The Willie Nelson Picnic; July 4, 2007

At the last minute (noon), Keelin and I decided to spend the 4th of July with Willie Nelson and one of my new favorites, the Old 97's. It was 100 degrees in George that afternoon. . .not all that different than the weather would be in Austin. We drive the 2 1/2 hours over the pass into the central Washington desert, headed for the Gorge Amphitheatre, sitting on a hill above the mighty Columbia.

Alas, there was no barbecue from Stubb's or The Salt Lick, but everyone made up for it by drinking lots of beer (no Shiner Bock!). Of course, at the prices they charge, it would cost you about $60 or so to get a buzz going.

It was a happy crowd--a stew of people of my ilk (aka silverbacks) and the tatooed, babies, lots of 20 and 30 somethings, pierced folks, 50 and 60 year old cowfolk, and a sprinking of hippies. Although we mainly went to see the Old 97's and Drive By Truckers, the other bands performed respectably. Including, of course, Willie. I am not a huge Willie Nelson fan--I've been more a fan of his songs than his performances. However, most of the people I talked to were bored with the lineup, and were mainly waiting for Willie to appear. One guy was counting the minutes until the Old 97's finished. Heresy!




We arrived about ten minutes before the show started at 4:00. It was 100 degrees and broiling. There is virtually no shade at the Gorge. The place looked half-filled at first, mainly because people were in the misting tents, and drinking beer on the plaza. The theatre began to fill slowly. Unfortunately most people missed Amos Lee, who played a warm and loose folk/blues to just a few us. He was the only act on the bill I didn't know, and he was a great surprise. I'll be buying some of his music this week!


The Drive By Truckers

I liked the Drive-By Truckers early work, but I wasn less impressed with their performance. They did play some great guitar. They were fine; I was just eager to see the Old 97's.

In Seattle, Old 97's and Son Volt are very popular, but the Gorge audience didn't seem to know them, and the respose was fairly muted. The Willie audience didn't know their work. The Old 97's played a lot of their earlier country stuff (from the Too Far To Care era), but also several of the great tunes from Fight Songs and Satelite Ride. Rhett Miller sounded great (and even danced), the guitarist was, as always, awesome, and the drums were way up front in the mix (something Old 97's have in common with The Posies). It felt like both Son Volt and the Old 97's, as talented as they are, probably come across better in a smaller venue (and without most of the audience being there to see the headliner).


Amos Lee - a charming, moving performer

The Nelson Family event kicked off with a subset of the band--40 Points--featuring Nelson's sons Micah and Lukas on drums and guitar. These Nelson kids are good! Lukas smoked on guitar. However, the six or seven songs they played (sans Willie) were perhaps a bit much.

When Nelson finally took the stage wearing his black vest, jeans, and cowboy hat, the audience absolutely erupted with the yells and applause they had been so stingy about giving the other acts. Willie played down home country, as he always does. He played many of his great tunes: like "Whiskey River," and "Whiskey for My Men, Beer for My Horses," and "Still Is Still Moving to Me" before slowing down for "Funny How Time Slips Away," and maybe his greatest tune (that Patsy Cline made famous) "Crazy." Willie is a consummate performer and knows how to work a crowd of 30,000. The band, and Willie himself, sounded great.


The Old 97's, my current favorite alt-country band (mainly
because they jumped the fence into power-pop land)


Willie's sister Bobbie plays excellent honky-tonk piano, and they even gave her a one song solot slot. stepping into the limelight for one perfect solo song. Let me also mention that she has hair that must be four feet long. The harp player, Mickey Raphael (with Nelson for 30 years now) sounded great, and it's always nice to hear harmonica in country music; for some reason, CW has always seemed to eschew harp playing.



Son Volt

Willie performed a honky-tonk version of Kristofferson's "Me and Bobby McGee," a Stevie Ray Vaughn cover, and his classic "On the Road Again." They also played a Hank Williams medley, and of course, Willie crooned "Georgia on My Mind." Danny Goodfellow, a longtime Willie pal, came on stage to fiddle on the bluegrass song"Rolling in My Sweet Baby's Arms."

Previous links to Old 97's posts and videos on All This Is That:

The Old 97s in Austin
The Old 97's show at Stubb's BBQ was a rainout . . .but the Small Stars were great!
Designs On You
Video and Lyrics to Old 97's "Lonely Holiday"
Video and lyrics: Old 97's Designs On You
---o0o---