Mama's Pride is continuing their tradition of two shows each year at The Pageant in St. Louis, Missouri. A crowd of approximately 1200 fans were there for the May 2005 show. The evening would be filled with several surprises. The first of which was that their second album "Uptown and Lowdown" was available on CD for the first time. At a couple of minutes after 8:00 pm, the show began with a short slide show which Pat Liston had created. Featured were photos of Mama's Pride members from "back in the day" while the song "Young and Free" played in the background. This included photos of Danny with his infamous afro style hair. Many of the photos brought chuckles from the audience and at the conclusion of the show, applause. However, the slide show would not be the last surprise of the evening.
There was a slight pause after the slide show and then the black stage curtain slowly opened to reveal the band dressed in black tuxedos in the exact pose from the cover of their second album - Uptown and Lowdown. This brought a huge reaction from the crowd as the held the pose for almost thirty seconds. It was obvious that everyone in the band was enjoying the moment.
Everyone took their places and the group launched into their first set with "Can I Call You a Cab" from their second album. The first set lasted almost ninety minutes. At the conclusion, the band took a well deserved intermission.
When they returned, Pat, Danny, and Max Baker kicked off the second set with an almost accapella version of "You've Really Got a Hold On Me" with just Max accompanying them on electric guitar. The second set lasted close to ninety minutes and concluded with "Blue Mist".
Of course, the show wasn't over. For their first encore, they performed "All Go To Heaven Together". This song appeared many years ago on a compilation album of various artists called Eternal Mystery. The band left the stage again, but the audience wanted more. From the set list, it is obvious they only planned on one encore. However, they returned and Pat said "We lost one of our friends in the music business this year - Johnnie Johnson. We're going to do this one for him." The group then played "Johnny B. Goode".
After the show, the members of the band came out and signed the front covers of the "Uptown and Lowdown" CD along with any other items that fans had brought with them. Overall, Mama's Pride put on a great show as usual. Their fans continue to support their shows and they will hopefully continue to perform at The Pageant for a long time to come.
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