He is the former drummer and lead singer for Motown act Rare Earth. RE sold over twenty-five million albums and had top ten hits with songs like:
Get Ready
(I Know) I'm Losing You
Born To Wander
Hey, Big Brother
and
I Just Want To Celebrate
Enough of history, time for the present. I was on a recent RE kick and decided to check out his wedpage ( http://peterrivera.com/home.html ) for concerts and WHAM right in the middle of the page was a concert 35 minutes from my house. I mentioned it to my wife and we decided to go.
We arrived about 20 minutes before the start of the show. The concert was in the village of Elk Grove and was held in a parking lot between the Public Library and a Municipal building of some sort. It was a simple stage, a simple sound system. Lawn chairs were the preferred method of seating. We sat about 10 feet behind the sound board and had a good view of the stage. I looked to my right and saw a blue tent, tables and chairs with a lady sitting there. "That's probably where he's selling his stuff. I'll be right back" I told my wife and off I went, fan-boy money burning a hole in my pocket. He had his current CD for sale, as well as a "making of" DVD for said CD and a few copies of his biography (which I already had). I plunked down my $10 for the CD, then asked if he was going to be signing after the show. The lady replied she did not know, as soon as she said that my phone dinged me with an email message. It was Peter replying to and email I sent asking if he was going to sign - YES he said. I showed the email to the lady and off I went, CD in hand.
The show started on time @ 7:30 after some words from local politicos. It was just Peter on bass drum and congas/bongos (I'm not sure which), a guitar player and keyboardist. All did vocals. He said a few words then the show started. The sound wasn't overpowering and didn't need to be. Peter has a great voice and after 30+ years it still sounds great. He projects from the diaphragm and doesn't need to scream to be heard. It was an "unplugged" style but didn't seem like it. At one point he made a comment about doing the "loud crashy stuff" but really liked doing his stuff this way. He told some stories and a few times addressed the loud cicada bugs that were being picked up by the mics. The show was an hour and a half and was very enjoyable. Our seven year old daughter at one point was doing a hybrid Russian jig / River Dance, she then said she liked the stuff he did with his hands (he played with only his hands, no sticks).
After the show my daughter and I headed over to the merch table. We were the 2nd in line, then were the 3rd as a gut cut in front, but I wasn't going to make a fuss. The guitar player and keyboard player came in first, followed by Peter who sat down in front of my daughter and I. I placed my stuff on the table and slid a CD in front of him to sign (which he did) he asked if I bought his current CD, I said I did. I showed him my copy of his Bio that he had signed back in 2008. He had a good chuckle at that. My daughter asked if he could take a picture with him, to which he replied "of course". He asked her name, she told him and had her go around behind the table. I snapped two pics the second of which she's giving herself the rabbit ears. I gave the new CD, which was already signed by Peter to the other two, they both signed it. I thanked Peter and the guys, collected my stuff and off we went.
The setlist:
Get Ready
Good Time Sally
EZ Street (New PR Song)
In Bed
What'd I Say
Born To Wander
Look What We've Done (New PR Song)
Ma
Ride The Wind (New PR Song)
Hey, Big Brother
(I Know) I'm Losing You
Tobacco Road
I Just Want To Celebrate
The Band:
Peter Rivera - Lead Vocals, precussion
Joe Brasch - Guitar, backing vocals
Danny McCollim - Keyboards, backing vocals
