Nashville's Ryman Auditorium was an overfilled house for last night's reunion performance by Comedians Cheech and Chong.
Instead of seats the venue has hard wood pews which hold fewer people than the number of tickets suggest. In other words, SRO by choice for those adverse to tight quarters like myself.
The veteran A&M/Ode recording artists and actors have started a "Light Up America" tour, and the 7:30 p.m. Thursday performance was reportedly opening night.
It's been over 25 years since the duo broke up. Cheech Marin, 62, has pursued an acting career. Tommy Chong, 70, continued to do stand-up comedy. He made a Nashville stop in November 2007.
Prior to the headliners hitting the stage, there was a 20-minute opening monologue by Shelby Chong, Tommy's wife. Much of this consisted of observations about his drug arrests and time in prison.
Throughout Cheech and Chong's hour and a half set a video screen showed images of vintage concert audiences, police cars, drug raids and politicians caught in uncompromising positions. Drug paraphenalia was abundant, as would be expected.
Tommy's explanation of why he and Cheech split was hilarious.
"We just got too rich. And you guys know it's impossible to get a rich Mexican
to do sh**."
The pair did an updated version of "Let's Make a Dope Deal," a Mexican astronaut routine (no doubt influenced by Bill Dana) and some solo work from each.
Cheech did a country musican parody, followed by Chong playing electric guitar and singing blues in his Blind Melon Chitlin personna. Cheech also revisited Alice Bowie, in costume as a heavy metal musician and playing air guitar on the "Earache, My Eye" theme.
The duo's portrayal of an old couple watching a porno flick got great audience response. For the finale they ran around the stage on all fours as the lovable, horny and disgusting canines, Ralph and Herbie.
For encores the guys lead the audience in two sing along numbers, "Mexican Americans" and "Up in Smoke."
A crowd of around 50 gathered in the alley behind the theater to wait to meet the artists. About 30 stuck it out for an hour in the cold while a post-show reception went on inside.
The tour manager -- one heck of a nice guy, BTW -- made sure we non-VIP fans got to meet C&C afterwards. They set up a table just inside the backstage to keep the artists warm while a few fans at a time were allowed in for autographs and photos.
There've been press reports that the reunion was put together to defray the act's individual legal expenses.
If future tour stops draw an enthusiastic response like last night's, Cheech and Chong should be able to put their problems behind them. If they can stay out of mischief long enough.
JB
Instead of seats the venue has hard wood pews which hold fewer people than the number of tickets suggest. In other words, SRO by choice for those adverse to tight quarters like myself.
The veteran A&M/Ode recording artists and actors have started a "Light Up America" tour, and the 7:30 p.m. Thursday performance was reportedly opening night.
It's been over 25 years since the duo broke up. Cheech Marin, 62, has pursued an acting career. Tommy Chong, 70, continued to do stand-up comedy. He made a Nashville stop in November 2007.
Prior to the headliners hitting the stage, there was a 20-minute opening monologue by Shelby Chong, Tommy's wife. Much of this consisted of observations about his drug arrests and time in prison.
Throughout Cheech and Chong's hour and a half set a video screen showed images of vintage concert audiences, police cars, drug raids and politicians caught in uncompromising positions. Drug paraphenalia was abundant, as would be expected.
Tommy's explanation of why he and Cheech split was hilarious.
"We just got too rich. And you guys know it's impossible to get a rich Mexican
to do sh**."
The pair did an updated version of "Let's Make a Dope Deal," a Mexican astronaut routine (no doubt influenced by Bill Dana) and some solo work from each.
Cheech did a country musican parody, followed by Chong playing electric guitar and singing blues in his Blind Melon Chitlin personna. Cheech also revisited Alice Bowie, in costume as a heavy metal musician and playing air guitar on the "Earache, My Eye" theme.
The duo's portrayal of an old couple watching a porno flick got great audience response. For the finale they ran around the stage on all fours as the lovable, horny and disgusting canines, Ralph and Herbie.
For encores the guys lead the audience in two sing along numbers, "Mexican Americans" and "Up in Smoke."
A crowd of around 50 gathered in the alley behind the theater to wait to meet the artists. About 30 stuck it out for an hour in the cold while a post-show reception went on inside.
The tour manager -- one heck of a nice guy, BTW -- made sure we non-VIP fans got to meet C&C afterwards. They set up a table just inside the backstage to keep the artists warm while a few fans at a time were allowed in for autographs and photos.
There've been press reports that the reunion was put together to defray the act's individual legal expenses.
If future tour stops draw an enthusiastic response like last night's, Cheech and Chong should be able to put their problems behind them. If they can stay out of mischief long enough.
JB
