John Fogerty Live @ SOFMA In Victoria, BC

Apprehensive to go to this show as I was I left with a much different opinion and feeling than what I walked in with for sure. As we sat and waited for the show to start the screens came to life with a little Fogerty history and a couple of advertisements for a new project from the coming soon bin. Being fifteen minutes late hitting the stage wasn't a terrible amount of time to wait and as soon as lights went out I witnessed one helluva rock n' roll show by a true legend in the genre. I'm not going to say I'm the biggest fan of CCR or John's many projects in the last few years but I do love Cosmos Factory to death and know it to be one of the the greatest albums ever made.

John's opening song was "Hey Tonight" an epic rock masterpiece that is still just as good today as it was back in '71. As the show progressed and the guitar playing skill of Fogerty unfolded in front of me I was blown away he had the chops he does. The man can rip and over and over he proved that to be true for the nearly 2.5 hour run of ass shakin' rock n' roll.

Even when he dropped into the quiet songs and the ballads the performance was excellent and energetic. The backing band was solid and the fact he had Kenny Aronoff bashing the skins for him made them even better. Kenny is a master skinsman and his 30+ Grammy award winning recordings that have had his drum skills proves that as fact. But back to the show John played all the songs from Bayou Country which was a treat and I enjoyed hearing some of the obscure album cuts. The fact that his voice sounded nearly pitch perfect comparing to the original recordings and that's amazing because he's no spring chicken.

The only time I thought the performance wasn't quite up to snuff was on "Have You Ever Seen The Rain" but it was still good enough. The real moments were when the band rocked it out on "Travelling Band" and "Up Around The Bend" two of my favorites for sure. Those songs filled the arena with thunderous power that you couldn't help but dance and sing at the top of your lungs. I'm not the most lively concert goer I have fun but I don't scream and yell and act like a maniac or dance until I'm silly. Last night there were many times I considered actually doing just that and at the end run of the show I stood and danced a little because I couldn't not do it. You know you've gotten your money's worth when I am driven to dance and cheer loudly.

For a guy who came to the show expecting nothing special I left knowing I just had one of the best concert experiences of the over one hundred and fifty plus shows that I've been to in my life. I would honestly say if you get a chance to see John on the next leg of his tour you have to make that happen because this is a legendary rock n' roll performer and all fans of the genre should experience something great at least once and this guy isn't going to be going at this level for much longer so get on it folks.