Some of the best yacht rock artists came all together for a double bill of music at the Riviera Theatre this past Thursday night. Both Jim Messina (formerly of Loggins and Messina) and John Ford Coley (formerly of England Dan & John Ford Coley) took their fans on a ride back to the 1970’s when both ruled the pop music charts.
First up, was John Ford Coley. Coley provided a wonderful set reminiscing of times gone by. This includes some of the biggest hits of his generation. Coley was a one man show as he only had a keyboard and acoustic guitar with him. He told some stories of how songs came about or made jokes in between. Some of the hits he wrote and performed were “I’d Really Love to See You Tonight,” “Nights Are Forever Without You,” “We’ll Never Have to Say Goodbye Again,” and “Love Is the Answer.” He also mentioned that he wrote a book back in 2009 called “Backstage Pass” and drew some stories from that as well.
Headlining the show was Jim Messina. Messina has rich musical history not only with Loggins & Messina (as previously mentioned), but with Buffalo Springfield and another former band he created in Poco. His 75 minute set focused primarily songs from the Loggins & Messina era with some of his own material sprinkled in. Messina had a 4 piece band backing him that included Steve Nieves, who handled saxophone, percussion, vocals and every other thing he was asked to do. Songs that were highlights for me were “Peace of Mind” and “Be Free” to name a few. The latter Messina played a terrific mandolin on and Nieves provided a wonderful sax solo on it.
Overall, it was great show for the audience as both artists did their job taking the audience back to a time in their youth. I can see by people’s reactions of singing and dancing along, the music definitely hit that mark.
Setlist:
Thinking of You (Loggins and Messina song)
Watching the River Run (Loggins and Messina song)
House at Pooh Corner (Loggins and Messina song)
Danny’s Song (Gator Creek cover)
Kind Woman (Dusty Springfield cover)
You better Think Twice (Poco song)
Listen to a County Song/Holiday Hotel (Loggins and Messina song)
Your Mama Don’t Dance (Loggins and Messina song)
New and Different Way
Trilogy: Lovin’ Me/To Make a Woman Feel Wanted/Peace of Mind (Loggins and Messina song)
Be Free (Loggins and Messina song)
Angry Eyes (Loggins and Messina song)
Encore:
She’s Gotta Rock
We would like to thank David Fillenwarth from the Riviera Theatre for the credentials to review the show.
