Breakfast on the Road: Roger Hodgson Live

November 12th, 2012 by The Professor

Legendary composer Roger Hodgson is entertaining enthusiastic audiences

– by Radio RockonTour host Timothy Tilghman

Roger Hodgson formerly from Supertramp is currently embarking on his first solo tour featuring an outstanding support band. The backing musicians include Kevin Adamson on keyboards, David Carpenter on bass, Bryan Head on drums, and Aaron MacDonald providing his talents as a multi-instrumentalist embellishing the Hodgson compositions on stage.

Hodgson’s popular Breakfast In America Tour arrived in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, on Friday, November 9, 2012. The band sounded flawless in performance as if it was practically studio perfect. The modern wonders of technology breathe inspired life into the classic Supertramp catalogue penned by Roger Hodgson. One is left to image what The Beatles might have achieved soundwise if this state of the art equipment had been available to them on tour almost five decades ago.

Hodgson himself segued between keyboards, a 12 string acoustic guitar and onto Grand Piano in sharing his musical gift with the Franklin County crowd. Without question, the exceptional level of musicianship presented by Hodgson and company simply topped off the scale. The sparse stage motif left the music to do all the convincing that if you missed Breakfast, then you missed the most important musical fuel out on the touring circuit.

Blending his Supertramp singles with choice solo material selections, the Grove Theatre patrons erupted in appreciative applause throughout the evening. It’s wonderfully rare that a seasoned artist delivers an entire repertoire at such high caliber. The positive impact of love as a powerful theme in music is truly compelling. The Shippensburg venue is a fantastic facility to enjoy intimate concerts, and Hodgson was well suited to appear here.

Hodgson prefaced many of his songs by revealing personal insight into composing his material. He sang four stellar tracks from the 1979 classic album Breakfast In America. A real treat was hearing “The Awakening” accompanied on his 12 string acoustic guitar, an unrecorded tune that Hodgson said is an invaluable lesson about forgiveness. The beautiful melody and touching sentiment exemplify his hallmark traits as a quality composer among his celebrated peers.

Although the ecstatic audience stood up for several standing ovations during the evening performance, it was at the end of the night that Hodgson encouraged his fans to enjoy themselves by standing and clapping along with his second encore. As the lights went up so did the house in unison as Hodgson launched into “Give A Little Bit” ensuring everybody was motivated by its infectious chorus.

Grove Theater, Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, November 9, 2012 setlist: [itunes link=”https://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/take-the-long-way-home/id449815550?uo=4″ title=”Take The Long Way Home” text=”Take The Long Way Home”] * [itunes link=”https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/school-live/id502038005?i=502038340&uo=4″ title=”School” text=”School”] * [itunes link=”https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/in-jeopardy/id110449627?i=110449645&uo=4″ title=”In Jeopardy” text=”In Jeopardy”] * [itunes link=”https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/lovers-in-the-wind/id110449627?i=110449652&uo=4″ title=”Lovers In the Wind” text=”Lovers In the Wind”] * [itunes link=”https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/hide-in-your-shell-live/id502038005?i=502038331&uo=4″ title=”Hide In Your Shell” text=”Hide In Your Shell”] * [itunes link=”https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/easy-does-it/id111466?i=111446&uo=4″ title=”Easy Does It” text=”Easy Does It”] * [itunes link=”https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/sister-moonshine/id81776249?i=81776294&uo=4″ title=”Sister Moonshine” text=”Sister Moonshine”] * [itunes link=”https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/breakfast-in-america-live/id502038005?i=502038336&uo=4″ title=”Breakfast In America” text=”Breakfast In America”] * [itunes link=”https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/lady/id16018606?i=16018473&uo=4″ title=”Lady” text=”Lady”] * Rosie Had Everything Planned * [itunes link=”https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-logical-song/id111521?i=111503&uo=4″ title=”The Logical Song” text=”The Logical Song”] * intermission * [itunes link=”https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/child-of-vision/id1485110?i=1485106&uo=4″ title=”Child Of Vision” text=”Child Of Vision”] * [itunes link=”https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/only-because-you-lord-is-it/id502038005?i=502038337&uo=4″ title=”Lord Is It Mine” text=”Lord Is It Mine”] * [itunes link=”https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/death-and-a-zoo/id502522497?i=502522507&uo=4″ title=”Death And A Zoo” text=”Death And A Zoo”] * If Everyone Is Listening * The Awakening * [itunes link=”https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/dont-leave-me-now/id43265?i=43263&uo=4″ title=”Don’t Leave Me Now” text=”Don’t Leave Me Now”] * [itunes link=”https://itunes.apple.com/us/music-video/dreamer-live/id329080746?uo=4″ title=”Dreamer” text=”Dreamer”] * Fool’s Overture * Encore: The Two Of Us * [itunes link=”https://itunes.apple.com/us/music-video/give-a-little-bit-live/id329081131?uo=4″ title=”Give A Little Bit” text=”Give A Little Bit”]

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