I saw Roger Hodgson Saturday night at Four Winds Casino in New Buffalo Michigan.
I have been a Supertramp fan since way back in the day, but never got to see the band nor had I ever seen Roger before. Four Winds is your typical Casino venue with a converted ballroom type room with a stage on one end. Not my favorite place to see a show, but not bad either. There was no opening act, but Roger and band came on stage a little after 9:00PM and proceeded with a 2-hour set consisting mostly of Supertramp songs with a few of his solo works sprinkled in. The set list was about as good as you could ask for. He played the hits of course, but also delved into some deep tracks that were especially cool to hear. He did two songs form his rather obscure 2000 solo album “Open The Door” which I had never heard before, but I enjoyed both of the tracks that he did. Almost as fun as the songs themselves was Roger’s in between song storytelling. The guy is a very personable performer and he really gave you the feeling that he was happy to be there. His stories brought context to several of the songs as well as just being interesting tales of his life. Roger’s voice was in great shape, as he has lost very little range over the years. The band were all pros, and of course there were plenty of keyboards on stage with often 3 of them being used at a time. The sax / keyboard player was very impressive. The show closed with what I consider Roger’s masterpiece “Fools Overture” which was as good as I thought it would be. For the encore he turned all the house lights up for a singalong version of “Give A Little Bit” which helped everyone go home in a happy mood. My only complaint was the sound was a bit muddy at times, and I honestly thought it could have been a bit louder. They also seemed to be having some P.A. issues as it actually cut out for about 2 seconds at one point and seemed on the verge of doing it again off and on through the show. Not sure what was up with that as Casino venues are typically right on top of things with their P.A. All in all, it was a great show, and I would certainly recommend seeing him if you are a fan and he comes to your area. Here is the set list:
TAKE THE LONG WAY HOME
SCHOOL
BREAKFAST IN AMERICA
LADY
HIDE IN YOUR SHELL
ALONG CAME MARY
A SOAPBOX OPERA
THE LOGICAL SONG
LORD IS IT MINE
DEATH AND A ZOO
EVEN IN THE QUIETEST MOMENTS
HAD A DREAM (SLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY)
CHILD OF VISION
DREAMER
FOOLS OVERTURE
ENCORE
GIVE A LITTLE BIT
Here is a video that Roger released from the show on Facebook:
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