Last Day of Summerfest Is Overrun By Outlaws...
7/9/2017 Milwaukee, WI Summerfest
For the last day of fest, I purchased a ticket for the Amphitheater inside the festival grounds. It is the day the Outlaw Country Music Festival shows up to Summerfest. Starting at 2 p.m. and running until 11 p.m., 7 different artists performed for various sized crowds headlined by Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson.
I just walked into the main part of the amphitheater at 2 p.m., just in time to hear Lukas Nelson & The Promise Of The Real (it is Willie's son) welcome everybody to the show and start their set. This is my first time hearing them in any setting, and in the 35 minutes they had they focused on giving the fans a great opener to the show. The band consisted of drums, percussion, bass, and Nelson on guitar and vocals, and showed why they have not only been winning over fans and critics, but also noted rockers as they have been the backing band for Neil Young for the past few years. Nelson proved himself a very good guitarist and songwriter, as the songs were excellent vehicles for the band in a live setting. He mentioned he had written a song to help get over a breakup to a girl named Georgia, which he needed to write to counteract all the times he had to play the standard 'Georgia On My Mind' with his dad. He then played (Forget About) Georgia, a bluesy ballad, placed perfectly in the middle of the 5 song set. The other 4 songs were also extremely well played and had space to show off his guitar soloing skills as well. I'm looking forward to hopefully finding some of his albums (he has a new one coming in the fall, I forget the exact date they mentioned), and seeing him live when he has more time to play.
About 15 minutes after Lukas Nelson & POTR got off stage, Margo Price was in place with her band of country outlaws and started her show with a ripping version of 'Tennesee Song' off of her debut album. She and her band played a great show with a lot more fire and energy than I expected, a few mid-tempo tunes from her first album were kicked up and given a bit more rockin' treatment. She sprinkled in new songs (from an upcoming album, I'd imagine) in with songs from "Midwest Farmer's Wife" (the debut album in question). She also had Lukas Nelson come out and join her on a cover of Neil Young's "Human Highway," which gave him another chance to show off his guitar chops with a nice big solo. Margo Price and her tight band are definitely a big welcome to the new Outlaw Country movement.
I continue to be amazed that these early bands are turning over so quickly, and the mix is still holding up, big congrats to stage crew and sound men at this show. I say that , because it was only another 15 minutes before Nataniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats took the stage. Seemingly a tad out of place at a country music festival, when you have musicians up and down the line-up as strong and with as many varied influences as all of these artists have, their Southern R&B sound fit right in, and had the crowd that was there at this time on their feet dancing. This is another band that I have heard very little of. A large band consisting of excellent muscians from the rhythm section to the horn section, whether comping behind the lead singer or being the lead instrument everyone more than held their own. I also knew that they would be someone that I would want to look into further as their set continued. This, roughly hour, set only validated all that I had heard about this band, as they put on a great show for the crowd.
The former band was a perfect lead up to Sheryl Crow, who may have been my biggest surprise live for the day. I knew from her albums that I like her music, and is overall a strong songwriter, and I've heard from friends who have seen her that she was excellent live as well. Even with that information, I wasn't quite prepared for the level at which her band was playing. Her smoking-hot band, led by blues rock guitarist Audley Freed (Black Crowes late '90s/early '00s, Cry of Love), took her songs to new heights. Touching on many of her hits as well as mixing new material (newer albums I need to check out, because I've found out that Freed is on these as well), her songs played well in the late afternoon sun to a crowd completely in tune to her and her band. She also definitely did not just stick to hits, which I'm sure means she is changing her setlist up fairly significantly from night to night. She also finished her show, bringing out Lukas Nelson to play guitar as well, with the Allman Brothers' (although no mention of it being a tribute to the recently deceased Gregg Allman or Butch Trucks) 'Midnight Rider.' I, for one, can't wait until she comes through the Twin Cities in the future and hopefully get to see her in a headlining position with a complete, full show.
Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit followed and played a great show. He was formerly a member of Drive-By Truckers, he is now following a bit more along the lines of singer/songwriters and has been walking the line between the rock scene through his ties with his old band (and make no mistake, he still rocks out), the modern outlaw country, and the singer/songwriter musical camps. Oh yeah, he excels at all of them. If he ever were to do an album tribute, I could see it being to the Allman Brothers Band, Waylon Jennings, or Jackson Browne. I don't see that happening though, because he is creating fantastic songs of his own. He played largely from his new record "The Nashville Sound". He also played three songs that come from his previous 2 excellent albums, "Southeastern" and "Something More Than Free." His crack band, which includes wife Amanda Shires on fiddle and vocals, was up to his every move. To end his set, he dedicated a solid version of the ABB's 'Whipping Post' to recently departed Gregg Allman.
Bob Dylan followed and with a very versatile band, kept the music going into the night. Opening with a swinging 'Things Have Changed,' he followed with an old-timey version (that added a few Hawaiian hints as well) of 'Don't Think Twice (It's Alright).' The band then turned on a dime and dropped a Waits-ish rock version of 'Highway 61.' The band then took another hard right turn into a 40's/50's small combo backing him on one of his new treatments of the standard material he's been doing the last few years. The great band kept to generally one of those three styles throughout, with songs from various eras of his career being rearranged to fit (outside of the covers of the standards, which were kept to similar arrangements as on recent albums). Soloists were inventive and to the point, and everyone played as a cohesive unit. Bob (who was in very fine voice) was playing piano for the night, besides the recent songs (the standards albums), which he stepped out front to sing. An excellent 90 minute set delivered 15 gems from the Nobel Prize winner.
The last on was Willie Nelson, and what a great way to end the night! Opeining with a quick version of 'Whiskey River' that segued to 'Still Is Still Moving To Me,' Willie's band tore through an hour+ material that covered his career and several covers. HIs band included his sister Bobbi Nelson on piano, son Lukas on guitar, Mickey Raphael on harmonica, bass player, and three drummers/percussionists. Everyone played extremely well, and a highlight was a cover of 'Texas Flood' by Larry Davis (Stevie Ray Vaughan had a famous cover on his debut album of the same name), which featured a great guitar solo by Lukas Nelson. As the show wound down, he finished off the night with 3 or 4 songs, including his Merle Haggard tribute 'It's All Going To Pot,' with all the other headliners (including some other band members from the earlier bands, although no Dylan) joining in a big jamboree on stage, that let up with Bobbi Nelson playing a sizzling piano solo to play everyone off into the night.
Written Under the Influence of...Otis Taylor- Fantasizing About Being Black, Logic- Everyday
