My write up of The Levon Helm Band w/ Willie Nelson @ Radio City July 28th


Just a quick rundown:

1) LHB- As “on” as ever. Theresa Williams and Amy Helm both belted it out of the park with their songs. Theresa even was a bit reminiscent of Patty Smyth. Brian Mitchell, continues to take on a more important and well deserved roll with the band tearing it up with a Shape opener and Bourgeois Town. As always the horns were on fire with the biggest stand out being Clark Gayton…same as it ever was, that boy can play the 'bone! If All on a Mardi Gras Day, sung by Brian Mitchell, with a spotlight on the LHB horn section, doesn’t make you feel good, nothing will. Stand out special guest and friend of LHB was Donald Fagen (of Steely Dan) playing the whole show . What a treat to hear King Harvest sung by Fagen (my favorite song). Levon’s voice was a little more raspy than usual but warm and “homey” (this is about 4 weeks into what appears to be a pretty heavy tour). Lastly, as one would expect Willie Nelson came out on stage for The Weight. What I didn’t expect is that Willie didn’t take a verse and added very little to the song.



2) Willie- Let me start by saying that Willie is an American Classic He has a following that makes him the headliner. Willie’s songs have all of the humor and heart that should represent the US. Not only that, anyone that listens to Willie long enough will realize that he is a fantastic guitar player that can hold his own with any band…..without a doubt amongst the best guitar players in country music. Willie’s band was as basic as it gets Bass, Piano, Harmonica, snare drum (that is it….just a snare) and Willie. Willie came out and opened up with the song that I was there to see- Whiskey River!!! However, it had very little heart and seemed off . Without any pauses he went through his first 4 songs. I thought that this was show was going to be a letdown. His band was solid but didn’t add much to the show (I am not sure that the snare did more than a metronome would). As time went on Willie got better and better. He started to speak with the audience and tell stories.Wille picked it up on his guitar got into his music. We began to see the classic Willie. He made a turn around and gave us an OK show. To be fair I think any musician coming on stage after LHB is in trouble.



3) The third star of the show. While it may be no big deal to you New Yorkers, The Radio City Music Hall, is one of the best venues that I have been to and what I will call the 3rd star of the show. The art deco design, while not ornate, is very pretty. The seats are comfy and the sound is perfect. New Yorkers, appreciate the treat that you have.



Overall, LHB made it worth the price of admission.