You’d be hard pressed to find a matchup more appealing to me than Willie Nelson and John Fogerty. Both men have back catalogues full of songs that are an essential part of American music history. Willie Nelson with songs such as “Crazy,” “Nite Life,” “On The Road Again…” John Fogerty with Creedence Clearwater Revival tunes like “Proud Mary,” “Fortunate Son,” “Have You Ever Seen The Rain…” The lists go on and on. Perhaps even more impressive is that after 50 and 40 years respectively of songwriting and performing, these two are still turning out classic work. One of Willie Nelson’s newest CD’s, (he has six new CD’s out just this year) “It Will Always Be” easily stands among the best of his career. John Fogerty’s 1998 Grammy-winning release, “Blue Moon Swamp” is the best of his long solo career and the only to truly compare to his amazing work with CCR.
Given the stature of the two performers and my love for their music, I sprung for some front row seats where I could really take in all the action. Willie Nelson hit the stage and launched right into a rollicking version of “Whiskey River” which really set the tone for the rest of his set. I was amazed at how spry Willie was for a man of 72 years. You’d never mistake him for Steven Tyler onstage, but he did move around the stage quite a bit and was interacting with the crowd for the entire show — pointing, waving, tossing things into the crowd. I’ve not seen an artist instantly connect in such a personable way with a crowd like Willie did. Willie played most everything you’d expect him to, from his fantastic covers of Kris Kristofferson’s “Help Me Make It Through The Night” and “Me And Bobbie McGee” to “Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain” as well as some unexpected covers such as Merle Haggard’s “Working Man Blues” and Toby Keith’s “Beer For My Horses.” Throughout, Willie maintained a comfortable, laid-back vibe that made everyone in the audience feel like they were hanging out on Willie’s back porch while he worked through a few songs. Willie finished up with a great medley of “May The Circle Be Unbroken,” “I Saw The Light,” and new tune called, “I’m Not Superman,” and, surprisingly, “Beer Barrel Polka.”
John Fogerty took the stage as a stark contrast to Willie Nelson’s easy-going style. He immediately lit the place us with a ferocious rendition of “Travellin’ Band” and rarely slowed down from there. Fogerty was in particularly fine form — his voice hasn’t sounded as good in twenty years and he can still work his guitars like few in the business. John appeared to have boundless energy as he ran around, jumping and shouting, all over the stage for entire two hours he played. He also appeared to be having a blast, smiling, mugging for the crowd and joking around with his band. Fogerty mostly stuck with the CCR classics the majority of the crowd seemed to be expecting, but he did sneak in a few songs from his solo catalogue, “Centerfield,” “The Old Man Down The Road,” “Hot Rod Heart,” “Rambunctious Boy,” “Deja Vu (All Over Again)” and “Rock ‘n’ Roll Girls.” Early in the set he called Willie Nelson back on stage and together they did a fun version of Hank Williams’ “Jamabalaya (On The Bayou)” that brought the house down. Fogerty also pulled out a few lesser-known CCR chestnuts such as “Ramble Tamble,” “Keep On Chooglin’,” “It Came Out Of The Sky,” and “Bootleg.” Fogerty finished his high-energy set with knockout renditions of “Fortunate Son,” “Bad Moon Rising,” and “Proud Mary” that had the crowd tired and sweaty but thoroughly satisfied.
I took a bunch of pictures at the show, but since only disposable cameras were allowed at the show, I have to get them developed. Stay tuned.