Willie Nelson
“Are we not all blessed to be living in the time of Willie?” Emmylou Harris asked the attentive crowd of thousands gathered Saturday at Bridgestone Arena to celebrate Willie Nelson. Someday, we will have to live on a planet that we don’t share with the Red Headed Stranger, one of the most subtly fantastic songwriters and interpreters of others’ songs to grace a stage in the past six decades. (He’s also still going strong: His 2018 album Last Man Standing earned high marks in our 19th Annual Country Music Critics’ Poll, which you can read all about on Thursday.) But this career retrospective, featuring performances by the 85-year-old Nelson plus a slew of family, friends and collaborators across an array of genres, was a showcase for both the enduring quality of his work and the breadth and depth of his influence. It was a reminder that even after Nelson is gone, he’ll still be present in important ways. And it was also one helluva show.
Nelson is the latest musical legend to be featured in a mega-concert produced and taped for broadcast and video by Blackbird Presents — following All in for the Gambler: Kenny Rogers’ Farewell Concert Celebration, Merle Haggard: Sing Me Back Home and The Life & Songs of Kris Kristofferson, among others. Like its predecessors, Willie: Life & Songs of an American Outlaw (the televised version of which is slated to air sometime this year on A&E) featured both a stacked lineup and a little behind-the-scenes awkwardness. For The Spin and the rest of us crammed cheek by jowl into the arena, things kicked off about half an hour late, and there were pauses between acts while the stage was reset and intros from host Ed Helms were filmed. Still, the choppiness of the two-set affair was easy to forgive thanks to the mind-blowing amount of stellar performances.
The night fittingly kicked off with Chris Stapleton’s rollicking take on “Whiskey River,” the Johnny Bush- and Paul Stroud-penned song Nelson has chosen to open his own sets for years. Margo Price offered up a flawless performance of "Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys,” featuring Bobby Bare Sr., before taking on Phases and Stages track "Sister’s Coming Home” with Steve Earle.
One of the most talked-about moments of the night came when Nelson’s sons Micah and Lukas Nelson took the stage together and backed each other up. Each took the lead on a song that showcased his own unique talents. Micah, who mixes folk and futuristic psych rock in his project Particle Kid, supplied a dreamy version of "I Thought About You, Lord” from Willie’s 1996 record Spirit. Lukas’ work over the past several years (from backing up Neil Young with his band The Promise of the Real to PotR’s debut album to his contributions to A Star Is Born) has elevated him in the public eye. Still, we heard mumblings of surprise and awe among the crowd during a medley of three songs cut on Willie’s landmark 1975 LP Red Headed Stranger: "Time of the Preacher,” “Bandera” and "Hands on the Wheel.”
Alison Krauss was one of the few to completely silence the boisterous crowd with the eternally devastating cut "Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground.” Before rolling into the soulful "Georgia on My Mind,” Jamey Johnson reminisced about his close ties to Willie Nelson. "He got me hooked on golf and some other things," Johnson said with a smile. "But the best thing he got me hooked on was old country music."
Sturgill Simpson, who has been keeping a relatively low profile over the past year (aside from a fire-breathing set at Bonnaroo), made a surprise appearance to perform "Red Headed Rounder,” an unreleased song by the late Merle Haggard. “This is my first time actually playing inside Bridgestone Arena,” he said, alluding to when he busked outside the 2017 CMA Awards.
Willie Nelson and Eric Church
The night included more than 30 impressive performances by artists who’ve been inspired by Willie, and in some cases the songs they played highlighted artists who inspired him. Additional highlights included Harris (on Townes Van Zandt’s “Pancho and Lefty”); Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires (on Kokomo Arnold’s “Milk Cow Blues”); Lyle Lovett ("My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys”); Dave Matthews (“Crazy”); Jack Johnson (who did his original “Willie Got Me Stoned,” which is about exactly what you’d expect it’s about); Norah Jones and her tribute group The Little Willies (on jazz-tinged renditions of “Remember Me” and “I Gotta Get Drunk”); Jimmy Buffett (on Jimmy Cliff’s "The Harder They Come”); Sheryl Crow ("After the Fire Is Gone”); and Lee Ann Womack (“Three Days”).
To no one’s surprise, some of the night’s best moments came after Nelson himself took the stage. He teamed up with Eric Church and fellow Highwaymen member Kris Kristofferson for “Me and Bobby McGee,” and brought back Stapleton along with Derek Trucks for a tear-jerking rendition of “Always on My Mind."
Willie Nelson and George Strait
It’s hard to believe that two of the Lone Star State's finest exports have somehow never formally collaborated. The cosmic balance was restored when George Strait debuted a new song called “Sing One With Willie,” in which the two sing about — what else — singing with each other. After running through a barrage of Nelson’s previous duet partners, Strait playfully asks: “Damn, why not me? / We could even sing it on TV / Just like him and old Julio Iglesias."
After four hours of paying tribute to the man of the hour, the whole gang of performers united onstage around him for one last go-round. They harmonized through his trademark song "On the Road Again” before bringing a choir feel to "May the Circle Be Unbroken” and "I’ll Fly Away.” As green lights shined down on Nelson, proudly sporting a T-shirt for his marijuana brand Willie’s Reserve, the ensemble wrapped the show on a perfect note: the never-too-serious (but nonetheless expertly crafted) “Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die.”
In The Spin — the Scene's live review column — staffers and freelance contributors review concerts under a collective byline.
