The thing about this show though, was that it truly spanned a massive career. I know the songs on Pontiac by heart. I know and love The Road to Ensenada and Step Inside This House. But he's got twelve or so other albums that he's released since 1986, and many of those songs are entirely off of my radar. I can't think of another artist like that, where I deeply love some of their music and have somehow remained entirely ignorant of the rest of their catalog. Weird. So, it created an interesting concert experience where more than half of the songs were new to me, but the people around me knew every word. There was a woman behind me who turned the spoken-word parts of "Here I Am" into a personal mission statement full of measured inflection and enunciation. Made me wish I knew that album with that level of passion.
In addition to some of the classic tunes, I really loved the spot-on version he did of "Nobody Knows Me," and it's been stuck in my mind since the show. Just a lovely piece of music and set of lyrics.
And then there was the Large Band. Musically, they made the show awesome. The three backup singers sounded amazing and added some classy little dance moves and steps to the left side of the stage. The horns, the fiddle, the slide guitar, the piano, the whole setup was excellent. Everybody seemed like a stud at their instrument. The one downside to having the Large Band on stage was that Lovett took about nine hours to introduce them and banter with them about the first time they ever came to Texas. I'm all for a little stage banter and introductions, but criminy he spent forever doing it at this show.
I was hoping for a Front Porch Boys collaboration, since Robert Earl was playing the same stage two nights later, but no such luck. Great show though! I'd definitely catch him again if possible.
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