I had never been to a casino concert before. Afterwards, I almost wished I had decided to go to the S.F. concert instead (except that my wife and I really needed the weekend away), but since it was cancelled, I guess I made the right call. The audience at a casino concert is bizarre, because there seem to be so many people who are there just because going to see the entertainment is a thing to do when in Reno or Vegas, so they did, and many were intoxicated at the time. They also like to come and go a lot while the concert is in progress. It detracts somewhat from the atmosphere. Of course, there were a good number of people who were clearly big fans, but it only takes a few people to ruin an atmosphere.

Dan looked like he didn't feel well. Apparently, he didn't, since he cancelled the concert for the next night. He seemed to have less energy than I might have expected. He was also not in great voice. Most importantly, he did not seem to articulate incredibly well. That can be affected by the sound system, but it clearly did not seem to be solely due to the sound system. He also did a shorter set (by about three songs) than he seems to have done this tour, judging by other posts. He didn't connect with the audience as well as one might expect, which I attributed in part to the nature of a casino crowd, but it also may have been due in part to feeling lousy.

He opened with some banter, saying the last time he was in Reno, he had his band, this time he was alone. He said he was going to play something old, something new, something borrowed, and some blues.

He started with three songs on the guitar -- Nexus, Hard to Say, and Forefathers. He then moved to the piano for three -- Beggar's Game, To the Morning, and Over and Over.

He then moved back to the guitar. By this point, the requests from the audience are getting started. Dan appeared most puzzled when someone loudly requested Nexus. He said, "I already did Nexus. Do you want me to do Hard to Say again, too?" After that banter, he moved on to do Make Love Stay. Then he did Road Beneath My Wheels.

I will say that in spite of his general appearance of lethargy, he seemed to give his all and be quite energetic for Over and Over and Road Beneath My Wheels. Perhaps he knew he could pour it all out for Road Beneath My Wheels because he was going to have a voice break afterwards with the instrumentals. Indeed, I would say that the lack of energy seemed to affect his voice, and not his guitar or piano playing, and he seemed to put his all into those when he had upbeat songs.

He then went on his banter for "Mule Dance," which as others have reported is a piece he originally wrote called "May Dance," and then decided to put in the Christmas album and call it "Yule Dance" but then he didn't, and called something else "Yule Dance." He did talk about how he wrote "May Dance" in May, and how good it is that he called it May Dance, because that way he can remember when he wrote it. Other songs, say, Nexus, he has no idea when he wrote. He said that when you get old, it is good to leave reminders like that for yourself.

He then did Buckaroo's Midnight Ramble but did not mention that Buckaroo was his cat. Then he did Lazy Susan.

Then he did "The Reach." In his intro, he asked if anyone had seen "The Perfect Storm." He said he had not, because he had been working, but he would be able to see it soon. He said he hoped that "The Perfect Storm" would do for boating what "Jaws" had done for swimming in the ocean.

Then he went back to the piano for Run for the Roses, then back to the guitar for Morning Sky, Leader of the Band, and Part of the Plan.

He then left the stage with a quick wave, and was gone for a very long time as the audience kept up the applause and request for encore. Finally, he came back and did Same Old Lang Syne on the piano. He took his bows and left.

Once he did his intro for Run for the Roses, there was no more banter. He also did not acknowledge the audience as much as I would have expected either time he left the stage, although at least the second time, he did what I would deem a sufficient acknowledgment. In hindsight, this may well all have been due to his feeling lousy. Indeed, in hindsight, I suspect Dan had given every ounce of energy he could muster in order to complete the show.

I enjoyed seeing the concert, and I enjoyed getting to see Dan perform acoustic solo. I first came to appreciate his music when I saw him perform acoustic solo opening for Linda Ronstadt and the Eagles in Kansas City in 1978, when he said his band had gotten stuck in Chicago, although I never found out whether that really happened or if it was intended to be an acoustic solo concert. IMO, it would have been bizarre to plan a solo acoustic concert for a football stadium, so I assume it was an accident as Dan implied, but the result was wonderful in any event even in the stadium venue, and I enjoyed Dan's opening act more than I did Linda R. or the Eagles. It was also interesting to hear the majority of the 55,000 person crowd singing "Let it shine" during the encore of There's a Place in the World for a Gambler. Although I had not previously heard any of his songs other than Part of the Plan, I went out and bought some albums, and Dan became my favorite artists

Even if that concert was the best Dan is capable of these days, I would have been very happy with it (my wife also really liked it -- he did more of her favorites than he did mine), but seeing that he was ill, I assume he was not at his best, but at least I got a better performance than I would have in S.F.

I must admit that I do not know all things Dan like many posters do, so I have one question. What is "A Man, a Woman, and a Duck" that a couple of people were requesting that made Dan just shake his head?

In any event, I had not seen Dan for too long, and was very glad to see him again, and very glad to see him solo acoustic again. Maybe I can see him again sometime when he is well.

Bob T.

That particular audience was, indeed, odd to say the least! One of the main problems we could see was the front-and-center section given to the "high-rollers" by the casino. What a waste of great seats! We thought they should administer a simple test to qualify people for that section: Name ONE song by the artist...just ONE! If you can't, then you'll have to sit elsewhere.;-) In fact, we thought it would be a good idea for the "high-roller" section to be off to the side, maybe even toward the back, so they could slip out quietly when the urge to gamble became too strong to fight.lol. We had seats in the fifth row, and were SO excited, seeing how that's the closest we've ever been! What a laugh! There were four empty seats next to me when the lights went down. A cowboy and his wide-bodied friend eventually staggered in, climbed(literally) over us, and took their seats. A while later, this little man in a white hat was causing a major commotion at the end of our aisle. The usher climbed over us, talked at-length with Mr. Widebody, climbed back out and proceeded to continue the discussion with Mr.Hat.(no, it wasn't Mr. Garrison):) It seems that he had two tickets, and Mr.W was taking up more than his share of seats. This whole incident took an unbelievable amount of time.(even longer than I've taken to relate it) Finally, Mr.W confined himself to one chair, and Mr.H made it to his seat(s). After all the BS, we noticed that Mr.H was alone. He, of course, sat next to ME, and used his other seat for his hat! They all ended up leaving and coming back during the show...the last time we were literally holding them up when their equilibrium failed, and they proceeded to sit on us! Toward the end, they all disappeared, and we were able to move down a few places for a better view. The nice couple sitting next to us commented that, "This is where we should have been sitting all along!" We had to agree.:)

After the show, we struck up a conversation with that couple(we had sort of bonded after the insanity we went through earlier), and ended up talking with them for several hours. They were so sweet, and really enjoyable! We exchanged phone numbers, and are planning to get together sometime soon. They are the first people we've ever known who share a love of Dan's music. What a treat!

Given the situation with DF feeling out-of-sorts, it was still a pretty good show. He gave us everything he had left, and never complained. I hope people can appreciate that. Let's also hope that he recovers soon, and gets the rest and relaxation he needs and deserves after this leg of the tour.

Thanks again to Bob for such a great review...you captured the evening very well.

I apologize for my verbosity--I'm trying to fix that.:)

Muse