NEAL MORSE: Solo Concert Review
Lakeland, Florida. One of the fastest growing cities in America. And believe it or not, it used to be THE
stop for all the big concert tours in the 70’s and early 80’s. Before Tampa and Orlando had built arenas
for their sports franchises there was only one building in Central Florida built to handle the touring rock
shows…The Lakeland Center. It held a little over 8000 seats back in the day and if you go back and look
at the tourography histories for all the big acts of classic rock, you’ll find “Lakeland, Florida” listed as a
regular stop. In fact, many acts would rent out the place in the winter to practice and set the stage for
their upcoming tours. Kiss was one of the first. In fact, the infamous electrocution of Ace Frehley that
led to the writing of “Shock Me” from their 1977 album Love Gun took place there. Duran Duran liked it
so much that Simon LeBon bought a home here and was a winter regular for a time. Billy Idol even
filmed his live video for “Mony Mony” here.
Only a few blocks away from and in the shadow of that historic arena, in the tiny Hillcrest Coffee Shop,
(and conveniently, a mere 5 blocks from my office) the incredibly talented multi-instrumentalist Neal
Morse chose to perform on his limited “Up Close Tour 2024.” And perform he did!
Neal’s site stated the show would start at 7 with a local act, with him taking the stage at 7:30. I arrived
at 7:15 having agreed to wait for my friend (a HUGE NM fan who has attended a Morse Fest in the past)
to arrive from his hour plus drive from the other side of Orlando. Disappointingly, Neal was already into
his set and the coffee house (literally an old craftsman style house converted into a coffee shop) was so
crowded there was not even a place to stand in the main area. The owner grabbed us and a few others,
stating his disbelief as to how crowded his establishment had become, and brought us around through a
side door entering the kitchen on into a room on the back side of his business with an obstructed view,
but a view none-the-less.
Neal’s voice was in fine form and he was backed up by 2 people lending their voices to the harmonies on
some of the songs (arriving after the start I missed their introductions). All-in-all he played and told
stories for close to 90 minutes. It was very informal and at times his song choices seemed to be off the
cuff. During the second half of the set he shared his personal testimony as well as the story of how his
daughter was healed through prayer. Those stories interspersed between his songs of faith made it
quite an uplifting evening. Songs he played on the night included Shine, Late Bloomer, Manchester,
Canace Cathedral, Nothing God Can’t Do and King Jesus.
While he had his keyboard and loop pedal set up, most of the performance was just Neal and his
acoustic guitar. He’s a very engaging performer. He would just stop in the middle of a song to tell a
funny anecdote about how he came up with a lyric. Or he would pause and laugh at himself if he messed
something up. It was just a fun time and a fun show. I think everyone in attendance wished it could have
gone longer. I don’t think the purveyor of fine coffees knew what he had in his presence, as he
scheduled a local performer to take the stage immediately following Neal. Everyone was looking at the
owner like he was crazy. Neal was a gracious guest and cleared out and off to the side quickly (in the
back area I had found myself in) so he could talk to his fans without disturbing the next act.
It was my first time seeing Neal in person and I am blessed for it. His voice really shines live and in
person. If you have the chance to catch him on the few remaining “Up Close” tour dates, you won’t
regret it. www.nealmorse.com/tourdates I feel lucky he chose the once common tour stop of Lakeland,
Florida to share his music and his message in such an intimate setting. I hope he comes here again!
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