[this review is from a
special Dan Fan, Kelly Shock, who my wife and I met at
Dan's concert in Ft. Worth, TX in 1993.]
The day dawned cool and cloudy,
with much needed rain in the forecast. As the day wore on, the
citizens of Denver did indeed "Listen to the Rhythm of the
Falling Rain." The venue for Dan's show was Red Rocks
Ampitheater, a gorgeous natural outdoor ampitheater nestled in
the foothills of the Rockies just outside Denver. The seating
gently flows down the side of a mountain, with the stage located
at the bottom. Great towering Red rocks run parallel to one
another, with the seating area in between. The accoustics are
phenomenal, and on a clear night, the sights and lights of Denver
can be seen in the background behind the stage. While I don't
know the capacity of Red Rocks, the place was packed regardless
of the rain! (Click on the Red Rocks Ampitheater on the main page
of the review section to take a peek!)
On this night, the opening act was Eliza Gilkeson, who frequently
opens for Dan in this area. There is evidently quite a history of
their shows together, in that it rains during her act, but clears
by the time Dan takes the stage. Eliza said "It's great to
see so many fools for music!" Thankfully, the temperature
was pleasant, so the rain was no great deterrent to Dan's fans.
History did repeat itself, as the rain ceased prior to Dan's set.
When he came on stage, he remarked that Eliza was his Sacrificial
Rain Goddess.
The song play list was almost identical to the previous shows,
with the exception that he added Captured Angel, Longer, and
There's a Place in the World for a Gambler, and deleted Believe
in Me.
His "patter" between songs was quite different than
reported in previous reviews though. I think perhaps this is
because this is "home" for him, and he seemed to enjoy
being surrounded by his Colorado "family." As I'm sure
is the case in most places, Coloradans truly love "their
own" - Dan, John Denver, Russ Freeman & The Rippingtons,
etc. The combination of the "feel" of Red Rocks and the
esteem of his audience seemed to empower Dan with almost a
magical energy throughout his performance.
After Nexus, Dan talked to the audience, thanked them for coming
out in the rain, and said "I know it's really wet out there,
so I'll give you a choice. I can play fast and do a short show so
you can go home and get dry, or I can do a long show... What do
you want?" Of course, you guessed it, the audience wanted a
looonnnggg show - hence the added songs.
We saw the "props" as described in the previous reviews
- the lighted Christmas tree, the stocking, and plastic horse.
His toy of choice for the evening, though, was a "cow in a
can" - you know, those kid's toys that moo when turned
upside down. We got to hear that several times throughout the
evening between songs...
Dan introduced a friend of his from the Vail Valley, a fellow by
the name of Jimmy Huga (sp?). Jimmy was one of the first men from
the USA to ever win a gold medal in downhill skiing, and was
unfairly stricken with multiple sclerosis 2 years later. Jimmy
now runs a center for MS patients in Vail. Jimmy wheeled himself
out on stage to take a "bow" and was given a big bear
hug by Dan, who then dedicated "Road Beneath My Wheels"
to Jimmy. Another touching moment of the evening was prior to
playing The Reach. Dan talked a bit about the loss of John Denver
last year, and John's love for Colorado, the environment, and the
sea. He said "We've lost a good man," and dedicated The
Reach to John "wherever you are."
His second encore was There's a Place in the World for a Gambler.
It was amusing and a little obvious that he'd not done that
number in awhile, as he forgot the words. He said "You guys
probably know it better than I do!" Anyway, through audience
participation, he got through the song beautifully. Always a
favorite!
Brief impressions of the evening include how reverent the
audience was during his performance. Total silence during the
songs, very few people moving around, etc. And you know how at
many concerts, the crowd begins to thin toward the end of the
show with people trying to beat the traffic? That didn't happen
here - probably 97% stayed till the very end! The friend who went
with me hadn't seen Dan for several years and remarked how she
had forgotten that he was such a talented musician. She said she
knew he had beautiful voice, but was blown away by his
instrumentals.
Overall, it was a truly special evening. I've seen Dan in concert
15 times over the years, and would rank this peformance at the
top of the list. Bravo, Dan! Thank you for sharing your music and
spirit with us.
This was my 15th Dan concert dating back to
1983, and I've enjoyed watching him mature as an artist and
performer. It poured rain from 6 PM through the opening act, then
subsided just in time for Dan's show. Having been to so many of
his concerts, I most enjoy the "surprises"-- the
non-standards-- and this show was great in that regard. He played
Captured Angel early in the show, which was wonderful, as well as
a fabulous instrumental rendition of Eleanor Rigby as a tribute
to the Beatles. Before playing To The Morning, he told the story
of how he had written it at age 18, and how it was one of the
first songs that he had actually felt was good music, and how
that had encouraged him to pursue music as a career. The song
took on new meaning for me, and his always-great performance of
it was somehow even better. But the biggest surprise of the
evening was Longer. Never a favorite of mine in the past, Dan
sang it with such Heart that it was one of the most captivating
songs I've ever heard him play. I was so moved that I couldn't
even applaud after the song. All in all a wonderful concert.
Thanks for reading,
Just returned from a GREAT show@ Red Rocks. It rained for a couple of hours before the show, but stopped between Eliza Gilkyson's opening set and Dan's. I took that as a sign! He opened with Nexus, then played Captured Angel!!! Haven't heard that in concert for 20 years. High points were The Reach, To The Morning ( the best I've ever heard ), The First Christmas Morning, and his jazzy instrumental version of Eleanor Rigby. All the songs were wonderful, but these were especially good. He played two encores: Same Old Lang Syne, and an extended version of Place in the World For A Gambler. Dan was in fine voice and was very talkative during his 2 hour show. What a treat!!!! Keep up the good work with your web site, I refer to it often.
I had the privilege of attending my first Dan
Fogelberg concert at Red Rocks last Saturday. If there is a more
beautiful place in the country for an outdoor concert, I can't
imagine where it is. Dan told us it was his favorite place to
perform, but he might say that to all his audiences!
We had a very rainy weekend in Colorado and I was dismayed to see
"Rain or Shine" on the tickets. Driving down to Red
Rocks from Ft. Collins, I could barely see the road it was
raining so hard. It was still raining through the opening act, a
solo female performer named Eliza (Gilkyson), whose last name I
didn't catch. She was quite good, but it was a pretty tough crowd
since we were all cold and wet and just wanted to see Dan.
Then, miraculously, the rain stopped and we stayed dry through
Dan's entire 2-hour set! When he came out, Dan remarked
incredulously, "It stopped raining!". He thanked Eliza
for serving as his "sacrificial rain goddess". He
expressed amazement that the place was packed, given the weather,
and asked since we were cold and wet did we want "the short
show or the long show". You can guess which one the audience
picked.
My wife and I both thought the show was absolutely superb. We
were blown away how one person could singlehandedly hold
thousands of people spellbound through the sheer talent of his
singing, songwriting, guitar, and piano skills. I didn't keep a
detailed set list but it sounds similar to most of the shows in
the previous reviews. Off the top of my head I remember
"Nexus", "Captured Angel", "Old
Tennessee", "To the Morning", "Hard to
Say", "Make Love Stay", "Todos Santos",
"Eleanor Rigby", "First Christmas Morn",
"Run for the Roses", "Longer", "The
Reach" (he gave tribute to John Denver and his love of the
sea, perhaps a special Colorado touch), "Leader of the
Band", "Part of the Plan". I'm sure I missed a
couple and got the order mixed up.
One thing that did seem different from earlier concerts is that
we got *two* encores! His first encore was, as expected,
"Same Old Lang Syne". While he couldn't quite hit the
high notes like on the original recording, it was a beautiful
performance and had the crowd in tears. Then, after a very
extended standing ovation, Dan came back and did "There's a
Place in the World for a Gambler". Perhaps we got the extra
encore out of appreciation for coming out in the rain, or maybe
it was a "home crowd advantage" thing. Or maybe we just
clapped louder :-)! Anyway, all of us standing up, swaying back
and forth, joining in on about 25 repeats of the "Let it
Shine" chorus was nothing short of a mystical experience.
All in all, an outstanding concert. We were really glad we didn't
let the weather scare us off (I actually know someone who got to
the Red Rocks parking lot and decided to go home because of the
rain! Unbelievable!). Dan was very talkative and seemed truly
appreciative of the audience. The audience was most definitely
appreciative of Dan for giving us our money's worth.
I was a big Fogelberg fan in high school and had all his albums,
but I had sort of lost touch with his music recently since we
only have "Innocent Age" on CD. So this concert brought
back a lot of memories for me. Needless to say, I have some CD
purchases to make in the near future!
In a word, awesome! This was my first Dan concert and what an
absolutely wonderful experience it was. Seeing Dan Fogelberg at
Red Rocks.....I just can't say enough. My husband and I flew in
from Atlanta, Georgia just for the concert, a birthday gift from
me for my husband. He is a longtime (as far back as the '70's)
Dan fan who has seen him in concert many times. The weather was
stormy and rainy for most of the afternoon and evening until
about 10 minutes before Dan took the stage. The skies parted and
it remained dry throughout the concert, we were blessed! Dan
opened with Nexus, did two encores, Same Old Lang Syne and
There's a Place in the World for a Gambler. Every song in between
had me captivated. As the crowd began to venture from their cars
wearing ponchos and rainsuits, I became more and more skeptical
that this large, rainsoaked crowd would not be respectful of this
marvelous musician. I was in awe at the respect shown by this
crowd of 9000+ fans. Dan was very conversational with the
audience, and as I would expect really seemed to enjoy playing in
Colorado. It was obvious that he was having a great time,
actually quite comical at times, and very entertaining. He
performed a selection from his about to be released Christmas CD
(First Christmas Morning), dressing up the piano with a lit-up
Christmas tree and stocking. He added a small plastic horse to
the set for his energetic rendition of Run for the Roses, one of
my all-time favorites. Others that he so magnificently performed
were:
Leader of the Band, Captured Angel, Todos Santos, Old Tennessee,
Hard to Say, Longer, Part of the Plan (which was vocally
requested from about the 50th row), Make Love Stay, Forefathers
(before which he made mention of his 105 year old grandmother),
To the Morning (the first song he ever wrote, at the age of
18....quite insightful for an 18 year old), The Reach (dedicated
to the late John Denver), Morning Sky, Don't Lose Heart, Road
Beneath My Wheels and a Fogelberg rendition of Eleanor Rigby. I
could have sat and listened to him for more hours that I can
count. He is absolutely THE BEST!!! I am thankful every day that
my husband introduced me to this masterpiece of an artist. He is
definitely one-of -a-kind. This may have been my first time to
see him perform, but I don't intend for it to be the last. I look
forward to the next tour that he makes. Dan, please come back to
the southeast!!!!!
Fans forever......Jeff
and Beth (Fayette County Georgia)
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This page was last updated Tuesday, March 21, 2000