Kenny Loggins The Saban Theater Beverly Hills 1/20/2023

Alex Kluft / Alex Kluft Photography

Kenny Loggins performed at the Saban Theater Friday Night (1/20). In the 70’s Loggins had already made a name for himself with his partner Jim Messina. Then in 1977 Loggins released his first solo album Celebrate Me Home, followed by Nightwatch. Loggins would then collaborate with Michael McDonald co-writing “What A Fool Believes” which won them both a Grammy for Song of the Year in 1980 and hit number 1 on the Pop chart. “This Is It,” another Loggins/McDonald collaboration, became the theme of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament from 1980-1981 and won the Grammy for Best Male Vocal Pop Performance.

In the 80’s, Loggins would go on to become the king of movie soundtracks writing/recording themes and other memorable songs for Caddyshack, Top Gun, and Footloose. Loggins would also be featured on “We Are the World” and performed at Live Aid. Loggins would continue releasing albums until 2009. In the 90’s Loggins released “Return to Pooh Corner” and performed in front of 500,000 people at “The National Mall” in Washington D.C. for Earth Day. Over the last decade Loggins and McDonald were featured on Thundercat’s “Show You the Way. Loggins would appear on Grace and Frankie, Family Guy, Archer, and in the video game Grand Theft Auto V. This past October Loggins and Messina would reunite for a historic two nights at the Hollywood Bowl.
Before Loggins took the stage a montage of his movie tracks and historic performances like Live Aid played. Loggins joined his band for “Love Has Come To Age,” before sitting down for a few acoustic songs starting with “Danny’s Sons.” The following song “Return to Pooh Corner” had a humorous story involving Loggins dating the daughter of the Disney CEO Donn Tatum at the time of having lawsuits over the original song in 1971 and then the lawsuits being called off. The hits continued with “Whenever I Call You Friend,” and his version of “What A Fool Believes,” which was released before the Doobie Brothers. Starting on song 12 the dance marathon and movie hits kicked off with “I’m Alright” from Caddyshack, followed by “Playing With the Boys” from the volleyball scene in Top Gun which has been recreated numerous times including in Family Guy. “Danger Zone” also from Top Gun and the new film Top Gun: Maverick, “Footloose” from the movie of the same name. The closing song was “Forever.” Just a few days before the show Loggins announced his farewell tour so if you missed this show you’ll have another chance to see him at the YouTube Theater October 27th.