Kenny Loggins @ OLG Stage, Niagara Falls, Ontario 9-8-23

Singer & songwriter Kenny Loggins is on the ‘This Is It’ tour. One of his biggest hits is the same name he gave what is supposedly his last tour ever. Loggins career stems all the way back to the early 1970’s where he was one half of the popular duo Loggins & Messina. The duo stayed together until 1976, where they had an amicable split. Loggins career took him to the 80’s where he became a hit making machine for soundtracks for movies. He penned possibly three of the biggest hits in motion pictures in the 1980’s, which were: ‘I’m Alight (Caddyshack), Danger Zone (Top Gun) and Footloose (Footloose). Even though he hasn’t any released any new material since 2009, Loggins still is quite accomplished were he has enough material to draw from.

Loggins took the stage at 8pm sharp as he and his band went into the 1979 title track “Keep the Fire.” The next track, Loggins described writing “Heart to Heart” with Michael McDonald. It was a big hit for Loggins (co-written by McDonald) so the pressure was on to come up with something good for the next track they wrote together. They said they wanted to get the sophomore slump out of the way and write (what they originally thought) was crappy song. Well, the 3rd song they did was that same song “This Is It.” That song won the duo a Grammy. As he was trying to get his solo career a jaunt, he remembered telling a girl he took on a date that he had a song called “Return to Pooh Corner. He stated to her that the record company couldn’t release it due to Disney having a issue with the word Pooh. The woman says, “oh don’t worry, my dad is the CEO for Disney and he can take care of it.” To his amazement the girl truly was the daughter of the CEO of Disney and the song was released. All but the drummer came to the front of the stage to sit on chairs and deliver “Return to Pooh Corner” to the audience. Loggins and his band really nailed “If You Believe.” He showed he still has a strong voice and delivered a wonderful performance of this song. Another highlight was “Celebrate Me Home.” Of course, the string of soundtrack hits that I mentioned earlier were all played in succession as he ended the set with “I’m Alright” and started the encores with “Danger Zone.” A lot of the audience got up and danced and at the same time as the actual video’s to each song was played at the same time too. So that was cool and took you back to when the songs were all over MTV. He ended the set with a beautiful ballad “Forever.”

If this is truly it, Loggins can hang his head high as he and his band gave a wonderful performance!

Setlist:

Keep the Fire

Heart to Heart

This Is It

It’s About Time

What a Fool Believes

Whenever I Call Your Friend

Return to Pooh Corner

Danny’s Song (Loggins & Messina song)

If You Believe

Celebrate Me Home