19 May 1997 San Francisco

The Fillmore (Photo: Wikipedia)

Review by Mike Hogue

I was lucky enough to attend the show at the Fillmore last night.

I can't tell you with an E-mail how awesome it really was!

John Fogerty has been my idol since I got "Bayou Country" for Christmas in 1969. To see him play all of his classics on stage in an intimate venue was absolutely in- credible! The man can rock!

Fogerty said it was a night he would remember the rest of his life. The same goes for me! We were lucky to see him in a place like the Fillmore: great acoustics, friendly, relaxed atmosphere, not crowded (only 1250 tickets were sold), and awesome! 27 songs, two hours and 20 minutes!

The most amazing thing to me, is, that in today's music world, there are many nos- talgia tours and covers trying to sell tickets out there, but very few are artists the cal- iber of John Fogerty. This is his material! He isn't some hackneyed piecemeal act trying to make money on stuff they were involved with 25 or 30 years ago. John Fogerty is an American original and a rock and roll powerhouse. Definitely a force to be reckoned with. His new material is as timeless as his Creedence stuff. His stage presence, vocals and guitar playing are world class.

I don't even have to go out on a limb by saying that this is going to be one helluva Fogerty summer! Welcome back, J.C.!

Review by Bob Henson (5/19)

The first (and only other) time I saw John Fogerty live was on stage with Creedence Clearwater Revival 28 years ago. It was my first concert, and at the age of 14, it made a life-long impression on me. I spent the next 20 years as a lead guitar player/singer, and was of course much influenced by John Fogerty and the music Creedence made one night in San Jose, CA in August, 1969 just before the release of "Bad Moon Rising". That night I met Stu Cook and Doug Clifford and they encouraged me to "keep it up" in terms of the music business. So last night when John Fogerty returned to the Bay Area to play live, of course I was in line an hour before the doors opened. The concert was at the historic Fillmore in San Francisco, where John and Creedence spent much of their formative time as performers under the guiding watch of Bill Graham.

As the lights began to dim, I was wishing I could be 14 again, but settled for the nostalgia I was experiencing. Slowly the lights came up and electricity was all around as we caught the first glimpses of our long missed hero. I looked at him and was immediately transported back to 1969 when the opening strains of "Born on the Bayou" began to play. It's the same opener Creedence used all those years ago.

John's voice was stronger than ever, his guitar playing never better --- and while I was anxious to hear his new music from "Blue Moon Swamp", what I really was hoping for was to hear some good old CCR. JC and band did not fail to delight, as they belted out incredible versions of "Green River", "I Put A Spell On You", "Susie Q", "Lodi", "Lookin' Out My Back Door" and many more Creedence favorites.

The new material was wonderful as well, the drummer pounding out an incredible backbeat to John's guitar and powerful voice. The drummer was from John Cougar Mellencamp's band, the bassist used to be with Linda Ronstadt. They brought back the power of Doug Clifford and Stu Cook from so many years ago. Two rhythm guitarists took the place of the late Tom Fogerty -- who I missed sorely even though it was so many years ago.

The concert went on for a wonderful 2 1/2 hours, and the only disappointment was there wasn't a third encore. However, I'd have been disappointed there was no fourth or fifth encore had there have been a third. We worked our way up closer and closer to the stage, and the packed house of fans were reluctant to let anyone get any closer to Mr. Fogerty than they were. By the time John closed with "Proud Mary" and "Travelin' Band", I had worked my way all the way up to having my elbows right up on the stage 3 feet from the microphone.

As I was anxiously awaiting an encore of "Keep On Chooglin'" to make my journey back to 1969 complete, the house lights slowly came up, and the show was over. Oh, well, I thought -- let's just hope it's not another 28 years before he passes this way again ...