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Well, as my road dawg Kristin was kind enough to point out, I did not report my Willie Nelson concert experience. So, here is my report:
We got to the show about half an hour early. We found our seats, and Tina (my sister) and I headed off to the merchandise stand to buy my grandmother a shirt. I got one too. Then, all of a sudden, what should come on the loud speakers (which were playing Willie's songs before the show started)???? THE RAINBOW CONNECTION, A LA WILLIE! I was so thrilled! We got back to our seats, and my family basked in the coolness of knowing every word to the song.
So, it got to be about 8:15, and Willie took the stage (which I must commend him for, as waaay too many artists never start their shows promptly). This would have been wonderful, except all of these idiots were still standing around looking for their seats! Now, we weren't exactly sitting in the "nose-bleed" area (the ampitheatre really doesn't have any horrible seats, which is another thing I love about it), but we weren't exactly 3rd row center either. So, as Whiskey River plays (as it always does when Willie opens his shows), we had jerks standing around, blocking the view. That ticked me off. About 3 songs in they finally settled down, but still, that's 3 whole songs that weren't fully enjoyed due to their lack of seating abilities.
Now, anyone who remembers my B-52's report will automatically recall my lovely experience with the burly man who took the liberty of sitting so close to me he was nearly in my lap. Well, guess what folks, it seems that, though Willie Nelson's fans are not of the same ilk as the B's, they still feel the need to take up 5 seats per person. To elaborate; the old lady sitting next to me. This lady and (I believe it was) her 2 children (both near my parents age) took their seats next to me about 4 songs into the concert. So, as I'm listening to Willie singing, I see this hand holding a red-colored drink slowly inching towards my right arm. I paid it no mind initially, but I mean, it kept coming, and coming, until finally I had to jerk my shoulder forward to let this woman know she was intruding into my area. This didn't seem to work, however, as now, in addition to the hand and drink, a leg was starting to cross over into Matt Zone. So, I inch towards Tina who is to my left. Lucky I did, as the lady spread herself out as if she was in a queen-sized bed all by herself. Thankfully she repositioned herself a little while later, but those few minutes felt very, very long.
Anyway, back to Willie. I must say, the man is amazing. He really is an inspiration to me. I mean, he is turning 70 this month (his birthday was not the day of the show, by the way; its April 30th. At least we were in his birthday month, right?), but I'll be darned his he shows any signs of slowing down. He still sings beautifully, still plays guitar like a freakin' wizard, and can rock nonstop. In all, the man played a 2 hour set WITHOUT STOPPING! I know bands that can't go for a half hour without a break, but Willie Nelson, at age 69, can play 2 hours straight without a break. God bless him for that alone. Also something what was really sweet is that he still plays with his sister Bobbi (who is a pianist), and also, he had his son (who is about my age) playing electric guitar (and playing very well, I might add. He had a solo that had people standing), and his younger son playing something like the triangle or shakers (the younger being just younger than Tina, so about 10 maybe). In addition to that coolness, he did a bit of a mini-tribute to the late Waylon Jennings, which was very cool, as Waylon and Willie were very close friends. In his honor, he played "Pancho and Lefty," accompanied by another guitarist, whos name is escaping me.
Something surprising to me is the number of songs that he performed that had been done on the Muppet Show. He played: "Blue Skies," (SO, SO beautifully. I was nearly tearing up at how wonderfully he did it), "All of Me," and "Deep in the Heart of Texas," and those are only the ones I can remember. Speaking of Texas, he did something that I thought was wonderful. As some who know Willie's stage show know, he has an extremely large Texas flag behind him for his shows. Well, about halfway through his set, they dropped an even larger American flag over it. The entire crowd stood and applauded.
The one extremely small quip I have about the show is that Willie didn't come out to sign autographs afterwards. This may seem like a strange quip to some, but Willie Nelson is notorious for exiting his tour bus after concerts and staying out until everyone who stayed after has an autograph and a picture. I thought it was a bit weird that he didn't stay, but I guess I can't blame him. 2 hours straight is a long time to rock at 70 years of age. His bus driver was a bit of a jerk though, as my family was nearly ran over as the bus was leaving the lot.
So, in closing: Willie Nelson rocks harder than ever. Anyone who has the chance, country fan or not, should get out and see him. You will NOT be sorry.
RATING: 5 of 5
(Hey, 1700 posts! YAY!
)
-Matt
We got to the show about half an hour early. We found our seats, and Tina (my sister) and I headed off to the merchandise stand to buy my grandmother a shirt. I got one too. Then, all of a sudden, what should come on the loud speakers (which were playing Willie's songs before the show started)???? THE RAINBOW CONNECTION, A LA WILLIE! I was so thrilled! We got back to our seats, and my family basked in the coolness of knowing every word to the song.
So, it got to be about 8:15, and Willie took the stage (which I must commend him for, as waaay too many artists never start their shows promptly). This would have been wonderful, except all of these idiots were still standing around looking for their seats! Now, we weren't exactly sitting in the "nose-bleed" area (the ampitheatre really doesn't have any horrible seats, which is another thing I love about it), but we weren't exactly 3rd row center either. So, as Whiskey River plays (as it always does when Willie opens his shows), we had jerks standing around, blocking the view. That ticked me off. About 3 songs in they finally settled down, but still, that's 3 whole songs that weren't fully enjoyed due to their lack of seating abilities.
Now, anyone who remembers my B-52's report will automatically recall my lovely experience with the burly man who took the liberty of sitting so close to me he was nearly in my lap. Well, guess what folks, it seems that, though Willie Nelson's fans are not of the same ilk as the B's, they still feel the need to take up 5 seats per person. To elaborate; the old lady sitting next to me. This lady and (I believe it was) her 2 children (both near my parents age) took their seats next to me about 4 songs into the concert. So, as I'm listening to Willie singing, I see this hand holding a red-colored drink slowly inching towards my right arm. I paid it no mind initially, but I mean, it kept coming, and coming, until finally I had to jerk my shoulder forward to let this woman know she was intruding into my area. This didn't seem to work, however, as now, in addition to the hand and drink, a leg was starting to cross over into Matt Zone. So, I inch towards Tina who is to my left. Lucky I did, as the lady spread herself out as if she was in a queen-sized bed all by herself. Thankfully she repositioned herself a little while later, but those few minutes felt very, very long.
Anyway, back to Willie. I must say, the man is amazing. He really is an inspiration to me. I mean, he is turning 70 this month (his birthday was not the day of the show, by the way; its April 30th. At least we were in his birthday month, right?), but I'll be darned his he shows any signs of slowing down. He still sings beautifully, still plays guitar like a freakin' wizard, and can rock nonstop. In all, the man played a 2 hour set WITHOUT STOPPING! I know bands that can't go for a half hour without a break, but Willie Nelson, at age 69, can play 2 hours straight without a break. God bless him for that alone. Also something what was really sweet is that he still plays with his sister Bobbi (who is a pianist), and also, he had his son (who is about my age) playing electric guitar (and playing very well, I might add. He had a solo that had people standing), and his younger son playing something like the triangle or shakers (the younger being just younger than Tina, so about 10 maybe). In addition to that coolness, he did a bit of a mini-tribute to the late Waylon Jennings, which was very cool, as Waylon and Willie were very close friends. In his honor, he played "Pancho and Lefty," accompanied by another guitarist, whos name is escaping me.
Something surprising to me is the number of songs that he performed that had been done on the Muppet Show. He played: "Blue Skies," (SO, SO beautifully. I was nearly tearing up at how wonderfully he did it), "All of Me," and "Deep in the Heart of Texas," and those are only the ones I can remember. Speaking of Texas, he did something that I thought was wonderful. As some who know Willie's stage show know, he has an extremely large Texas flag behind him for his shows. Well, about halfway through his set, they dropped an even larger American flag over it. The entire crowd stood and applauded.
The one extremely small quip I have about the show is that Willie didn't come out to sign autographs afterwards. This may seem like a strange quip to some, but Willie Nelson is notorious for exiting his tour bus after concerts and staying out until everyone who stayed after has an autograph and a picture. I thought it was a bit weird that he didn't stay, but I guess I can't blame him. 2 hours straight is a long time to rock at 70 years of age. His bus driver was a bit of a jerk though, as my family was nearly ran over as the bus was leaving the lot.
So, in closing: Willie Nelson rocks harder than ever. Anyone who has the chance, country fan or not, should get out and see him. You will NOT be sorry.
RATING: 5 of 5
(Hey, 1700 posts! YAY!
)-Matt
Heehee!
*Phew!*