There’s a line from Willie Nelson’s latest album, Ride Me Back Home, that goes “Time, you’re not fooling me / You’re something that I can’t kill.” He did not perform that particular song during his headlining set at the Marcus Amphitheater (I could give a shit about current corporate branding, but I don’t), but it was an apt descriptor of a Willie Nelson show in 2019.
Willie wasn’t bad, exactly, but the effects of his 86 (!) years on earth definitely showed. All of the songs seemed a step slower than even the last time I saw him, in 2017. His voice is still well-preserved as far as tone, but it didn’t have the oomph it once did. He let the crowd sing more than I remember, though to his credit he seemed genuinely happy every time they sang his own classic lines back at him. Also, for someone who famously sings behind the beat, he seemed more behind than usual.
Nelson’s guitar playing did not seem to suffer the same fate as his voice, His leads were just as jazzy and colorful as ever. At the same time, the guitar didn’t seem to drive the song as much as it once did. Mickey Raphael’s ever-soulful harmonica playing helped fill that void, however.
To top it all off, Willie Nelson and Family played a scant 60 minutes. They did manage to cram 20 songs into that timeframe, including all of the classics that will be played at every Willie show from here to the end of time -- “Whiskey River,” “On The Road Again,” “Always on My Mind” -- along with some newer material to close out the show, such as “It’s All Going to Pot” (which was dedicated to Merle Haggard), “Roll Me Up And Smoke Me When I Die,” and “Still Not Dead,” which is actually a great choice for his set closer.
Perhaps I’m burying the lede here, but the tone for the night was set hours before Willie Nelson even took the stage. Counting Crows, a band I was excited to see, played to maybe a ¼ full crowd. Though their playing seemed fine, and Adam Duritz’s voice also sounded fine, they did not seem to be into the show all that much. “Mr. Jones” should have killed, but its not-quite-the-album-version arrangement merely disappointed. It did not help that Adam Duritz appeared to have lived a lifetime of Long Decembers in the intervening years between peak stardom and now.
Next up was The Avett Brothers, who did not disappoint in their hourlong set. They have always left everything they have on the stage, and an opening slot for a festival-within-a-festival did not deter them from bringing the goods.
Once upon a time, I thought that at the end of the world it would just be the cockroaches and Willie Nelson belting out “Good Hearted Woman.” That is no longer the case. But even though the amphitheater was half full at best, and the work night crowd was half-enthused for some songs, it was still a Willie Nelson show on a summer night by Lake Michigan, which is to say it was still pretty damn good. Time may be undefeated, but it will never change that.
Willie's Setlist
Whiskey River
Still Is Still Moving To Me
Beer for My Horses
Good Hearted Woman
Down Yonder
If You've Got The Money, I've Got The Time
Shoeshine Man
Instrumental Jam
On The Road Again
Jambalaya (Hank Williams Cover)
Hey Good Lookin' (Hank Williams cover)
Move It On Over (Hank Williams Cover)
My Favorite Picture Of You
Maybe I Should Have Been Listening When You Said Goodbye
It's Hard To Be Humble
Will The Circle Be Unbroken (W/Avett Brothers)
It's All Going To Pot
Roll Me Up And Smoke Me When I Die
Still Not Dead
