Friday, April 17, 2009

Rodney Crowell at The Prince – 16 April 2009

rodney_crowell 012_filtered (Large)

Rodney Crowell @ The Prince of Wales – 16/4/09

My mind is still buzzing after a great night of music at The Prince, watching Rodney Crowell perform his wonderful songs live. The venue this time round had both seated and standing room. Seated tickets (catering for the baby boomers) were $10.00 extra and well worth it - at least from where I was sitting two rows from the front to the right of the stage. So I had a good view and was able to get some good photos. I took the Canon G10 this time and am pretty pleased with results.

This is the first time Rodney Crowell has toured Australia and hopefully it is not the last. He was accompanied by Will Kimbrough – a superb performer in his own right and a beautifully tasteful guitarist. Rodney was splendid – he has an engaging stage presence and had the crowd in his hands from the start. He also tells amusing stories, particularly one about his ex father-in-law Johnny Cash.

And then there are his songs…they sound even better live, being quirky and well written and could only be sung in Rodney’s distinctive voice, though many artists have covered his songs in the past. Will Kimbrough provided harmony vocals on many of the songs and their two voices together were reminiscent of the Everly Brothers who were my favorite band when I was about 10 years old.

There were many highlights through the night... I very much enjoyed Rodney Crowell’s Johnny Cash tribute song Walk The Line (Revisited), originally recorded on the Houston Kid CD with The Man In Black singing the chorus line. Will Kimbrough did a great job in this role last night.

It was a very fine night’s entertainment. Australia gave Rodney Crowell a very warm reception wherever he played so there is every chance he will return in the near future. I’d certainly go and see him play again.

Set List – ( May be missing a few songs)

  1. Rise & Fall of Intelligent Design
  2. Sex & Gasoline
  3. Moving Work of Art
  4. Running Circles Round The Sun
  5. Til I Gain Control Again
  6. Jewell of The South
  7. Riding Out The Storm
  8. Still Learning How To Fly
  9. Earthbound
  10. Closer to Heaven
  11. Will Kimbrough solo – didn’t get song title
  12. Will Kimbrough solo – Philadelphia Mississippi
  13. Will Kimbrough & Rodney Crowell – didn’t get song title
  14. I Wish It Would Rain
  15. Wandering Boy
  16. I Walk The Line (Revisited)
  17. It’s Hard To Kiss The Lips
  18. Leaving Louisiana In The Broad Daylight
  19. Pancho & Lefty
  20. Ain’t Living Long Like This
  21. I Know Love Is All I Need

6 comments:

Rhondalove said...

Thank you for your review.

jer0nim0 said...

Hey! Thanks for the review! Glad you enjoyed the show. Ragged Company is proud that the tour went as well as it did, and we thank you for coming to check it out. Have a look at our website in the near future for news on upcoming tours, etc. Thanks again, Neil/Ragged Company www.raggedcompany.com.au

Anne S said...

Jeronimo,

Well I do hope Ragged Company will bring Rodney out again. Once is certainly not enough.

I am writing a more detailed review for Nu Country which will be online in a day or so with more photos.

BwcaBrownie said...

If your ex-F-I-Law is The Man In Black, the stories couldn't be anything but amusing.
Looking forward to the NuCountry Newsletter when it comes.

Francis Xavier Holden said...

I was rounding up a posse to go to Andrew Pattison's at Lancefield but Ms FX jacked up as it was too far on a Friday after work.

So I ended up somewhat less than enthusiastically watching MidSommers. Such is life in the fast lane.

Anne S said...

FX: You should have come to the Prince - ace show and with seating for us oldies!