Boy Mark, I'm really glad you wrote that review because I've been trying to
get around to writing one since I saw Emmylou in Vancouver on Thursday
night. (But we didn't get Dave Matthews.)
At our show she started with Songbird and I was a little afraid as her voice
disappeared into a whisper on the high notes. I was thinking that there was
no way she could carry on for an entire show without losing her voice
entirely. But as Marcel pointed out, an aging voice takes longer to warm up
than a young one. By the third song her voice was ringing and strong, not
the voice of her youth obviously but what a great instrument it is. And I
noticed the same thing: All her old songs were done in the same key as of
old, no concession to aging there.
And man does she rock out with Spyboy! The last time I saw her was '82 when
she was playing with a James Burton clone. That concert was one of my all
time favourites but it was easily displaced by the one on Thursday night.
The easy familiarity that Emmylou projects along with the virtuosity of the
band made the night absolutely stellar. Her stage presence is born of 3
decades of performing but there's not the least trace of staleness or rote.
Plus the fact that she has "over 600 songs" in her repertoire allows her to
change the set list from night to night and even take a request from someone
in the front row.
My wife, who bought the tickets for my birthday and who was familiar with
maybe two Emmylou songs, was practically the first to jump up from her seat
for the first of three standing ovations. Standing O's have become the norm
at most concerts now but I had no problem with Emmylou and Spyboy deserving
all three.
Ranger Rick
