Walking onto the stage to tremendous applause, Dan smiled, and took his favorite seat. "Part of the Plan" soon filled the air at the sold out Keswick Theater. Built in 1928, this 1300 seat vintage theater was the perfect venue for an acoustic show.

Dan was in high spirits. He joked with the audience throughout the show and played with enthusiasm. "Thank you for being here," he began. "Tonight will be about my piano, my guitar, and you." "Hard to Say" and "Forefathers" followed. Dan talked a little about his family and mentioned his 106 year old grandmother, "who is still going strong."

He then changed guitars, introducing Doug, his guitar tuner to the crowd. "You'll be seeing a lot of Doug tonight," he joked. One of the night's highlights came next. Saying, "This one dates back to 1975," Dan tore into "The Last Nail." Playing the song with a strong rythym groove not found on the album version, Dan breathed a new passion into the song. The audience responded and Dan extended the song's ending in obvious enjoyment.

"Beggar's Game," with a new musical introduction came next, followed by "To the Morning." Of the two, "Beggar's Game" stood out because of the intensity of Dan's playing and his strong vocal. "To the Morning," Dan said, "was the first song that I wrote that made me feel like I could do this for a living." "Before that I had written a few songs, but they weren't very good," he joked. "You could go a long way with that today," he smiled, "But back then..."

Next up was a surprise. With no introduction, Dan broke into a bluesy piano version of "Over and Over," a song that has not been played very often in the last five or six years. His raspy vocal nailed it.

Switching back to guitar, Dan played "Make Love Stay" and the unreleased "Nature of the Game." Written during the "Exiles" period, this soulful, finger-picked song explored the broken-hearted theme prevalent on that album. "It's the hand you fold, that makes you whole, but that's the Nature of the Game..."

Two new instrumentals, "The Mule Dance" and "Buckaroo's Midnight Ramble," came next. Both were finger picked. The first was a baroque styled piece and the second was "inspired by Chet Adkins and Merle Haggard."

Doug then walked back out on stage with a twelve string guitar and Dan broke into "The Reach." Struming while still maintaining a fluid melody throughout the song, this number showcased his ability with a guitar. Superb vocals. Beautiful lyrics. The crowd showed their appreciation.

"Run for the Roses" was performed next, again with a slightly re-worked opening. This crowd pleaser had many members of the audience singing along. Dan continued with "Morning Sky," "Longer," and "Leader of the Band." The audience continued to join in.

Closing with "Same Old Lang Syne," Dan performed it in the blusey style that many of his fans are now familiar with. This brought the audince to their feet as Dan said, "Goodnight."

The night was not quite over, however. Dan appeared for an encore and, for the first time during the show, was now standing with his guitar next to his microphone. "I'ld like to offer this as a traveling prayer to each one of you tonight," he said, and began the circular finger-picking of "Along the Road." As Dan sang and played, he began swaying, almost dancing, with his guitar. The beauty of this song and this moment were mezmerizing.

As the house lights rose, the beauty of the Keswick Theater again returned to focus. The prevalence of the Phoenix album. Two new songs. One unreleased song. Dan's joking with the audience throughout the show. There would be a lot to talk about on the way home. And a lot of anticipation for the next Dan Fogelberg tour.

John C.

I am making my rounds posting about the show..lol
Here it is..
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W-O-W!
What an excellent show!.. He was in fine form!
The songs, the smiles, those hands!
Jeans, white shirt, grey jacket (that after a few songs he removed.) And He wore sandles.

Okay lets see...I did not write down the set list, But he did start off with "Part of the Plan", and finished with "Along the Road". He played "Nature of the Game" which I was thrilled with and "Dancing Shoes"....(No no, don't get excited I am teasing about singing Dancing Shoes..although someone did yell it out..lol)

He was talkative and yes joked around.. He seemed to interact with the audience very well..
One of my fav. parts of his show is when he does the instrumentals...and I sit and just am amazed at his hands. I love the way, he plays that guitar.

He did not play "Love Beyond Time", which I would of loved to hear, but with the show he gave us, I was totally happy and couldn't of asked for more.. I thought it was a fantastic show!..
= )

Cathy