Friday night. The sun was going down with the temperature as I rode over to the Greensboro coliseum to see a night of music from Jackson Browne and James Taylor. There was a full house predicted and I had seen the email warning to “be in the parking lot by 6:00 as we are expecting a large crowd!” I had smirked as I sped by an LED sign on the four lane 12 miles out of Greensboro telling me to go out of my way to get to the parking lot. I arrived about 6:00 on the nose and had zero issues getting into the lot. I will say one thing about Greensboro. When they have a big show they are prepared and have staff to deal with everything. They had police directing traffic and lots of lanes taking Andrew Jacksons in full as well as all major credit cards to allow you to rent a car space for a few hours. I am still puzzled as to why the basketball game was paying $5 to park and we were paying $20 but I am not going to complain after some of the amounts I have paid recently to park at concerts. Don’t tell anyone they will increase the price…
I headed into the venue and eased through my vaccine card check and metal detector scan. On to my seat which was quite close to the stage dead center on the floor and best of all an aisle seat! I was already seeing people I knew from the staff and had some interesting conversation with my new neighbor in an adjacent seat. Showtime was coming.
The show started promptly at 7:30 which was nice. I appreciate artists that start to work on time!
As the band took the stage Jackson Browne walked to center stage. He knows Greensboro well. He has played here before as I have seen him twice before this one in Greensboro and countless other times in other places all the way back to the 1970’s which I have written about before. He made a comment about how the crowd in Greensboro has a “flavor” he likes. As I think back to one of those shows I can remember him asking the sold-out crowd at War Memorial Auditorium for requests. I told that story one time on my old show on Radiomargaritaville once as I played a song. The guy in front of me on that night almost 20 years ago stood up and calmly said “In the Shape of a Heart.” Then he sat back down as Jackson smiled and picked up one of his many guitars on the stage and played it flawlessly. It was a moment I won’t forget.
The real treat of this show was all the talent on the stage from left to right. It was also such a great vibe to see all of the players on stage excel at what they do and how everyone just seemed to genuinely love each other. There was not an ounce of ego on the entire stage but there was such incredible talent and mastery on that stage it could take your breath. I think that is what struck me about this show. I am really glad I was at this one and so close I could feel that positive energy coming off the stage.
I could detail the show but I really want to just highlight “the moment” of each set. Last night the first set definitely had a “moment.” It was when Jackson took off one of his many guitars and walked over to the piano. He sat down and then counted time to start the band. As soon as he started the first note I knew what the song was going to be “Doctor My Eyes.” The bass starts pedaling and the guitars lit up. As the song progresses from that suspenseful opening the band just started soaring! It was intense and you could feel the crowd around me starting to get electrified. I could feel it. Maybe it was the memories attached to this very old song but it was likely the moment and the band was taking this one to a new place. The guitar solo from Val McCallum just blew my mind. He is so talented! I don’t want to leave anyone on this stage out as every person on the stage had those moments last night and I watched Jackson was he smiled when that happened. As the song ended I had a tear of joy in both eyes and everyone in the house stood and cheered for a long time. It went on for a minute and there was no doubt this band was on fire. What a set!
As James took the stage he kept bringing on players as the set progressed and although I have listed them all above I don’t have photographs of all of them. They are over on Jame’s website with some great writing you can check out if you want to read all about these special people. https://www.jamestaylor.com/life-on-the-road/meet-the-band/
The special moment for me in this set was “Carolina on My Mind.” It took me back to that day in May 2015 when my daughter graduated from Chapel Hill. I remember the sprinkles of rain not dampening anyone’s spirit and how happy everyone was that another chapter of life was in the books. There were smiles on everyone’s faces in the crowd. One of the things I remember from that day was how proud I was of my daughter and her achievements having graduated with 2 degrees with honors from a very cool school. One of the other things I remember was what played during the ceremony on the PA speaker. “Carolina on My Mind from James Taylor.” James Taylor fans all know all the story of his days in Chapel Hill. He was home last night for a visit and the crowd was showing some love.
What a night of music and memories. These bands were incredible and this was an amazing night of music. If you have the chance go see these guys on the road. They look young, sound young, and the spirit of the show will take you to another place.
Until next time I’ll see you, down the road.