Concert #41 - Steve Winwood at the Universal Amphitheater (July 26, 1988)

1988 may have been the peak of Steve Winwood's return to the high life, to paraphrase his own lyrics. "Roll With It" was on a roll, so it was a good time to catch him live again. I sat fairly close to the stage, a bit to the left.

Opening for Steve was Johnny Clegg and Savuka from South Africa, a multi-racial group that was much better than expected. I could not believe how well Johnny could still sing after a few minutes of high energy dance moves. Two of his songs I still play occasionally: "Take My Heart Away" and "Asimbonanga".

Steve played songs from the current album ("Put On Your Dancing Shoes", "Don't You Know What the Night Can Do" and "Roll With It"), plus some gems from the past ("Low Spark of High Heeled Boys", "Spark", "I'm A Man" and the more recent "Higher Love").

All-in-all, a great show with someone I'd been idolizing since 1966.

Concert #20 - Steve Winwood at the Universal Amphitheater (October 19, 1986)

Here's someone I'd been idolizing since his Spencer Davis Group days, when I was still in high school. After many years of keeping a relatively low profile, Steve came back in 1986 with a strong album aptly titled "Back In The High Life" that generated lots of air play.

His show was exceptionally good. Frequently switching between guitars and keyboards, Steve played most of the songs from his current album, among them "Higher Love", "Freedom Overspill" and the title track. There were also two unannounced guests: Dave Mason and Joe Walsh, who were both received very well by the crowd. From among his earlier solo stuff, Steve played "While You See A Chance" and "Valerie". He also played "The Low Spark Of High-Heeled Boys" from his Traffic days, and ended the show with "Gimme Some Lovin'", the Spencer Davis Group gem. He may have even played "I'm A Man", but I'm not quite sure.

 

  I managed to miss the opening act, Level 42, not a major loss, although I did like their "Something About You" hit. Good video, too.

Dave Mason

Joe Walsh