Because time does not permit right now, this is a combined review in which I primarily plan to discuss my feelings and reactions to the concerts that I had the great pleasure of attending, rather than a critique of Dan's music. With only minor variations, the set list was the same at all three shows.

Each concert experience was unique and convinced me that the overall quality of an artist's performance very much depends upon a variety of factors, including the artist's frame of mind on any given day. Now, I have not seen Dan for about three years, as he has chosen not to tour the East coast during that time. I attended three concerts this year just in case the rumor of his retirement from touring might be true. I wanted to get a really good shot of my Dan fix. I was not disappointed. He was in fine form and looked absolutely marvelous. He is finally allowing himself to fill out and lose that too-thin, gaunt appearance he sported for so long. He dresses with simple, understated elegance befitting the "man of mystery" he is.

In Glenside(near Philadelphia) he seemed skittish and made a strained presentation. He appeared to be uncomfortable in his skin that night, and reluctant to accept the cheers and adulation of the audience. Nor was he in very good voice. You could hear him straining against those high notes, trying to force his vocal chords to produce those beautiful sounds we have all come to expect. When people stood to applaud after each number, Dan would blankly utter, "thank you", while turning away uncomfortably to check something out on the stage. They almost sounded to me like bitter, half-hearted thank you's. All night, he seemed to be turning away from his adoring fans, many of whom had traveled many miles to be there. This feeling of strange disconnection lasted throughout the evening and I found it disturbing. For the first time in over a decade of attending his shows I was front and center at this concert. What I saw was a Dan who seemed reluctant to receive the love his fans so clearly have for him.

All of this seemed to change 3 nights later when I traveled to see Dan at the beautiful State Theater in Easton, PA. This venue is farther away from the city, and, unlike the shabby unkemptness of the Keswick, the State Theater has been restored to its former resplendent beauty. And what an exciting evening it was! Old fashioned revolving search lights out in front of the theater lent an air of excitement as we all made our way inside in anticipation of an evening filled with wonderful music. Dan's name was cast in large letters above the marquee, and for a moment, I was transported back to a simpler time when music like Dan's was treasured by the many rather than the few discerning souls who now follow him faithfully.

Happily, there was no opening act, and we were treated to 2 hours and 15 minutes of literally the best performance I have ever seen Dan give. His clear-throated voice caressed us and we were transported back throught the years. Dan sat before us on the now familiar Native American rugs and sang to us about our lives. Hopes, dreams, sorrows, joys, they were all there this night, and the crowd went absolutely wild. Before us was an elated Dan--a man now seemingly very comfortable in his skin. I liked the fact that he had socks on under his sandals in Easton, an accomodation, I think, to age and the importance of physical comfort to foster a sense of well being. He had worn those same sandals at the Keswick, but it had been warm and humid that night. Easton is northerly with an inevitable chill in the air. Thus, the socks.

I realized in Easton that Dan's energy and light are as strong and bright as they were when I first saw him over a decade ago. In Easton, his voice had the power and clarity of a much younger Dan. I didn't hear him strain once that night, and it will go down in my mind as the finest solo acoustic tour I have ever experienced. A highlight of the evening was his announcement that he had been on a tour of the Martin Guitar factory in nearby Nazareth, PA earlier in the day, and was most honored that Martin is going to issue a Dan Fogelberg D-41(?) signature guitar series. What an honor indeed, and a well deserved one at that! Considering the sounds Dan is able to coax from a guitar, it is high time he was honored in such a way. He also shared with us that Sony has informed him that his Greetings From the West music video is to be released on DVD in October.

During both shows we were treated to his virtuoso guitar playing and left to wonder how he can make it look so easy. At the Keswick he opened with Part of the Plan and included Nature of the Game in the set list. This was interesting for me as I had never heard this song before. He also gave 2 encores at the Keswick--Auld Lang Syne and Along the Road. This latter held the audience enrapt as he stood up to perform it. A reverential hush descended over the theater and at the end, he whispered, "good night" in the most peaceful way. I felt like I had been rocked in my mother's arms into a state of soulful bliss. His performance of The Reach without other accompaniment was truly awesome. In Easton, he indicated that it is one of his personal favorites and that he "dearly loves" that song. Listening to him perform it reminded me yet again that he is a consummate artist who has produced a most impressive opus, one that he deserves to rest upon and be exceedingly proud of.

At the end of the evening at the State Theater, they removed Dan's wooden chair from the stage to get ready to move on to his Atlantic City gig. At that moment I was transported back 20 years to a magnificent performance I attended of a then-95 year old Andres Segovia, a world famous classical guitarist. He was so old and frail at that time he could not walk onto the stage by himself. He had to be carried on in a plain wooden chair. When they set him down to perform, his spirit shown through and his fingers caressed his instrument into some of the most beautiful music I think I have ever heard. This is how I want to think of Dan, and hope that 20 years from now he will grace us with his playing. For he, like Segovia was, is a true master worthy of our steadfast attention.

Then it was onto the Bushnell Theater in Hartford. This is a grand room with a magnificent ceiling decorated with dramatic celestial paintings. As usual, Dan's piano, wooden chairs and beautiful rugs sat waiting on the empty stage. The now-familiar Native American flute began to play creating an air of mystery in the theater. I waited with anticipation realizing this may be the final live performance of Dan's I ever attend. In part, a sorrowful occasion. This night, we were in for a treat. His encore was There's a Place In the World for a Gambler, one of my favorite songs. He had us sing along just like on the GFTW video. But the show was all too short--bearly 90 minutes--with only one encore. I could feel that Dan felt rushed. This was complicated by the fact that it was the only show of the three where there seemed to be major sound problems. Dan was extremely distracted by this and kept yelling to Doug and the sound people to make various adjustments. Sitting as close as I was, these sidebar conversations took away from that easy, breezy quality I always experience when Dan plays. They never did seem to sort out these difficulties, so as beautiful as the Bushnell is visually, acoustically it seemed troublesome.

Dan also seemed in fine humor this night and his honeyed voice once again held us all enrapt. A woman in the audience yelled out a request for Dancing Shoes and Dan laughed heartily. "You're dreamin", he said as he tuned his guitar. He continued, "Those songs were OK when my voice sounded like Michael Jackson on helium". The audience roared. "But that's not happenin anymore. I only sing manly songs now". I liked the explanation. I especially liked that he is now honoring exactly where his voice is and not trying to strain to hit those high notes. Nor should he. Now, I am not musical, but I thought I detected that he was performing some of the songs in a lower key and using other vocal tricks and devices (e.g., falsetto) to preserve that beautiful mellowed voice of his.

Perhaps most memorable from this night was the demonstration of Dan's staying power. At the end of this shortened concert his brilliance brought the entire house to its feet. On all three levels of the theater, EVERYONE was standing and cheering him to come back. After five minutes, he did, and I realized just how transcendent an experience his music is. In this fleeting world of ours, such a thing truly means something and is important. His musical message filled with beauty and simplicity is important, and so are we, his fans, who must not waiver in our commitment to supporting his continued work. For me, all of Dan's songs are imbued with spirit and he performs them with vision and freshness. His themes are timeless.

The songs he performed on this tour shared with us his very essence. All those things that are closest to him and define who he is were there--the sea, his lineage, loves won and lost, nature, spirituality--all the reasons we love him so and continue traveling great distances to listen. What has also been wonderful this tour is to see how his word is spreading at a grass-roots level. At one of the concerts, someone commented, "Look at the varied age range of his audience!" This was more true now than I have ever been aware of. Young, old and in between alike all sat allowing his music to enchant and transport them. How edifying to watch the young people "get it" as they slowly realize and awaken to their own hearts--one of the many gifts Dan's music brings. At the Bushnell, I sat next to a twenty-something couple who sat holding hands throughout the show. They bearly moved and seemed to be awestruck. How many other artists inspire such ecstatic reactions? I am so grateful for him.

Angela