John Anderson – Treasure Island Resort & Casino – Welch, MN – October 11, 2025

John Anderson at Treasure Island Resort & Casino in Welch, MN – Saturday, October 11, 2025

Review and photos by Jim Zons

My first job out of high school was working at a tiny country music radio station in Durand, Wisconsin.  I wasn’t really a fan of country music at the time, but when you’re spinning records six hours a day (with 90 minutes of all-request polka music in the middle of that .. hey:  this was rural Wisconsin in the 1980s after all!), you do find artists that you like.  And one of those artists was John Anderson, who I happened to catch over 40 years later this past Saturday night at the Treasure Island Casino Event Center.

Back in those formative days of my youth as a very young DJ at WRDN radio, I really liked John Anderson’s music;  he had a distinct voice, and his lyrics weren’t the typical, forgettable lyrics you heard from some of the more mainstream artists at the time.  I did get to see him perform once back in the day (along with Ricky Skaggs in the 1980s, I think), but it had been awhile, so I was really looking forward to seeing him at Treasure Island.

When I first got to the venue, I was initially disappointed to just see a couple of acoustic guitars up on the stage; I was looking forward to seeing and hearing a full band!  But I’ll tell you what:  if you’re doing an acoustic show, your voice had better sound GOOD.  And John’s voice was AMAZING – still as deep and distinct as back when I first heard him in the early 80s. Joining John on stage was his longtime guitarist Dan Reeves, playing acoustic and slide guitar.

First, some background.  John Anderson grew up in Apopka, Florida and has been playing music since he was a teenager.  He charted his first single in 1977 when he was just 23 years old, and produced a string of top 40 country music singles from the late 70s into the 90s.

For his set at Treasure Island, he started off with one of his more memorable hits: “I’m Just an Old Chunk of Coal (but I’m Gonna Be a Diamond Someday)” from 1981, and from there it was decades of classic country music that had a lot of the audience at TI singing along.  John Anderson fans will recognize some of these songs from the set list: “You Look Better Than Money in the Bank,” “Freedom Isn’t Free,” “Straight Tequila Night,” “1959,” “Black Sheep” (that one really had people singing along!)  As I mentioned earlier, this was an acoustic show, and I was blown away at how good John’s voice sounded, especially for someone who’s pushing 70 years old!

John did take a few breaks to share some stories connected with songs, such as his 40 year friendship with Waylon Jennings dating back to when he asked Waylon to sing on his recording of “Long Black Veil” (originally recorded by Lefty Frizzel). He also talked about how young listeners are discovering him thanks to two different covers of his song “Years” (just recorded by Blake Shelton for his new album, and also covered recently by Sierra Ferrell).

No John Anderson concert would be complete without two of his biggest hits of all time: 1982’s “Swingin’” and 1991’s “Seminole Wind,” and hearing acoustic versions of these two songs was really a treat.  If you’re a fan of the more traditionalist style of country music, make sure you catch John Anderson if you get a chance … it was a great way to spend a Saturday night!