Sheryl Crow Brings Live on the Green Roaring Back

A lot has changed in Nashville since the last time music lovers descended on Public Square Park for Lightning 100's Live on the Green music festival. It’s among the last of the city’s big public events put on hold by COVID to stage a return post-lockdown. Thankfully, the lingering pandemic wasn't enough to delay the party any further.

The festival’s five-night comeback run began Thursday with a dreamy set from up-and-coming Rochester, N.Y., R&B songsmith Danielle Ponder. Her soulful “The Only Way Out” was one of the station’s DJ Picks this summer, and it appears her debut album Some of Us Are Brave, which will be out Sept. 16.

Alt-country stalwart Nikki Lane, whose most recent LP Highway Queen was released in 2017, finally has a new album on the way. Her set Thursday also offered a preview of Denim & Diamonds, which will be out Sept. 23.

As the sun slipped behind the horizon, the immeasurably talented Watson Twins, who’d played a set of their own on the smaller 615 Stage earlier, came up to the main stage to join longtime collaborator and indie-rock royalty Jenny Lewis. The trio — clad in red retro Western wear, adorned with white fringe — took concertgoers on a musical journey through the many eras of Lewis' impressive music career.

Along with recent singles like 2021's “Puppy and a Truck,” which she penned while in Nashville, Lewis offered up plenty of older favorites from the deep catalog she’s developed following her tenure in Rilo Kiley. Standouts included “Just One of the Guys" from 2014’s The Voyager and a pair of titular tunes, “Acid Tongue” from her 2008 LP and “On the Line” from her most recent full-length in 2019. The Watson Twins brought their flawless vocals — and sassy synchronized dance moves — to “Handle With Care” and “Rise Up With Fists!!,” two highlights from the trio’s celebrated 2006 collaborative record Rabbit Fur Coat. I was excited to hear that Lewis had recently added a cover of the late Keith Whitley's “Miami, My Amy” to her set list. The brilliant musical accompaniment from her Nashville-based band featuring Jess Nolan on keys, Ryan Madora on bass, Megan McCormick on guitar and Megan Coleman on drums made Lewis' groovy take on the latter-day country classic shine even brighter than I predicted.

To wrap up the festival’s first night, the one and only Sheryl Crow brought an eclectic and electric selection of evergreen career hits along with a few genre-bending covers. After delighting the crowd with a stream of trademark songs including “If It Makes You Happy,” “A Change Would Do You Good” and “My Favorite Mistake,” Crow and her band dove into a surprising take on Post Malone's “Circles,” which she released as a single last month. After rolling through her impassioned rendition of Cat Stevens' “The First Cut Is the Deepest,” she took on The Rolling Stones' casually nasty “Live With Me” with an ease that few other performers could muster. She saved her anthemic “All I Wanna Do” and laid-back “Soak Up the Sun" for the set's blissful final moments before sending us on our way. 

The longer you call Nashville home, the more likely you are to get spoiled by the city's seemingly endless stream of musical talent. It's easy to forget the perks of living here amid political turmoil, party bus traffic and the myriad growing pains Nashville seems to be constantly be going through. At a glance, Live on the Green seemed a little less crowded on Thursday than in the Before Times; maybe that was because of COVID concerns, or maybe simply because it was a school night and there are four more shows to come. In any case, the festival’s triumphant return after such a lengthy pause was a reminder of just how lucky we are to enjoy so many high-caliber performances right on our doorstep — for free, no less.