60 - 51

60. KENNY LOGGINS
"Vox Humana Tour"
August 7, 1985
Private Concert
Outagamie County Fairgrounds
Seymour, Wisconsin



This pink ticket stub is all that remains of one of the most fun and unusual musical evenings I have experienced. My wife, Tam, was somehow able to get two tickets to this concert through our local Red Owl grocery store in Neenah, Wisconsin. When we arrived for the show, at the Outagamie County Fairgrounds, we discovered that it was a private company-sponsored event and only a few hundred people were there. It was a perfect night in that rural setting. 

A small stage had been constructed on two semi-trailer platforms in the center of the dirt track and everyone was permitted to come down from the grandstands and circle around it. Loggins and his band (including Nathan East and Tris Imboden) were fresh from their Live Aid performance three weeks earlier at RFK Stadium in Philadelphia. They casually walked through the crowd, climbed up on stage and played for three straight hours ... he opened with Vox Humana, This Is It, and Whenever I Call You Friend, and continued right through his catalog. 

 

The long hair we remembered from his High Adventure tour was cut short, and the Bohemian wardrobe was replaced by a Miami Vice designer sport coat. It was clear he was moving in a new direction. Four months later, he record two major hits for the movie Top Gun.


As the show wound down, he sat on the edge of the trailer with his acoustic guitar and played another hour of Loggins and Messina classics. We stood ten feet away, while he played House At Pooh Corner under the starry sky. At the end of the gig, he spoke at length with us about life on the road and his upcoming tour.  

How we made it to that event, we will never know. The Gods must have been smiling on us that night.

SETLIST:
Vox Humana
This Is It
Whenever I Call You Friend
What A Fool Believes
Heart
I'll Be There Heartlight
Forever
I'm Free (Heaven Helps The Man)
Keep The Fire
No Lookin' back
I Gotta Try
I'm Gonna Do Right
I'm Alright
Don't Fight It
Footloose
Celebrate Me Home
Acoustic Encore Set





59. AMERICA
"50th Anniversary Tour"
November 18, 2021
Ruth Eckerd Hall
Clearwater, Florida



"50th Anniversary Tour"
November 21, 2021
(Postponed: Covid)
Van Wezel Performing Arts Center
Sarasota, Florida




Back to back concerts? Yes, and we thoroughly enjoyed both of them!! America was one of my first concert experiences (April 26, 1975, Millett Hall at Miami University for Little Siblings Weekend). I had always liked the music of America, but was reticent to attend a gig in more recent years because one of the original threesome (Dan Peek) had split the band. However, we had watched a PBS Soundstage performance and were impressed, so we purchased tickets for the Sarasota concert. Then the Covid pandemic struck, ultimately postponing the show for more than a year.


Meanwhile, some old friends visited us in mid-November 2021 and we got last-minute tickets for the Ruth Eckerd performance. From the first moments, when an introductory video featured George Martin wearing an America shirt, we knew this would be a fun show. The two musicians, Gerry Buckley and Dewey Bunnell played hit after hit, beginning with spot-on renditions of Tin Man and You Can Do Magic. They were at ease, chatting with the audience about life on the road and working with George Martin ... none of the egocentricity of many other artists.   

America at Ruth Eckerd Hall

Three days later, Tam and I went to the second show in Sarasota. It was just as good as the first, including all of the same songs and some of the same jokes. I wondered why I had waited so long. The music of America is so good that it was definitely worth repeating.

2021 RUTH ECKERD HALL SETLIST:
Tin Man
You Can Do Magic
Don't Cross The River
Daisy Jane
Riverside
I Need You
Here
Ventura Highway
Driving 
Eleanor Rigby
Hollywood
Survival
The Border
Greenhouse
Woman Tonight
Only In Your Heart
California Dreamin'
Lonely People
Sandman
Sister Golden Hair
A Horse With No Name





58. LYNYRD SKYNYRD / MARCUS KING 
"Hurricane Relief Concert"
November 15, 2024
Bradenton Convention Center
Bradenton, Florida

The summer of 2024 had been brutal along the Florida gulf coast. Three major hurricanes hammered the Tampa region, with the Sarasota and Manatee barrier islands devastated by repeated wind and surge. Florida-native rock band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, was finishing up another of their annual farewell tours and offered to perform a last-minute fund-raiser concert to support the local communities in the Bradenton area.



The venue was the Bradenton Convention Center, essentially a 4,000 seat warehouse. General Admission seating. Fortunately, we arrived early and secured great seats, so we had plenty of time to observe our surroundings.



The average age of the audience was probably seventy to seventy-five years old. More than the usual number of canes and walkers. In fact, paramedics pulled out an overdosed septuagenarian before the opening act had finished. About a third of the crowd wore the same clothes as they did back in the 1970s when they first saw Lynyrd Skynyrd; tattered leather vest, Confederate flag bandana, and well-patinaed jeans with motorcycle biker wallet and chain (some of which had never been washed). However, I must say that I did observe more American flags than Confederate flags.

Announcements were made informing the crowd that smoking, including cigarettes, would not be permitted in the arena. Also, alcohol would be cut-off at 10:00 pm. This initiated a sudden rush for the concessions.

The opening act was Marcus King, an up-and-coming crossover act, whose music spanned everything from Americana to the blues. At first sight, he looked more like something from the movie Deliverance than a musician. But his forty-minute solo acoustic set was outstanding, reminding me of an early Chris Stapleton. The dude had potential. 


The headliners were supposed to begin at 9:30. However, fifteen minutes early, the program launched with a video presentation covering the history of the band, and the members of Lynyrd Skynyrd took the stage at 9:20. The crowd sprung to their feet and did not return to their seats for the rest of the night. This was old-school 1970s southern rock at its best!!

Their setlist was peppered with hits; What's Your Name, That Smell, Saturday Night Special, Gimme Three Steps ...


The veteran band was fronted by Johnny Van Zant, younger brother of founding member Ronnie, who was irreplaceably killed along with other band members in the infamous charter airplane crash in Mississippi in 1977. The group was reconstituted in 1987 but was never really able to shed the dark stigma from that event. The calamity did help cement Lynyrd Skynyrd's place among the titans of rock.


On stage, Van Zant looked like a mirror image of his brother, and he frequently gestured toward heaven during the performance, seemingly to remind everyone of him. He was surrounded by a multitude of guitarists, particularly the iconic Rickey Medlocke, whose receding hairline made him resemble Riff Raff from the Rocky Horror Picture Show. 


The entire concert was a throwback to the glory days of power rock and the fans ate it up. Tasty southern slide licks intermingled with soaring guitar solos, all driven by pounding percussion. We were glad to have hearing protection.

Marcus King joined the band for a rousing cover of J.J. Cale's Call Me The Breeze. He once again impressed us as his solo was as hot as molten lava. The arena absolutely erupted with the epochal opening notes of Sweet Home Alabama. The audience was singing along so loudly that it almost smothered the band. But the biggest moment was yet to come, and everyone knew it as they waited for the encore.

Sweet Home Alabama - Lynyrd Skynyrd
Bradenton, Florida - November 15, 2024

As Peter Keys returned to the stage to play the majestic piano introduction to Free Bird, Van Zant stepped out of the shadows wearing Ronnie's black hat. Then he placed it on his microphone and left the stage while the band accompanied a vintage video of Ronnie singing his song. The emotional power of the moment evolved into sheer sonic power as the band transitioned into their glorious ten-minute guitar crescendo. 


Free Bird is one of the most momentous performances in the history of rock music and to see it live is truly unforgettable.

SETLIST:
Workin' For MCA
Skynyrd Nation
What's Your Name
That Smell
Down South Jukin'
Saturday Night Special
The Ballad Of Curtis Loew
Tuesday's Gone
Simple Man
Gimme Three Steps
Call Me The Breeze
Sweet Home Alabama
Free Bird




57. CHICAGO
April 24, 2012
Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall
Sarasota, Florida



Chicago had been touring for forty-five years in 2012. The band had become a revered 'oldies' act, although they had added some new percussionists and keyboardist Lou Pardini (replacing Bill Champlin). They had also cut a very successful Christmas album the previous year. 


Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, with its excellent acoustics, was a perfect venue. Our seats were good, only fourteen rows back from the stage. 

The concert was superb, and it occurred to me that Chicago's multi-layered sound was uniquely positioned to benefit from all of the advances made in sound and mixing in recent years. Every instrument was distinctly balanced, enabling much smoother and subtler results. It was a mellower, more assured Chicago, and they sounded better than ever. We knew at some point, we would come back for more ...


SETLIST:
Make Me Smile
So Much To Say, So Much To Give
Anxiety's Moment
West Virginia Fantasies
Color My World
To Be Free
Now More Than Ever
Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?
Dialogue I & II
Alive Again
Call On Me
Old Days
If You Leave Be Now
(I've Been) Searching So Long
Mongoneucleosis
Hard Habit To Break
You're The Inspiration
Beginnings
I'm A Man
Street Player
Just You 'N Me
Saturday In The Park
Hard To Say I'm Sorry/Get Away
Feelin' Stronger Every Day
Free
25 or 6 to 4





56. BILLY JOEL
"Glass Houses Tour"
July 1, 1980
Richfield Coliseum
Richfield, Ohio




In March of 1977, Billy Joel was performing gigs such as the Wittenberg University Fieldhouse in Springfield, Ohio. My wife, Tam, attended that concert and all she could remember was that he kept throwing water into the audience. He was a struggling artist fighting to survive, especially with the lukewarm reception of his most recent album Turnstiles. He was an angry young man trying to define himself as a performer. But offstage, Joel was in the midst of writing The Stranger, one of the greatest albums of all time. Six weeks after playing Wittenberg, he played several tracks from that project at Carnegie Hall for the first time.


By 1980, he was a superstar, having recorded four multi-platinum albums and earned Grammys for Record, Song, and Vocal Performance of the Year. I saw him in concert at the Richfield Coliseum in the summer of that year during his Glass Houses tour. Joel played a three hour marathon to a packed house.


His setlist was eclectic, ranging from ethnic storytelling to beautiful ballads to power rock. His energetic performance was still guttural and angry, which most everybody in the arena knew was huge put-on; he was clearly a geek trying to be a tough guy. He again threw water on the audience several times to seemingly emphasize that point. By the time he uttered his declaratory post-show missive "Don't take any shit from anybody," Billy knew he had become a big shot.

SETLIST:
The Mexican Connection
You May Be Right
My Life
Moving Out
Piano Man
Summer Highland Falls
Zanzibar
Stiletto
Honesty
Don't Ask Me Why
Streetlife Serenader
Prelude/Angry Young Man
New York State Of Mind
Only The Good Die Young
Root Beer Rag
Los Angelenos
Sleeping With The Television On
She's Always A Woman
Just The Way You Are
Miami 2017
Sometimes A Fantasy
Big Shot
It's Still Rock And Roll To Me
Scenes From An Italian Restaurant
Souvenir




55. CHRISTOPHER CROSS 
"40th Anniversary Tour"
November 10, 2023
Bilheimer Capitol Theatre
Clearwater, Florida

It was the Capitol Theatre in Clearwater, but it could have been the Cafe Carlyle Lounge in New York City. The Christopher Cross concert was an outstanding example of an artist fully and intimately engaged with his audience.

And to everyone’s surprise Mr. Cross was wickedly funny!! 










The small stage was packed with eight musicians; jazz instrumentalists Jerry Leonide (keyboards), Kevin Reveyrand (bass), Francis Arnaud (drums), Andy Suzuki (horns), and three backing vocalists from Nashville. While on the topic of backing vocals, Cross took a moment to note the key role Michael McDonald played in the success of his first album.


There was no spotlight. Just soft stage lighting. Cross preferred it that way. Perhaps it was his personal self-consciousness ... or it might have been his desire to focus on the ensemble performance.

 


Cross’ vocals were strong. He had fully recovered from his life-threatening bout with Covid and its associated illness, Guillain-Barre Syndrome (partially paralyzing him in 2020). He did lower the key of several songs to make them more accessible. He improved them by adding new arrangements that gave them resonance and emotional power.


The first portion of the show was saturated with hits from his first album, hitting a crescendo with the yacht rock favorite, Sailing. Virtually every iPhone in the audience recorded it for posterity.

 


After extended and very appreciative applause, Cross took a few moments to express his gratitude to fellow songwriter and friend, Burt Bacharach, who had recently passed away. He dedicated his performance of their Oscar-winning song Arthur’s Theme (The Best That You Can Do) to him.


Midway through the show, Cross shared with the audience,“It makes me sad when we have a sellout like this to see two empty seats here in the front row. I wish I could call you folks down front to get closer, but Jeff Bezos and his wife might show up.” The room lit up with laughter. “But then again, we already played Sailing, so fuck em” he blurted with a completely deadpan expression. The audience howled in amusement.



During the next song, two jokesters came down from the balcony and took those seats. Cross acknowledged them with thumbs up and a winking-nod while playing.


With two-thirds of the show over, an older guy and his trophy wife showed up with an usher and evicted the squatters. Cross sadly waved goodbye to the freeloaders and announced the arrival of Jeff Bezos and wife to the audience. The audience was in stitches. Then ‘Bezos’ immediately got up and ran back up the aisle to the bar to get cocktails, Cross responded by standing and watching him, expressionless. The inside joke stoked another huge roar.


Cross took a detour from the setlist and spoke at length about being contacted by the Vatican to perform an old Christmas song he had written years ago for an upcoming holiday program at St. Peter's Basilica. He was asked to sing A Dream of Peace at Christmas Time, and was stunned to learn that he and his family would have a private audience with Pope Francis. He played that song for us, even though he chuckled that the first week in November might be a touch early for Christmas music.



His next song, Say You’ll Be Mine, was also acoustic, and he played halfway through it before realizing his capo was on the second fret instead of the third. The song collapsed, even though the band gamely tried to mask the mistake. Cross shrugged and chortled, “Well, now we all know I’m not the Pope.” The audience guffawed as he started over again with a wry smile.


The parade of hits continued, culminating with Ride Like The Wind, where he showcased his guitar virtuosity with a smoking Larry Carlton-style solo to close out the show.



Cross returned for a piano-only accompanied encore of Think of Laura. His affectionate delivery gained our rapt attention. Afterward, he clutched his heart with sincere humility, thanked us for coming … and wished us all peace.


    

 Christopher Cross Stage Setlist 
Capitol Theatre, Clearwater




54. STEELY DAN
"Jamalot Ever After Tour"
August 1, 2014
Ryman Auditorium
Nashville, Tennessee


"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." First, let me say that Steely Dan is not for everyone. Their very unique form of dry, eccentric, jazz-pop appeals to a very unique group of fans ... all of whom showed up for two sold-out nights at Ryman Auditorium. From the moment the thirteen member band took the stage to their closing number, all who attended were taken on a sonic journey through some of the best and most esoteric music of the 1970s and 80s.

The band was tight, playing with the same precision from all their albums. Of particular note were Donald Fagen's unmistakable voice and a very top-notch drummer (Keith Carlock). Unfortunately, the band was also loud, exceeding 125-130 decibels throughout the gig, and forcing many in the audience to the back of the auditorium. The setlist was as eccentric as the band; opening with a few hits like Hey Nineteen and Deacon Blues, followed by an hour of obscure B-sides and jazz jams, eventually followed by strong closers Josie, Peg, and Reelin' In The Years.  There were several hits omitted from the set (Rikki Don't Lose That Number, Dirty Work, Do It Again, FM) leaving many slightly disappointed.

Steely Dan ... check.




SETLIST:
Cubano Chant
Black Cow
Aja
Hey Nineteen
Black Friday
Deacon Blues
Lost Wages
Time Out Of Mind
Babylon Sisters
Godwhacker
Razor Boy
Bodhisattva
Daddy Don't Live In That NYC No More
I Want To (Do Everything For You) 
Josie
Peg
My Old School
Reelin' In The Years
Kid Charlemagne
Theme From 'The Untouchables'





53. EARTH, WIND & FIRE
June 12, 2013
Ryman Auditorium
Nashville, Tennessee

This is one of the most fun shows I ever attended.

The old "Mother Church of Country Music" Ryman Auditorium, played host to Philip Bailey, Maurice White, Verdine White, Al McKay and the rest of the legendary group, Earth, Wind & Fire. The venue was completely sold out, and we spotted several celebrity fans, particularly Wynona Judd, who sat front and center in the balcony. From the opening notes of Boogie Wonderland to the final encores, the entire audience was on its feet, dancing and singing to the non-stop barrage of joyous and up-tempo hits. I never felt as much soul as I did during this gig, while romping in the aisles along with everyone else!!


I would definitely see another one of their concerts!!


SETLIST:
Boogie Wonderland
Sing A Song 
Shining Star
Serpentine Fire
Saturday Nite
On Your Face
Sun Goddess
Evil
Keep Your Head To The Sky
Devotion
That's The Way Of The World
Brazilian Rhyme (Instrumental)
Love's Holiday
Can't Hide Love
After The Love Has Gone
Reasons
Got To Get You Into My Life
Fantasy
September
Let's Groove
In The Stone





52. LEONID & FRIENDS
December 6, 2019
Florida Theatre,
Jacksonville, Florida








In 2014, Leonid Vorobyev, choir director from the East Siberian Institute of Culture, decided to give himself a retirement present by gathering a few of his close friends to make a music video of him playing his favorite Chicago tune, Brand New Love Affair. He had been listening to the original recording for years and painstakingly transcribed the entire song by ear. The result was a YouTube video that quickly went viral (including being posted on Chicago’s own website). This was the spark that launched an internet phenomenon.


What followed were more than two dozen Chicago and Earth, Wind, and Fire covers that have received more than thirty million hits online. Their most popular video 25 or 6 to 4 became a sensation, with more than three million views alone. The performances, by some of Russia’s most talented and prominent musicians, is as good, if not better, than the original recordings. The only difference being an occasional Russian accent in the vocals (we think uniquely charming). The band’s enthusiasm is infectious and their videos are a joy to watch.


In 2019, Leonid and his friends decided to tour the United States. Tam and I knew we had to witness them firsthand. The nearest venue was the historic Florida Theatre in Jacksonville. 

Built in 1927, the 1,918 seat landmark had seen Al Jolson, Eddie Cantor, Bob Hope, Gordon Lightfoot, Fleetwood Mac, Bon Jovi, and George Carlin. But the most famous performance was Elvis Presley on August 10-11, 1956. He played six sold-out shows over those two days, all under the watchful eye of Jacksonville Juvenile Court Judge Marion Gooding, who was prepared to arrest Presley for obscene body movements. The judge sat in the back row of the theatre during each performance while police filled the orchestra pit. Elvis stood flat-footed throughout the shows and escaped prosecution.

I wonder what that judge would have thought about ten Russians performing American rock music on that stage.


My personal favorite: You Are On My Mind

As the band walked out to a near sold-out audience, we immediately recognized them as if we had known them all of our lives (thanks to YouTube); Sergey Kashirin, one of the most technically-gifted guitarists we had ever seen; Serge Tiagniryadno, outstanding tenor vocalist; Vasilii Akimov, old-school rock vocalist (with a very pronounced Russian accent); Igor Javad-Zade, one of the finest drummers in the world; and group founder Leonid on bass. High harmony was provided by the beautiful Ksenia Buzina. The brass section was represented by classically-trained musicians Maxim Likhachev, Andrey Zyl, and Oleg Kudryatsev.

There was no stage setup per se, as the band operated on a shoestring budget. Visually, it was like watching a high school talent show … except the talent was first rate. Production values didn’t really matter, as the audience was dumbstruck by the incredible sound projecting from the stage. Each Chicago song on the setlist was played exactly like the recordings, with the occasional guitar solo flourish. There was quite a bit of amateurish clowning around, especially among the brass section, but the energy and passion was undeniable.

Periodically, Leonid’s son, Roman, would step up to the microphone and share some insight about one of the musicians, the most memorable was the story of how Leonid learned how to build his first electric guitar out of a pay telephone receiver back in the early 1960s, from an article in Popular Science magazine.

Each musician was given the opportunity to shine, with a solo or vocal, and one of the highlights was Igor Javad-Zade’s extended ten-minute drum solo that blew the roof off the place. At one point, he was lying on the floor and playing off the microphone stands.

Leonid & Friends
Jacksonville, Florida

After the concert, Tam and I were able to meet the band. We both noticed that they were tired (their 27th gig in 40 days). They still smiled and graciously welcomed us, particularly Leonid, who wrapped his arms around me as if I were his best friend. 


It did occur to me, as we moved down the line and spoke to them with great familiarity, that they had no idea who we were, and many of them could not understand a word we were saying. It was a wonderfully surreal and very unforgettable experience.

Setlist from Jacksonville show ...






51. RICHARD MARX
"Lifetime Of Hits Tour"
March 23, 2022
The Center of Anna Maria Island
Anna Maria Island, Florida
At 7:05 pm, Richard Marx bounded onto the stage and loudly announced "We're gonna soft-rock the shit out of this place!" The septuagenarian audience of three hundred tried to leap to its feet in response ... it took them a few minutes to get up.

It was our first trip to the Center of Anna Maria, and it looked like a typical elementary school gymnasium, with a stage three feet above the basketball floor. Not exactly Carnegie Hall, but it was a perfect setting for an intimate acoustic evening with one of the 1990's most prolific and successful artists; and I must say that Richard Marx held nothing back. With only two guitars, a piano, and a vodka martini, he put on an energy-filled and often hilarious performance as if it were for his closest friends in his own living room.


Over the next two hours, he played nineteen songs. Many were his own hits, but several were songs he had written for others, such as N-Sync, Keith Urban, and Luther Vandross. But it was between the songs, where he maintained an ongoing banter of stories and jokes, that truly set the evening apart. We clearly understood that he missed performing and really enjoyed being with us. In all my years I can't remember a gig quite so personal and engaging. 


Richard Marx virtual duet with
Matt Scannell of Vertical Horizon

Our expectations were exceeded at every level.

SETLIST:
Endless Summer Nights
Take This Heart
Satisfied
Keep Coming Back
Hazard
When You Loved Me
Hold On To The Nights
Now And Forever
This I Promise You
Better Life (segment)
Long Hot Summer
Crazy (segment)
How Can I Miss You If You Won't Go Away
Angelina (no microphone)
Should Have Known Better
This One
Don't Mean Nothing
Right Here Waiting