We pre-partied at a business dinner at Virago, which was yummy but a bit rushed on our side, as we had to get over to the Ryman before this thing started. We looked for Hatch Show Prints, of course, but they were not offered for this show. Bummer.
We got to our seats ...
... just before 7:30, and by 7:40 he and his band had taken the stage. (Glad we left dinner early.)
They sounded great, volume was just right, crowd was appropriately into it. I got lost in my own little world for a huge part of this show, not really concious of the surroundings, which was a cool feeling. The band was large (8 or so folks) but so very right on and rarely if ever feeling like too much. And great players, of course.
The highlights were numerous, and my personals were kind of obvious for me ... Mother and Child Reunion, That Was Your Mother and Hearts and Bones was killer three songs in a row, as were Peace Like a River, The Obvious Child (which was stunningly good) and The Only Living Boy in New York.
The first encore was great, but the second encore was stupendous, esp. a very affecting reading of "The Boxer" with Jerry Douglas sounding amazing on dobro (and the whole crowd singing along loudly). An unplanned closer of The Boy In The Bubble was a huge treat for me, too.
If I had to have a complaint, it's that I thought we'd get Graceland in Nashville, but no dice. This will be a tough show to beat in 2011 for me ... he sounded amazingly vital, the new stuff sounded great even stacked against the old stuff ... a life-affirming show ...
Crazy Love, Vol. II
Dazzling Blue
50 Ways to Leave Your Lover
So Beautiful or So What
Slip Slidin' Away
Vietnam (Jimmy Cliff cover)
Mother and Child Reunion
That Was Your Mother
Hearts and Bones
Mystery Train (Little Junior's Blue Flames cover)
Wheels (Chet Atkins cover)
Darling Lorraine
Rewrite
Peace Like a River
The Obvious Child
The Only Living Boy in New York
Love Is Eternal Sacred Light
Questions for the Angels
Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes
Gumboots
Encore 1:
The Sound of Silence (solo acoustic)
Kodachrome
Gone At Last
Here Comes the Sun
Late in the Evening
Encore 2:
Still Crazy After All These Years
Bye Bye Love w/ Don Everly (The Everly Brothers cover)
The Boxer (with Jerry Douglas on Dobro - first time played on this tour)
Encore 3:
The Boy in the Bubble
