Willie Nelson & Family at Madison's Overture Hall, April 14

     Willie Nelson and Family appeared last night before a packed house in Madison's Overture Center Hall which seats 2251.  The concert,  billed as Willie Nelson and Family, didn't really include family members other than Daughter Amy from Nelson's third marriage, and she  made but  a brief appearance during the last five minutes of the show,  but even then her voice was not audible. Occasional two of Willie's sons from the fourth marriage, Luke and Micha, appear as part of the family but not at the Overture.  Apparently the billing is designed to cover any and all contingencies.  

     The music was vintage Nelson; however, the overall quality  was not quite what you'd expect from a Willie Nelson band.   Unlike many performers, Willie doesn't use a head mike and at times the sound volume varied depending on his proximity to the mike. His electrified acoustic guitar over shadowed the sound of the baby grand piano which was not miked. The Nelson  band consisted of a pianist, an amplified harmonica player, a drummer, a drummer of sorts who alternated between two small hand drums and castanets, and finally Willie himself dominating the ensemble playing “Trigger,” his performance ravaged guitar, compete with a rather large pick worn hole in the sound board, an uncountable numbers of dings and scratches, along with the names of performer friends scratched into the instruments back, sides and top. Surprisingly there were no other guitars  in evidence with the exception of a tune late in the concert during which one of the drummers picked up and strummed a rhythm guitar.

     Whatever shortcomings might have attended “Willie Nelson & Family's” concert on this night, one thing was abundantly clear, Madison loved him. In the many years that I've been attending concerts of one kind or another, I've never attended one that could quite compare with this one. The age range of those in attendance covered the compete range from young to very old. Several older gents even came with their guitars in hand; I counted between six and eight. One old fella looked and dressed like a Willie Nelson clone, complete with head band, braids, and beard.   I haven't seen so many cowboy boots and cheap western hats since my boyhood days in Montana. This was not a night noted for the upper class sartorial splendor common at Overture Hall concerts.

     As we entered the auditorium, the docent taking tickets said excitedly, “I hope you enjoy the concert, it's sold out.”

     “Really,” I replied not really caring one way or anther.

     “Oh yes,” she said, “Even the docents had to pull seniority to get this event. Everybody wanted to be here.”

     So when the concert began at 7:30 p.m., I was a little surprised to see many empty seats.  Surprise gave way to disbelief as people continued arriving during the 40 min opening acts performance.    These late arrivals were totally oblivious to the disruption they caused for those already seated or for the performers on stage.  By the time of the intermission separating the opening act from the main event,  the  seats had all   filled to capacity.  The lights dimmed and Willie walked to center stage moving slowly in the manner of the 80 year man he is. Seated on the orchestra floor near the rear of the hall, I look out across the audience now shrouded in darkness and was amaze at the dozens of lighted cell phones screens in evidence. Several of the people in the rows immediately to my rear started shooting flash photos about every four minutes, and in fact people in the auditorium generally took cell phone flash photos throughout the concert. To be sure there were no announcements at anytime prohibiting the use of recording devices or cell phones during the performance. As noted earlier, I've never attended a concert quite like this one.

     I did enjoy the concert but probably more because Willie's an icon, who won't be around much longer. He celebrates his 80 this month.

     In addition to appearing in more than 30 movies, written five or six books, published poetry, founded a successful bio-diesel company, and written scores of hits songs for some of the luminaries of country music ( The Family Bible-Claude Gray; Hello Walls-Faron Young; Night Life-Ray Price; Funny How Time Slips Away-Billy Walker; Pretty Paper-Roy Orbison; Crazy-Patsy Cline)  Willie himself has recorded and charted many hits.  

Nelson has also been a champion of those in need, ranging from farmers on hard times, to the Japanese homeless recovering from tsunami devastation, to the recent fertilizer plant explosion in Texas, his  social activism, has had an altruistic bent. In one way or another, Willie Nelson has been a presence in our cultural/political lives for 80 years, and I think it's fair to say that he has a poets heart and soul. I admire and respect him as a man and like his music.

19 April 2013 Update

The following AP story highlights the sort of humanitarian impulses Willie Nelson responses to:

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Willie Nelson said Thursday that he will turn an upcoming Texas concert into a benefit for victims of the explosion at a fertilizer plant not far from where he grew up.

The country music icon still has a home in Abbott, Texas, about five miles north of West, which was rocked by the explosion Wednesday night that left an unknown number of people dead and more than 160 hurt. He remembers riding his bike the short distance between the towns and still has many friends and family there.

"Our hearts and prayers go out to the people of West," Nelson said in an interview before taping a CMT Crossroads special in Nashville. "There are a lot of our friends and loved ones and neighbors down there. We talked to some of them and some of the made it out OK, and some of them didn't. But they're strong and they'll be back. It's one of those things you don't get over. But you will get through it."

The concert is scheduled for April 28 in Austin.

When not on the road touring, Nelson has lived in Austin since 1971. The concert was scheduled as an 80th birthday celebration, but now will serve a dual purpose.