GO AHEAD AND DANCE
Loggins And Messina Give Their Permission

By David J. Spatz

Right up front, Kenny Loggins has two important pieces of advice for those attending his reunion concert with Jim Messina at Trump Taj Mahal Saturday night.

"Loggins and Messina love to see people get up and dance during our show," he says. "Anyone who reads this, consider this your permission to dance."

But, he cautions, anyone who's expecting to hear Loggins' solo hits like "Footloose," "Celebrate Me Home" or "Danger Zone" is going to be disappointed. This show is all about Loggins and Messina, the soft-rock duo from the '70s, getting back together for the first time in nearly 30 years.

"If they want to hear [those songs], they should come to my solo show," Loggins says he'll tell the crowd if they begin shouting out those song titles. "This is a time capsule. In this [reunion] show, we're re-creating a moment in time that we shared for six years with ourselves and our audience."

Dancing in the aisles hasn't been much of a problem for audiences that have packed arenas and amphitheaters since Loggins and Messina launched their "Sittin' in Again" tour in June. The tour title borrows from the duo's 1970 debut album, "Sittin' In."

The only times Loggins and Messina have had to encourage their audiences to kick up their heels have been when the act is booked into casino showrooms and concert venues. Casino audiences can be a little trickier to work than other crowds.

"A lot of it depends on the room," Loggins says by phone before a recent concert in Dallas. "If it's one of those showrooms where they've got tables and chairs and booths, there really isn't a lot of room to dance."

Casino crowds also tend to be a little more reserved in their response to the duo's music, including hits like "Your Mama Don't Dance," "Danny's Song" and "House at Pooh Corner."

Loggins, who's had plenty of casino showroom experience as a solo act, says shows in gaming halls—where high-rolling customers attend with complimentary tickets—"feel more like date night." The atmosphere is far more festive and party-like in venues where everyone pays for a seat.

Loggins isn't the only artist to express this sentiment. Singer Eric Carmen, who led the born-again '70s power pop band the Raspberries into Atlantic City's House of Blues last weekend, said he first noticed the peculiarities of the casino environment several years ago when he joined ex-Beatles drummer Ringo Starr's All-Starr Band.

"Casino audiences are definitely more sedate than a normal concert crowd," he recalls. "We spent 10 days rehearsing that show in Atlantic City, and when we played our [first show] of the tour it was weird, because people were just, y'know, getting up and walking out and then walking back in. That never happened anywhere else on that tour. Only when we played the casinos."

Although they may have to work a little harder to reach a casino audience, they don't have to work longer, Loggins says.

"The casino shows are definitely shorter, because the casino [managers] want us off in 90 minutes so they can get the people back on the casino floor," he says. The only exception to that rule is when a casino promotes a show in a big arena away from their property or in an amphitheater on the casino grounds.

"Then those become more like rock-and-roll concerts, and we can do the full 2 1/2 hours," he says.

The Bergen Record / September 23, 2005