Few things in life feel as uplifting as a smile from Willie Nelson, and at Edgefield just outside Portland on Sunday night the Red Headed Stranger was all smiles as he waved to ‘hello’ audience. It’s a remarkable feat that at the age of 83 Willie is still on the road all the time. Not only that, but, as his performance on Sunday proved, Willie is not just an old icon going through the motions. Performing is all he knows and his warm smile and frequent gestures of good will towards his audience – like tossing his trademark bandanas to the kids – show that Willie still loves every minute of it.
At Edgefield he took us on a journey through country music history that included both his own songs and the works of others, many of whom he has counted as close friends and collaborators over the years. There was one for Waylon Jennings (“Good Hearted Woman”), one for Merle Haggard (“It’s All Going To Pot”), and a whole trio of tunes for Hank Williams (“Jambalaya”, “Hey Good Lookin’”, Move It On Over”). Then there were the more immediate, warm-hearted moments involving Willie’s own “Family” band, like when he invited sister Bobbie to lend her saloon style piano tinkering to “Down Yonder”, or when he sang the testament to the party life “Me And Paul” while drummer Paul English cheerfully brushed the drum behind him. One of the impressive moments came from Willie’s medley of “Funny How Time Slips Away”, “Crazy” and “Nightlife”, which included a blues-laden solo, and more of his jazz style guitar picking Django Reinhardt’s “Nuages”. Some of the most moving moments came during old favorites like “Blue Eyes Cryin’ In the Rain” and “Always On My Mind”, still sang with the kind of emotional force that can make even the toughest cowboy shed a tear or two.
Towards the end of the set, Willie joked, “here’s a little gospel song I wrote”, before kicking off one of his most recent hits, “Roll Me Up And Smoke Me When I Die”, which hit a clear soft spot in pot-friendly Oregon. Then, perhaps to show he really did intend to play some spiritual music, he closed the evening on a high note with “Will The Circle Be Unbroken”, “I’ll Fly Away”, and “I Saw The Light”, all of which could have easily felt ominous for an artist so far into his elder years. But for Willie Nelson, these songs only reaffirmed his timeless, larger than life presence.
It would be unfair to not mention the stellar opening performance from local alt-country favorites Richmond Fontaine. Their set may have been short and they may have been missing one member – guitarist Dan Eccles – but that didn’t stop lead singer and songwriter Willy Vlautin from treating the crowd to songs off the band’s newest album You Can’t Go Back If There’s Nothing To Go Back To. Through Vlautin’s, serrated vocals and the help of a pedal steel, the set was hushed and twangy, even somber at times, and the audience seemed to enjoy being treated to something a little more thought-provoking than a typical opening act.
Photo via Instagram user @the_fake_frank
