What would you say if I told you the highlight was Dave Matthews?
You'd choke, do a spit take, how could that be?
Dave is like Bruce. And the Dead while I'm at it. I've got no problem with the act, but their audience... Yes, these three are tarred by their audience. You cannot be an expert on Bruce or the Dead, even if you saw the act before the speaker was alive. They know better. As for Dave... His Gen-X fans, the people who discovered him in college, those who grew up in comfort and have now established themselves financially...seemingly everybody hates these people other than themselves.
But that does not make Dave Matthews bad. Quite the opposite.
Dave came out alone, sans band, cracked a few self-deprecating jokes, as he is wont to do, and then knocked it far over the fence with a completely rearranged version of "Funny How Time Slips Away." Like Joe Cocker (not that he sounded anything like him), Dave rearranged a classic and made it his own. This was not a rote rendition, this was something new, and it resonated.
And then there was the tour-de-force with Jamey Johnson, Warren Haynes and Booker T. Jones on "Georgia On My Mind."
I'd forgotten to reference Johnson's appearance on the first night. Actually, Jamey was a part of the band. Way off to the side. Picking on that oversized guitar. And it's hard not to ponder how Jamey sleeps with that long beard and long hair, but last night he literally let his hair down, stepped up to the mic and sang. To tell you the truth, I actually thought Jamey's rendition of Billy Joe Shaver's "Live Forever" was superior the night before, but "Georgia On My Mind" had the crowd standing, partly as a result of the secret sauce Warren Haynes added.
As for Kris Kristofferson... I thought he was one and done. But last night he came out with Norah Jones and performed "Help Me Make It Through the Night" and... It seemed like he didn't know where to come in, and when he did his voice was very soft, but then Kris hit his stride and it was a marvel. Kinda like Tony Bennett, the songs are still in him, even though he seems removed from life.
And oh, I forgot to mention Shooter Jennings and Lukas Nelson performing "Good Hearted Woman." They were in the groove, they rocked, it was anything but superfluous, there was energy, the performance added to the song, made you realize Shooter and Lukas deserve the accolades.
And Nathaniel Rateliff... He's famous for his work with the Night Sweats, but he's one break away from being America's vocalist. Man, this guy did an amazing version of "A Song For You." He feels the music and it's cognitive dissonance to see this sweet sound coming out of this burly man...this is the humanity absent from today's digitized world. Rateliff felt the song, and his feeling was conveyed to the audience.
And then there was Willie.
He walked a little better last night. He was more relaxed, in the groove, and he was on stage longer. And man could he pick! Willie might be aged and wrinkled, but he doesn't seem to have lost anything, either with his singing or playing. The edge from the night before was gone, this was more of a party, the closing hour of a two day celebration.
Buddy Cannon alone with Willie was a highlight. This guy's got amazing credits, not only with Willie, but with Kenny Chesney. Buddy was so normal, yet so right.
And then came Keef. Yes, Keith Richards. Like you've never seen him before. As in Johnny Depp's pirate act didn't resemble this guy whatsoever. Keith seems to have come out the other side. Articulate and coherent. It's hard to square him with the guy he used to be, his reputation. Keith was totally present. Sure, his hair was white, but Richards appeared much younger than his age. There was no snarl, he was not removed, he was a whole new person, and that was endearing and uplifting.
And at the end of the night, Willie said "Same time tomorrow night."
It was an inside joke. Won't work when you see the movie, but if you were there both nights... Most special occasions have concertgoers on the edge of their seats, in rapt attention, drooling, you can almost hear a pin drop. But the past two nights, especially Sunday, it was more like a family reunion, with entertainment, you felt the loss, you wondered what you were going to do Monday night, you expected more, wanted more, and it turned out Willie Nelson felt the same way.
These shows were unusual in that ultimately they felt less like events, and more like life. The music was the grease, that smoothed out the bumps in your life, that took you away from not only the humdrum, but the inexplicable that we all deal with in the real world.
This was not the real world. This was a better world. Where everybody was happy, celebrating, and we all got along. It hearkened back to an earlier era, before greed and ignorance separated the classes. When you could save up and be anywhere if it was important enough to you. There were no brick walls keeping you out. If it was your desire to be inside, you could be there.
Sure, we have our heroes, but in truth these musicians are no different from you and me. It's that this is their job. Traveling from city to city, hamlet to hamlet, playing their songs. Some nights they're better than others, some nights the crowd is bigger than others, some nights it fails completely and other nights it transcends everybody's expectations, as if the musicians are channeling God and the audience is reading from the prayer book.
When done right, you never know exactly what you'll get. But when done right your spirit will be lifted. That's why we adore these players. Not because they look good, but because of how they make us feel.
And I'm still coming down from how Willie and his cohorts made me feel this weekend. This is the feeling I live for.
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