When in the presence of a legend such as Jackson Browne, one can have many expectations. From wanting to hear his greatest hits, his most recent work, his earliest music, or to just simply enjoy an evening with him, and see what the night has in store. Those who went to enjoy an evening, and wait to see what unfolded, got exactly what they expected.
Jackson Browne came out, and took a seat at the piano to open with Black And White. Upon finishing, he grabbed an acoustic guitar and approached the mic. As he was doing so, someone shouted “it’s my birthday!” With a chuckle, Browne responded “well, happy birthday.” This set the tone for the evening, in that Browne interacted with his audience all night.
He went on to talk about how tonight’s show would be completely different than any other show on his tour. Usually he has Sara Watkins open for him, but tonight she would be joining him as a guest on many of his songs. He also stated “oh my God, I’m playing a casino,” which was met with laughter from the audience. After finishing The Naked Ride Home, he clarified that when he thinks of casino shows, he thinks of them as “the same show, seven nights a week, and that’s not what my show is at all.”
As the night unfolded, Browne let Watkins play a couple of her songs, as well as letting his guitar player, Val McCallum play one off of his solo album. McCallum chose to play Tokyo Girl, which he said “is a song about meeting my wife in a bar in Tokyo, her name’s Shelli… she’s actually from Oregon.” After McCallum finished, Browne asked Sara if she would like to play a couple of her songs as well. With her brother Sean joining her, as well as McCallum and Browne, she performed “Take Up Your Spade,” and “You And Me.”
As the night neared an end, an adamant fan who had been shouting “JAMAICA!” at almost every break between songs, finally got a response from Browne. As he chuckled, he replied “ok, ok, I’ll play Jamaica,” affirming that the show was far from scripted.
A few songs later, Browne started “Running On Empty,” and the venue erupted. Up to this point the show had a slow and intimate pace, that all changed in an instant. Everyone stood as he played the hit, some even running up to the stage to dance. Keeping the show organic, Browne made it around the stage, leaning in to the band members’ ears. It was apparent what the message was when they medleyed into The Eagles’ “Take It Easy.” As guitars were swapped and tuned mid song, Browne called everyone up front. “Come on up here and dance with me, don’t worry about those security guards!”
As they finished, I couldn’t help but think that it was the perfect ending to his show, an exclamation point on a spontaneous show. As they exited the stage, the crowd pined for more. Browne returned to play a one song encore of Steven Van Zandt’s “I Am A Patriot,” which nearly everyone in attendance sang along with. As they took a bow, Browne thanked everyone for sharing an evening with him.
Set List:
Black And White
Looking East
I’m Alive
The Naked Ride Home
For Everyman
Live Nude Cabaret
Call It A Loan
Sleep’s Dark And Silent Gate
The Pretender
A Child In These Hills
Tokyo Girl (Val McCallum on vocals) Take Up Your Spade (Sara Watkinson vocals )
You And Me (Sara Watkins on vocals)
Only Peace I’ve Known (Sean Watkinson vocals )
For A Dancer
Jamaica Say You Will
These Days
I’ll Do Anything
Running On Empty
Take It Easy (Eagles cover)
Encore:
I Am A Patriot (Steven Van Zandt cover)
We would like to thank Tony Astran for his assistance in helping BackstageAxxess review the show.
