Monday, January 22, 2007

Phil Keaggy in Wichita, Kansas




When Phil Keaggy came to Wichita two years ago, the show was cancelled due to a blizzard. When he came back Saturday night, it was snowing heavily. But this time, the show went on and about 300 brave hearts came out.

The evening featured Phil's majestic multi-layered guitar work and several light hearted moments. With tunes like "Salvation Army Band" and "Strong Tower," Phil used his "Jam Man" digital looper to feed guitar licks on top of one another, transforming his lone Olson guitar into a vast sound machine.

On songs like "Love Broke Thru," Phil set aside the technical gadgetry to highlight his incredible finger style playing. Being in the town of the infamous abortion doctor Dr. George Tiller, Phil offered a tender rendition of his pro-life song, "Little Ones."

After the break, he played four Beatles songs--including "Help," and "Yellow Submarine" and then closed the night with more songs featuring the "Jam Man."

The last time I saw Phil Keaggy was 20 years ago. Saturday proved that he's still an incredible artist, using technology like no one else to take the guitar to a whole another dimension.

Lots more pictures of the evening are posted at my photo site.

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