple friends suggested that we'd enjoy the College of the Desert Street Fair, in Palm Desert.  All the times we were in this area in the 90s, we hadn't checked that out.

It's big!  Different from the Village Fest - it is held in the mornings (7am to 2pm) on Saturday and Sunday.  And big.  There is a tram that takes people to and from remote parking lots on the campus; we were fortunate to find a close parking spot...

It is held in another large parking lot - as you can see above, much of it under covered parking.  Oh, and it is big - what looks like entire "stores" set up (much larger than just a booth under one of those pop-up kiosks...

We found the food area, and a vendor who was offering breakfast burritos...

With bellies full, we wandered some more...

This interested me...

A fat tire, folding, electric bike.  I took it for a short test ride... a bit of a beast, but very substantial.  Yeah, I'll have to think about it.

A booth bigger than most eyeglass shops, selling sunglasses...

Some classic cars for sale...

I heard one saleslady doing her pitch: "Yes, this will hold two sets of golf clubs in the trunk.  So many people that come here for the winter still want their Mercedes, but want it to be more fun.  These are economical enough that you can just leave it here."  A row of two-seaters, all pristine.

Finally, time to head out...

Yep, a pretty campus.  Little Izzy was patiently waiting for a walk when we got home...

OK, I don't know if she was being patient or not, but she was looking sweet.

We relaxed outside with her, then cleaned up for a grown-up night out: a 70s music show, featuring Chuck Negron (formerly with Three Dog Night), Mark Farner (formerly with Grand Funk), and Denny Laine (formerly with Moody Blues and Wings).  Of course, it was at a casino.  We had supper and played a bit.  One of us was up a bit, one of us was down.  Not enough to make a difference - the casino owners won't be able to retire.  ;-)

We knew we had "assigned seats" for this concert, so no need to get there early.  The showroom was more like a Vegas showroom, with tiered levels and rows of seats.  Unlike the Styx concert, this wasn't a sell-out.  We guessed about 3,000 seats, and about 3/4 full.  Ten minutes behind the scheduled start time, Chuck Negron and his band came out...

I have seen Three Dog Night 3 times in the past - once in their arena days, and twice in smaller venues.  This wasn't anything like that.  Of course, there was the regular mention of "the good ol' days with the guys..." but it Negron was a shell of his former glory days.  This was not Three Dog Night (they are still touring, with only Danny Hutton left of the original three singers.  Negron didn't talk about it, but he was booted from the band in the 80s, due to a heroin addiction.  Apparently he spent 25 years as a addict; amazing that he is still alive.  His band is good and they carried him much of the time.  There were brief moments where his voice came out.  Supposedly, he is clean these days, but he had to look down at a set list between each song to figure out what they were playing next.  He joked that "these songs are hard - especially for a guy in his 70s..."  Yeah, it shows, but the crowd was appreciative.  I think most of the people who were here were here to see him.

He finished off with Joy To The World, to plenty of applause.  We didn't know what to expect as far as how each band would proceed.  A crew came in to tear down the equipment, and set up for the next band: Mark Farner...

This was the opposite of Negron's performance - Mark Farner still kicks ass!  They opened with Are You Ready at a volume that pushed you back in your seat... then proceeded to move song-to-song, hammering out some of Grand Funk's hits.

He said, "I think we have some rockers in this crowd!"  Yep.  Some people left, probably due to the sheer volume, but this was worth the ticket price - he belted out the songs with that same high ranging voice from the 70s and shredded on the guitar.

He took time to introduce the members of his band, calling the drummer "H-Bomb... you'll see why!"  I am not a fan of drum solos, but this guy was powerful and articulate on the drums...

Farner strutted around the stage while playing - not what I expect of a guy in his late 60s.

He finished off with Closer to Home, to a standing ovation...

Then, the lights came on... as in: show over.  The crew was slow in taking down the equipment.  After a few minutes, a voice came on the house PA: "Denny Laine has fallen ill and will not be performing tonight."  That's it.

And to be honest, I was OK with that.  My ears were ringing.  Still are this morning, as I write this.  I was a Grand Funk fan in the 70s, and this show brought that back.  Still a Three Dog Night fan, but, with the death of Cory Wells a couple months ago, that act won't be the same.  And Chuck Negron is no Three Dog Night.