Phil Keaggy 1996 Concert - Merritt Island, Fl

Filmed on a rainy 1996* "monsoon" of a night in Merritt Island, Florida, Phil entertains in ways that only he could pull off. My video recording starts out shaky, but I left it in because of all the hilarious things that happen prior to any songs. ("Does anyone have any duct tape?") Don't rush ahead or you'll miss them. My video handling gets a bit better too.

Shot from the front row of Calvary Chapel Merritt Island, Florida, I used a Sony 8mm stereo video camera balanced on my crossed legs. A friend sitting next to me also brought a larger video camera. At one point in the concert, Phil jokes about video cameras making him nervous and gives us a look and a chuckle. With that, my buddy turned his camera off and stowed it beneath the bench seat. I kept mine rolling.

During an intermission, my friend went backstage and asked Phil about the comment. Turns out the thing that was adding to the "nervousness" was the blinking red light on my friend's camera. Phew. My camera had no such light. Glad I kept rolling. At least until the battery gave out about two songs from the end.

One other thing to share: A highlight from this soggy evening was actually having Phil approach me before the show and introduce himself, sticking out his hand.

"Hi, I'm Phil." he said shaking my hand.

"Nice to meet you," I replied, a bit shocked that he'd picked me. Isn't it the "fan" who seeks out the artist? Not the other way around?

Shaking hands with Phil was memorable not only for the amazing human that he is, but his handshake has an interesting feel as he only has nine fingers on his right hand. Yep, only nine. Being limited in that fashion sure doesn't stop him from coaxing some fabulous sounds from his instrument.

A fun night with some funny happenings and stories.

Let's do it again sometime, Phil.

Note: I incorrectly added 2006 to the video. That was the date I first transferred the concert from 8mm tape to a digital format. This was a concert held on 3/11/1996. Only missed it by 10 years. Pretty close, right? Thanks, ‪@kshavo‬ for catching the error.