It was a full house for Gary Puckett & The Union Gap at the CasaBlanca Showroom on Nov. 7. The 90-minute set was full of his hits and songs of other artists from the late 1960s. Between songs he told stories of his life as a traveling musician and being on the road with the likes of Glenn Campbell, Ringo Starr, The Beach Boys and Petula Clark.

The opening song was one of his originals, “Lady Willpower” with the band decked out in their trademark Civil War Union officer coats. He explained that when he presented this costume idea to his bandmates when they were starting out in the mid-1960s, they thought this was a terrible idea. They were so poor that they couldn’t afford to buy them from a Hollywood movie supply store but to their good luck they were available to rent!

Mr. Puckett went on to play several songs by artists his record company, Columbia, asked him to cover on his first couple of albums. These included Sonny and Cher’s “Sit Down Kids,” Jimmy Webb and Glen Cambell’s “By the Time I get to Phoenix,” and Bob Dylan’s “Mighty Quinn.” This part of the show also included a rousing version of the Beatle’s “Lady Madonna.”

From here he and the band went on to play Union Gap hits like “Over You,” “Woman, Woman,” “This Girl,” “Kiss Me” and “To Love Somebody.” His voice held out though the show with his distinct vocal range. The sound was clear and not too loud.

He did a couple of fun things in the middle of the show. He asked the audience to clap if they were under 50 years old, over 60, 70 and 80. The over 70 got the loudest ovations. There was also a touching tribute to the veterans in the room, they were asked to come up to the stage and shake hands with the band. From there Mr. Puckett went into an emotional version of “Home” and reminded us that Freedom is not free.

The show ended with an audience sing along to an extended version of “Young Girl.” After the show Gary came out to the merchandise table to sign autographs and pose for pictures. Once again, he paid special attention to the veterans who were waiting to greet him. All in all, a great evening in Mesquite.