Rather, the crowd went crazy when Fogelberg mentioned that his first LP, 1972's Home Free, had once been available on eight-track tape.

A Fogelberg crowd turned out to see the amazingly well-preserved 50-year-old Illinois native dip into the '70s and early '80s with such songs as Heart Hotels, Hard to Say and Run for the Roses, and he did not disappoint.

His show was a well-played, well-paced retrospective of a career that has included a lot of folkish soft-rock, a bit of blues and dashes of rock and country.

Fogelberg, who shifted between piano and several acoustic guitars, and his four-piece band moved mainly backward chronologically from the opening number, 1983's Magic Every Moment, to include the hits noted above plus To the Morning, The Reach and other favorites.

To the Morning is significant because it was the first song on that debut LP. Tuesday night's show was the first on a national tour that marks Fogelberg's 30th anniversary as a recording artist.

All these years later, the open, sweet sincerity of his best material has become soft-glow nostalgia. Fogelberg still performs the songs extremely well, and often exactly as you remember them.

Still, this was the opening night of a tour, and there were a few glitches, primarily that the drums were far too loud at several points, sometimes obscuring the vocals.

Kinks aside, this was usually a set any longtime fan would love.

Dave Ferman, (817) 390-7839 dferman@star-telegram.com