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I was fortunate enough to see Phil in concert recently.  The venue was a small club style atmosphere with tables and chairs for about 400.  The show started at 7:30 and I made my through the audience only a few minutes before showtime and the place was packed!  Not bad for a show that wasn't advertised except via email!

Local artist Brenda Harp was the opener for the evening and she performed beautifully on vocals and keyboard.  Her 24 minute set included three original tunes,  "Who You Are",  "Change" and  "The Heart Wants To Love".  The final song, a cover of Ashley Cleveland's  "Walk To The Well" was followed by a presentation by Living Well, an organization which helps provide safe drinking water to third world countries through local churches at a cost anyone can afford.  The only intermission of the evening was brief!  But at least it gave me more of a chance to chat with friends Dave & Michelle Wolfe who were sitting at my table.  

Phil came out at 8, Langejans in hand, raised his mic and got right into an extended instrumental jam that sounded very Acoustic Sketches-ish, including bits from Freehand.  Realizing he didn't have a pick on stage with him, he asked the audience.  Dave Wolfe quickly beat me to it and Phil recognized him from the year before.  Phil continued with a wonderful extended version of  "Sign Came Through A Window", however near the end one of his cables malfunctioned and he couldn't get the footswitch to turn off the loop.  Soundman extraordinaire Brian Persall to the rescue!  With much applause, Brian quickly replaced the cable and Phil cheerfully continued with an even more extended version of the song.   Mentioning he'd seen a few friends here he hadn't seen in a while, Phil did a fantastic version of  "Reunion Of Friends" and  "Celebrate".  He next wowed the crowd with  "Shades Of Green" (noting the first bit was his favorite part) and made George Harrison fans happy with  "Here Comes The Sun".  (The 12 year old sitting next to me couldn't understand why everyone was so happy!).  A very praise-worship oriented song,  "Let It Be My Praise" (?) was up next, followed by a surprise  "We Are Siamese" jam (which got the audience laughing).  You just never know where that thing is gonna show up!  That led to  "I Feel The Winds Of God Today".  An anniversary announcement evoked  "I Will Be There" and that led to  "Motor Bike" from It's Personal.  "Fare Thee Well" had the audience laughing again and singing  "Yellow Submarine".  The 12 year old that went to the show with me had never heard the song but was singing it all week!

At 9pm, without taking a break, he invited friend and local guitarist Dave Beegle to perform a duet they did on Dave's latest CD, Beyond The Desert.   Dave didn't arrive until after 7 so they didn't get much chance to practice, even so, watching them play  "Something Shared" together was a real treat.   The only thing missing was Phil's Olson!  Percussionist Brad came on and jammed with the two of them for nearly 15 minutes!  What fun!!!  Anyone who has never seen Phil and Dave perform together cannot imagine how incredibly awesome they are together!

Dave and Brad left Phil on his own again around 9:20 and he pulls out  "Let Everything Else Go",  "The Reunion", and a new tune,  "Your Light".  But Phil is just getting warmed up!  The most bluesey version of  "Time" I've ever heard him do came next (with  "Blue Moon" thrown in for good measure) and  "John The Revelator" was even more incredible  "John The Revelator" leading in to  "Happy" and  "David and Goliath".  Something from the new Glass Harp CD, Hourglass, came next.  He wrote it but almost never plays it live.   Of course, it was  "Image" ;).  He did very well, though, playing it a bit lower than usual and, if I request it enough, he should be able to nail it without a pre-show practice.    Without missing a beat, he went straight into a very different version of  "True Believers".  It was slower and more soulful than ever before and included a Rolling Stones ("Jumpin' Jack Flash"?) jam to close the show.  

Well, almost.  A roar from the crowd brought him back for  "Under the Grace" and  "Love Divine".  He said good night to a few friends by name from the stage (which made my family very thrilled!) and that was that..

Phil was in a great mood all night and looked like he was having some serious fun, too!  He used plenty of electric guitar-ish distortion and his performance was  "on" all night.  He was having a great time on stage, and it showed!  It was another very special evening and well worth the trip.  

When can I do it again?  

-- Stephanie Bargenquast

Photos courtesy Stephanie Bargenquast. Used with permission.

Page Last Updated: February 24, 2004