Last Night: The Log!
Imagine this, but cloudy.
Movies have been good to Kenny Loggins. Whether “and vice versa” should finish that sentence depends on one’s tastes. The couple of thousand of fans who enjoyed $10 tickets and comfortable weather to see him Aug. 21 at Riverfest Amphitheatre didn’t get as many chances to weigh in on that issue as they expected.
Technical problems sent huge burst of distorted white noise through the PA system late in the show and canceled an encore that surely would have included “Danger Zone,” from “Top Gun,” and “Footloose.” The boisterous “I’m Alright,” from “Caddyshack,” did make its lively appearance and was among the highlights of the 80-minute set.
Loggins began with two of his acoustic bombshells, “Danny’s Song” and “House at Pooh Corner” before cranking up the band – and his own guitar – for a show that rocked harder than most would have expected and some seemed to enjoy. “Angry Eyes,” a true “anthem” for Loggins and Messina, was a metal meltdown of the finest sort. And the two songs Loggins played from his new “How About Now” album, to be released next month, were rockers.
“Celebrate Me Home” got an extended play, with Loggins strolling through the crowd in the blue, reserved seats, which were filled primarily with lawn sitters whom Loggins early on invited to come down and take seats they hadn’t paid for, to the chagrin of the ushers and the properly ticketed. “Your Mama Don’t Dance (And Your Daddy Don’t Rock ‘n’ Roll)” was the biggest disappointment, as vanilla and boring as it comes. “This Is It” offered counterbalancing, creative fun.
—Kelley Bass
Technical problems sent huge burst of distorted white noise through the PA system late in the show and canceled an encore that surely would have included “Danger Zone,” from “Top Gun,” and “Footloose.” The boisterous “I’m Alright,” from “Caddyshack,” did make its lively appearance and was among the highlights of the 80-minute set.
Loggins began with two of his acoustic bombshells, “Danny’s Song” and “House at Pooh Corner” before cranking up the band – and his own guitar – for a show that rocked harder than most would have expected and some seemed to enjoy. “Angry Eyes,” a true “anthem” for Loggins and Messina, was a metal meltdown of the finest sort. And the two songs Loggins played from his new “How About Now” album, to be released next month, were rockers.
“Celebrate Me Home” got an extended play, with Loggins strolling through the crowd in the blue, reserved seats, which were filled primarily with lawn sitters whom Loggins early on invited to come down and take seats they hadn’t paid for, to the chagrin of the ushers and the properly ticketed. “Your Mama Don’t Dance (And Your Daddy Don’t Rock ‘n’ Roll)” was the biggest disappointment, as vanilla and boring as it comes. “This Is It” offered counterbalancing, creative fun.
—Kelley Bass
