An intimate evening with Phil Vassar on his Piano Bar Tour during this limited capacity show at the Genesee Theatre in Waukegan Illinois. This was my first time back at this theater since Covid! They only sold tickets for the main floor (none on the second floor balcony) making for a rather personal show of only a few hundred. Always such a cool place to see a show and this one was no exception!
I’ll start off by saying, you don’t see many singer/songwriters fronting shows with a piano, especially for the entire show! And that is exactly what Phil Vassar does! I was amazed by the amount of energy and interaction he was still able to bring to the crowd even while being “stuck” behind the piano! He had the fans yell out requests that him and his band played no matter what it was, his material of course! I remember hearing/seeing the video for "Just Another Day In Paradise" all the time on CMT, so that was the song I was waiting for, and yes they did play it and it sounded great! Another thing I particularly liked, and not sure others appreciated it as much, was that every member in his band sang lead on a snippet of popular songs we all know, like “Jessie’s Girl” for example! Phil also did a mashup of sorts with popular songs like “Come Sail Away”, “Walking In Memphis” and “Piano Man” to name a few! Phil also mentioned this was their last show before they start their Christmas shows! They aren’t coming through Illinois on that run but do have a show in Milwaukee Wisconsin. It was a fun night of original songs, stories and some other hits!