Dan Fogelberg ~ Center For The Performing Arts ~ Interlochen, Michigan ~ 2001

The drive from Detroit was easy, and after arriving in Traverse City we did a little sailing, a little shopping and went to Interlochen in time for the concert. I’d never been to Michigan before and discovered the further north you drive the better is gets. As a matter of fact we will definitely plan a vacation up there somewhere over the bridge, way up north. The water in Lake Michigan looks so different from the water on the ocean; it’s bluer and darker. Tastes different too – I learned that while hanging my face too far overboard. It was wonderful! Fred and I even decided to trade our (beloved) week on Bald Head Island for a week on the Great Lakes one year. I imagine the instances of skin cancer there are few, either that or residents are vigilant about sunscreen usage. Anyway I felt dark there which was an odd feeling!

The Interlochen school campus is so nice that I briefly wished I could revert to the 6th grade and enroll there. Magnificent facility - really bad uniforms though, poor kids. The temperature was perfect and students serenaded concert-goers who waited to enter the amphitheater. We chatted with some new friends before taking our seats, which provided a glimpse of the lake; really a bucolic setting. I tried to imagine the well respected Lawrence Peter there, students under his tutelage.

Dan came out and started with “Nexus”. I looked to my right to see the students’ reactions to him and noticed them watching with great interest, which pleased me. I glanced at the lake and the setting sunlight. It’s a pleasure to experience Dan’s music, live, in the fresh air like that. And proverbially, a small flock of geese flew across my view. Perfect.

Sure he wasn’t feeling well, that was evident. Oh, not evident in the way he played or sang although there was a glitch here and there unlike the second Vevay performance and the Meadow Brook performance. There was little conversation, little apparent joy up there from where I sat. But I’d come all the way from North Carolina just to hear him play music and he did that, despite feeling ill. I really enjoyed it. I was delighted hearing him play and can’t believe he did so well since he had a cold. Seeing him in tip top form only four nights before colored my observations on this night. But it was fun nonetheless, and a treat for sure! Only I felt bad for him because he couldn’t really take a sick day without disappointing a lot of people, but as a member of the audience it was still great to see him play. No summer cold is going to stop his fingers from dazzling me and Fred, you know.

Let’s see, he played Buckaroo’s Midnight Ramble, Road Beneath My Wheels, Run For The Roses, Make Love Stay (I think), Hard To Say, Paris Nocturne, Over And Over, Don’t Lose Heart, Longer, Old Lang Syne, Part Of The Plan; similar set list to the other concerts this year. But no oomph. The Oomph didn’t make it to Interlochen this year. No problem though, it was enjoyable and worth it and all those things this fan wants in a nice evening out with her handsome husband.

Just to end the evening right we shared a bite with a fan friend, talked about the concert and this and that. It was lots of fun and I’d wished I’d made plans to go to Mondavi! You know what? I cannot possibly write any more, Jack is demolishing this house while I type and you get the gist of the evening, I’m sure. You wouldn’t believe the mess he’s made in the last 10 minutes! Just go see Dan next year, GO. And see him more than once if at all possible. It’s a nice night out, it’s inspiring and peaceful and all those things that feel good, yes, even when he has a cold!

Kim

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