An Unforgettable Final Evening with Kenny Loggins at the Santa Barbara Bowl 

Kenny Loggins has always been such an incredibly generous and accessible member of the Santa Barbara community — which he’s called home for the past 50 years — that it’s sometimes easy to forget what an incredible musical superstar he is. 

His sold-out show at the Bowl on Saturday (the final stop on the “This is It” last tour of his career) made it abundantly clear why the 75-year-old artist’s superstardom status still remains solid after so many years in the spotlight. The whole night was definitely one for the record books. As promised when the tour was announced, not only did Loggins play the songs that he felt summed up the emotional story of his music, it also included “90 percent of the hits and 10 or so percent of the deeper cuts” from a song book that boasts, among other things, 12 platinum albums, a pair of Grammys, an Academy Award nomination, and a Tony Award nomination.    

He opened the show with the 1979 hit “Keep the Fire,” followed by a heartfelt introduction talking about first moving to Santa Barbara in 1973. The friendly crowd was amped from the get-go as Loggins said, “The longer I’m here, the more people I know. … I consider all of you my extended family.” 

He then added, “I want this show to be about how we all feel our connection tonight.”  

Longtime collaborator Michael McDonald — another longtime Santa Barbara resident — joined Loggins onstage for a beautiful rendition of the first song they ever wrote together, “What a Fool Believes.” Both of these guys are in fine vocal form, with McDonald’s soulful baritone and Loggins’s versatile tenor blending seamlessly for “Heart to Heart” (which they wrote together with David Foster), “This is It,” and “It’s About Time.”

Sitting in with Loggins for “Return to Pooh Corner” (one of my favorite songs) was the amazing Hawaiian ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro. The duo also played the Blue Sky Riders song  “Why Not,” which they paired up for on Shimabukuro’s 2021 album Jake & Friends. There was a beautiful Loggins and Georgia Middleman duet on “Whenever I Call You Friend,” followed by yet another celebrity guest, Richard Marx, playing keyboards and singing their co-written song, “The One That Got Away,” with Loggins. 

The friends who joined him onstage were not just the super-famous ones. Loggins’s daughter Bella and son Crosby (a professional musician in his own right) joined in on a touching version of “Danny’s Song” — another one that always brings tears to my eyes — followed by “Celebrate Me Home.” Then the Santa Barbara–based Adderley School Choir of kids joined in on “If You Believe” and continued with “Conviction of the Heart,” with another Loggins child, Lu, coming in to sing with him, along with his granddaughter Phifer. 

At this point, it was honestly a bit mind-boggling to ponder what a big role Kenny Loggins’s music had played in the soundtrack of my life — and there was still more to come. 

In addition to his solo albums, and iconic work in his very early years with Loggins and Messina and Blue Sky Riders, Loggins also has a phenomenal track record with writing hit movie theme songs. He performed “I’m Alright,” from Caddyshack, and “Danger Zone” from Top Gun, with requisite footage running on screen behind him.

This was followed by the absolute highlight of the night in a night chock-full of highlights: None other than Kevin Bacon himself joined Loggins for a high-energy version of “Footloose” (joined in by the other half of the Bacon Brothers band, Michael, as well as the entire crowd).  

“What a night. Thank you so much. I will never forget this,” said Loggins, as he left us with a heartfelt version of “Forever in my Heart,” which started out as a solo and then slowly brought the band back in before they let the music fade out on this final tour. 

“Forever in my Heart” was truly a perfect ending for a show that none of us will soon forget.