The enduringly popular 1970s band delivered a cavalcade of hits — and one new song — during their return Sunday to Meijer Gardens. The review, photo gallery and set list.
Still Rocking the Hits: Three Dog Night on stage at Meijer Gardens. (Photo/Jamie Geysbeek)
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Three Dog Night provided a guided tour through their greatest-hits list Sunday night at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park.
And fans in the largely baby-boomer, sold-out crowd of around 1,900 were more than willing to go along for the ride.
The heritage pop-rock band spun out 17 songs, including one new one. The other 16 were all certified Top 40 hits from their 1969-75 heyday.
Want to travel the road to “Shambala”? Three Dog Night takes you there. “Never Been to Spain”? The six-man band covered it. How about “Out in the Country” (before the breathing air is gone)?
The band uncorked that environmentally-aware anthem “for all the nature lovers out there,” said lead singer Danny Hutton before the first note. The song’s prominent Hammond B-3 organ licks felt right where they should be.
The hit list is impressive. “We’ve been around a long time and that’s because of you. Thanks for supporting us all these years,” Hutton told the audience during the band’s return to the Meijer Gardens amphitheater.
‘Around for a Long Time’: And still selling out Meijer Gardens. (Photo/Jamie Geysbeek)
Hutton (who turns 81 next month) is the lone original member of the band. Chuck Negron left the group in the 1980s, and Corey Wells passed away eight years ago. Hutton now shares lead vocals with 76-year-old David Morgan.
Their individual solo vocals were not always strong. But true to Three Dog Night’s tradition, background vocals are emphasized in both arrangements and in the sound mix, and Hutton and Morgan are a chief part of those. And the “three-part harmony” mentioned in the lyric of “Old Fashioned Love Song,” still rings true on stage.
Guitarist Paul Kingery contributed both background and solo vocal work. Other band members include keyboardist Howard Laravea, and Danny Hutton’s son, Timothy, on bass guitar.
Morgan did a bit of a comedy monologue on the perils of aging. Among his new technological acquisitions included a sometimes-befuddling “smart” Apple watch. At a different show, while performing the slow ballad, “Easy to Be Hard,” (also performed Sunday), his watch interpreted his strenuously high vocal strains as a reason to call 911.
He used that as an introduction to the John Hiatt-penned “Sure As I’m Sittin’ Here.”
Of course, many of Three Dog Night’s hits were written by other artists: “Mama Told Me Not to Come” (Randy Newman), “Liar” (Russ Ballard of Argent), “The Family of Man” (Paul Williams) and “One” by Harry Nilsson. They sang all four Sunday night.
But Hutton also announced the band has new music on the way, with its first new release since the 1970s coming this fall. During the encore, they debuted one of the songs – the a cappella “Prayer of the Children” — a serious-minded plea for suffering children around the world. The contrast was stark, the vocals were true and most of the hushed crowd rewarded the fine effort with a standing ovation.
Everyone remained standing for the concluding “Joy to the World,” the musical story of the bullfrog Jeremiah and Three Dog Night’s smash hit from 1971. It was a sing-along all the way, with some in the crowd joining arms and swaying back and forth to the familiar standard.
Singer-songwriter Chris Trapper opened the evening, with the Boston-based artist’s eight-song set featuring his best known tune, “This Time,” which was highlighted in the 2007 film “August Rush.” He also performed “Keg on My Coffin,” a clever take on an “Irish drinking song.”
PHOTO GALLERY: Three Dog Night, Chris Trapper at Meijer Gardens
Photos by Jamie Geysbeek
SET LIST: Three Dog Night at Meijer Gardens
1. The Family of Man
2. Black and White
3. Never Been to Spain
4. Shambala
5. Out in the Country
6. Easy to Be Hard
7. Play Something Sweet (Brickyard Blues)
8. One
9. I Will Serenade You
10. An Old Fashioned Love Song
11. Sure as I’m Sittin’ Here
12. Liar
13. Mama Told Me Not to Come
14. Celebrate
Encore:
15. Eli’s Coming
16. Prayer of the Children
17. Joy to the Word
SET LIST: Chris Trapper at Meijer Gardens
1. Into the Bright Lights
2. The Accident
3. This Time
4. Make it Through
5. F%#k It
6. Skin
7. Keg On My Coffin
8. You Are My Sunshine
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