Well, folks, what can I say? Just got back from the concert--and our Daniel put on the performance of his life! You had to have been there to understand what I mean.

Ruth Eckerd Hall is a medium-sized auditorium with acoustically perfect sound. Many artists love to perform there because of that. It is a very intimate theater with not a bad seat in the house. It is the fourth highest grossing theater in the United States, just after the Beacon in New York. It is the only theater in Florida even on the list.

Dan looked better than I have ever seen him look. He was dressed again in slacks, jacket, silk shirt, standard sandals. But he had gotten a little sun and looked very refreshed and relaxed.

The crowd was made up of long time fans. The venue was sold out. The audience knew his music.

He changed the set list a bit from Naples. He started with Part of the Plan instead of ending with it and added Nature of the Game which he had not played in Naples. The rest was the same. And yet it wasn't the same. He seemed to have added little variations into each of the classics and he sang them with more passion than I've ever seen.

And his voice!! I have thought at some of the recent concerts that his voice showed strain. Folks, tonight he had the voice he had ten years ago. It was full and strong and he hit every note dead on. I attended with friends from Colorado, who had seen Dan many times in different places around the country. They had not seen him since Boca Raton in 1998. My friend leaned over to me and said, "His voice sounds exactly the same as on the recordings." And she was right!

The two songs I want to mention are Run for the Roses and Longer, the two songs that so many fans say should be dropped. He ended Run for the Roses with a drawn out arrangement on the piano. In the acoustically perfect theater, the sound seemed to reverberate all around us and just wafted around the room. When he was finished, he walked to the front of the stage, and received a standing ovation. Yes, folks, a standing ovation for Run for the Roses. The man sitting next to me, by coincidence, was from Kentucky and had tears in his eyes after the performance.

He added a classical guitar ending to Longer that was absolutely beautiful and sang the song with so much feeling. He put everything into it. It was like hearing it for the first time.

The crowd was attentive and appreciative and greeted him with much applause, on their feet, cheering. He even raised his eyebrows in surprise at the reaction he received.

When he sat down at the piano, launched into his good night speech, and then did the bluesy version of Same Auld Lang Syne, I knew we were in for a treat.

He left the stage, and after much applause, walked back out, guitar in hand, stepped up to the mike, and started strumming the first notes of There's A Place in the World for A Gambler. Several people held up their lighters in the dark. Because of the acoustics, when the crowd sang solo on the "Let it Shine" chorus, it was loud and sung right to Dan. Carried on the wings of Spirit. And, yes, we did get the smile!

He left the stage again, to thunderous applause, and came back and launched into "Along the Road", the best I've ever heard him sing it.

Dan had some people start yelling out for songs. After a couple of people started in, he responded with, "Yeah, I like to go to the symphony and yell out DVORAK." Go get 'em, Dan! Remind them who you are!!

It was a very, very special concert and I feel blessed to have been there.


Artemis

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I was also in Clearwater Artemis. I have never seen such a great show, Dan was truly the master of his fate last night. He could do no wrong!
Just like his angel, the audience was captured and held till the very end.

I sat there mesmerized for 2 hours, totally enraptured by the sheer force of his talent, the beauty of that rich voice and the ability this man has to touch your very soul with his words, and thrilling music.

Someone mentioned to me that the Naples concert was so exciting, they left with "goose bumps"....the Clearwater concert was even better, "PERFECTION" comes to mind.

This age old saying applies to the audience last night, "You could hear a pin drop!" Often, I caught myself not breathing, I think many were holding their breath during the songs and just bursting with applause at the end.
We felt Dan's passion for the music!
Dan had to feel the "LOVE!"

BRAVO Dan!!!!

Nobody does it better

 

~ POEMS ~ LETTERS ~ SONGS ~ NOTES ~ TO DAN ~