For his 80th birthday celebration, John Fogerty headed east to the gorgeous Beacon Theater on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, setting up shop for the first of two nights with his Travelin’ Band. On a soaking and bleak Wednesday (May 28th), he celebrated his actual birthday by opening the show with a prepared video introduction, during which he discussed his career, life, songwriting, and family.
As the intro wrapped up, the band and Fogerty took the stage and slammed into “Proud Mary,” which featured him on an elevated platform singing the classic with gusto amid small puffs of smoke and halfhearted sparklers. While the theatrics, lights, and production were closer to Party City than Broadway, one overwhelming thing was the fact that Fogerty still has it even at 80.
The young band, which includes two of his sons, Shane and Tyler, on guitar, was powerful, with the drums slamming loudly as all the songs’ tempos were kicked up a notch over the almost two-hour set. Fogerty himself has always had a distinct voice and was an underrated guitar player; nothing has changed as he commandingly propelled through the twenty-song set, clad in his flannel, jeans, and six strings.
The special celebratory nature flowed through classics as the players reveled in the live setting with “Around the Bend” bumping and the pumping “Green River,” which featured a ripping solo from Fogerty. The bass and drums led the grooving way for “Born on the Bayou” before John told a story about his wife finding his old Rickenbacker and recently gifting it back to him. The guitar was the same one he used to write “Who’ll Stop the Rain?”, a song that was a reaction to Woodstock and played tastefully on this evening.
The stomping country twang of “Lookin’ Out My Back Door” kicked things back up while his solo cut “Rock and Roll Girls” was a fun outing that featured a gorgeous saxophone solo. The slow-burning “Effigy” was like all the other tracks sped up, but that energy worked well before John dedicated a sweet tune, “Joy of My Life,” to his wife, Julie, as personal family pictures filled the video screen.
While Fogerty has written a host of rock and roll classics he took a minute to play a few lesser-known tunes, such as “Mystic Highway” which was the trippiest/jammed out number on the night and the excellent garage rocker “Fight Fire” a gem of a Nugget from when Creedance Clearwater Revival were still The Golliwogs. Returning to the hits, the top-notch rockers kept coming, as “Keep On Chooglin’” found Fogerty ripping on the harmonica. “Have You Ever Seen the Rain?” had the biggest crowd sing-along of the night, and “Down on the Corner” was fast and funky.
Fogerty mentioned that “Feelings mean a lot more than stuff” but his stuff did include another cool guitar made from a bat for “Centerfield” before “The Old Man Down the Road” delivered a heavy metal vibe and set closer “Fortunate Son” crashed forward with defiant punk energy, truly bringing home the anger of the protest tune.
Before the encore, Fogerty told the crowd he had re-recorded his CCR songs with his new band and would be releasing them this year. If any classic artist is going to release a “Taylor’s Version” of their prime work, it should be Fogerty, as the drama behind him not owning his songs for decades is well known. Then the group played a brief encore of “Travelin’ Band” and “Bad Moon Rising,” which included a “Proud Mary” reprise, bringing this special night of music full circle.
