First time that I saw you
Ohh, you took my breath away
I might not get to heaven
But I walked with the angels that day
John Fogerty left his audience with some
remarkable memories. The Looking Out My Back Door tour arrived at
the General Motors Centre in Oshawa
with enlightening images, and breath taking effects, but it was the heart of
the performer that won the night.
There was something different about this
evening. The crowd was older, but one
could see a sprinkle of young people throughout the arena, and they were all singing
along together and dancing just as passionately.
The audience welcomed their six string hero
with a standing ovation. He in turn,
through his iconic voice and haunting guitar solos kept them on their feet.
We all learned that John Fogerty practices
four hours a day and runs six miles every morning which shows that his
dedication to his music, and the respect to his fans is unparallel in a music
industry that often rewards and manufactures musical caricatures. He walked and run the wide stage throughout the
whole evening in order to share his moment with fans, no matter where fate
managed to place them.
He recalled Woodstock and how excited he was to play that
festival. CCR was scheduled to take the
stage on Saturday, at 9:30pm. As a young
man he was very excited but nobody told him CCR would follow the Grateful
Dead. The show ran late. The Grateful Dead began their set at midnight
and were interrupted when all the sound went dead. When they were finished it was 2:30 in the
morning. “I saw a lot of people that
looked like me, except they were naked and asleep” he told the crowd. There was only one fan with a lighter who urged
them to play. The band played on and John
Fogerty wondered who would stop the rain?
The evening was very retrospective. John Fogerty whispered I love you to his daughter Julie at the end of his performance of Joy of my Life. He dedicated Have you ever seen the rain?
to his daughter Kelsey. He
explained that there is no mistaking it for a sad song, but he no longer thinks
and writes about the rain, but rather lives for the rainbow.
The fight with the record company is now
behind him and John Fogerty is looking to the future and enjoying the
present. The tour continues and those
who are lucky to flood the arenas will have memories to share for the ages.