Michael McDonald/Chaka Khan 2019 tour poster
Michael Mcdonald Setlist
Chaka Khan Setlist
Devon Gilfillian Setlist
Michael Mcdonald Tour Dates
10 July 2019 Majestic Theatre, San Antonio, TX
12 July 2019 Cynthia Woods Mitchell, The Woodlands, TX 13 July 2019 The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory, Irving, TX 15 July 2019 Chautauqua Auditorium, Boulder, CO 17 July 2019 Vilar Performing Arts Center, Beaver Creek, CO 18 July 2019 Denver Botanic Gardens at York Street, Denver, CO 21 July 2019 Mission Hill Family Estate, Kelowna, BC 23 July 2019 Northern Quest Casino, Airway Heights, WA 25 July 2019 Chateau Ste Michelle Winery, Woodinville, WA 27 July 2019 Grand Sierra Resort and Casino, Reno, NV 28 July 2019 Oregon Zoo Amphitheatre, Portland, OR 30 July 2019 The Mountain Winery, Saratoga, CA 31 July 2019 Hollywood Bowl, Hollywood, CA 02 August 2019 Pacific Amphitheatre, Costa Mesa, CA 03 August 2019 Libbey Bowl, Ojai, CA 04 August 2019 Green Music Center, Rohnert Park, CA 30 August 2019 Curacao North Jazz Festival, Willemstad, NL Antilles 06 October 2019 Fruit Yard Amphitheater, Modesto, CA 11 October 2019 Venetian Theatre, Venetian Hotel, Las Vegas, NV 12 October 2019 Venetian Theatre, Venetian Hotel, Las Vegas, NV 01 November 2019 Lobero Theatre, Santa Barbara, CA Read More
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With fifteen Grammy Awards, countless hits, and decades of radio play between them, musical legends in their own right Michael McDonald and Chaka Khan joined forces for a memorable and joyous evening inside the Showroom at Mystic Lake Casino in Prior Lake.
The evening opened with a too-short, four-song twenty minute set from talented newcomer Devon Gilfillian, a Philly native transplanted to Nashville, who plays southern-tinged blues soul, with a sprinkling of gospel and funk. His five song, self-titled EP came out in mid-2016 which two of the songs played were from, but he’s been busy working on new music as well.
After opening with ‘Here and Now’, which worked in some flourishes of funk, things briefly slowed down for the new ‘The Good Life’, about putting yourself in someone else’s shoes and realizing it’s the differences that make us all unique in the best way.
The slow blues of ‘Home’ was written for his mother as he went off to chase musical success, and the brand new ‘Get Out and Get It’ worked in some African rhythms which found the crowd happily clapping along to.
What a difference a year makes-- when we saw Chaka Khan last year at a sweltering outdoor concert with the heat index in the triple-digits, she did the best she could to make for a good but shortened show. But, a year later inside the air conditioning and wearing more comfortable footwear, the difference was major, and the legendary singer delivered during her hour-long set, to remind everyone why she has ten Grammys to her name.
Khan has a new record out, Hello Happiness (on Diary/Island Records) though she strangely chose not to include any of the new music; not the fans seemed to mind as the catalog of solo and former band Rufus hits, were enough to keep the aisles filled with dancing for most of her set.
The singer was in great spirits, smiling often and in ideal voice as well, often holding the mic effortlessly down at waist level, yet still filing the room with her still-potent vocal abilities. The steady band we saw with her last year, featuring Ricky Rouse on guitar and three talented background singers, more than ably kept pace and seemed as happy as Khan on stage.
Michael McDonald’s talented sax player Mark Douthit joined on stage to add some horn to ‘What Cha' Gonna Do for Me’ and bassist Melvin Lee Davis shone during a jazz-inspired mid-set instrumental break.
80’s hit ‘Through the Fire’ was a new and welcome addition to the set that we didn’t hear last year and Michael McDonald himself joined the band to duet on ‘You Belong to Me’, a song he co-wrote with Carly Simon over forty years ago, and re-visited more recently along with Khan on her 2007 album, Funk This.
“Say my name!” Khan yelled as time was growing short, forcing a skip on ‘Super Life’ from the setlist, to instead move forward and close the hour set with mega hits, ‘I Feel for U’ (a Prince cover), the disco of ‘I’m Every Woman’, and an encore of 1983’s ‘Ain’t Nobody’.
Five-time Grammy winner Michael McDonald started his seventy-five headlining set not on piano as we’re used to seeing him, but at center stage on guitar for a slowed but still simmering ‘I Keep Forgettin’. The 67-year old silver-haired legend still possesses the unique and distinctive raspy soul voice that we’ve all heard on radio airwaves for over forty years.
His newest album remains 2017’s Wide Open (on Chonin/BMG Records, not counting a 2018 Xmas album) and the spanning ‘Just Strong Enough’ from that record which featured exemplary live fret work from longtime guitarist Bernie Chiaravalle, was an early set highlight.
1983 duet ‘Yah Mo Be There’ was dedicated to collaborator James Ingram who sadly passed away earlier this year, and McDonald joked after 1986’s ‘Sweet Freedom’ about the lyric “wee-wee hours” and how it meant something completely different in his younger years. A sparse ‘I Can Let Go Now’ gave way to the swaying ‘On My Own’ with background singer Drea Rhenee more than holding her own favorably when recalling the Patti Labelle recorded original.
Motown songs and McDonald’s voice have always seemed like a perfect fit, from his mid-2000s cover albums and it was again confirmed live with a mid-set medley of classic tracks, backed up by Rhenee. Classics ‘Minute by Minute’ and ‘What a Fool Believes’ (which deM atlaS used last weekend at Rock the Garden to craft a beat from) would end the main set, but the standing and applauding audience demanded more.
The two-song encore was a delight as the musically generous McDonald brought out both Chaka Khan and Devon Gilfillian to start things off with a classic Marvin Gaye cover, a song Khan herself would win a Grammy for, after performing it in a 2002 documentary of unsung Motown house band, The Funk Brothers.
And the evening would end with where McDonald himself began, at least with The Doobie Brothers, as 1976’s hit single ‘Takin’ it to the Streets’ was that band’s first single with McDonald on vocals, remains a timeless classic, and proved to be a perfect social commentary bookend with the Gaye cover.
“Remember to pray for peace, hopefully the next time we meet, it will be in a more peaceful world” Michael McDonald said towards the end of the show, clearly concerned about the current state of the world; but on this night only joy, love, and the healing power of music, were the overriding emotions of the evening.
(click on any photo below to enlarge and see full image)
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Devon Gilfillian |
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Devon Gilfillian |
Devon Gilfillian |
Chaka Khan Setlist |
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Chaka Khan |
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Chaka Khan |
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Michael McDonald |
Michael McDonald |
Michael McDonald |
Michael McDonald |
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Michael McDonald |
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Michael McDonald |
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Michael McDonald at Mystic Lake Showroom, Prior Lake (07 July 2019) |
