An Old Pair Of Levi's And Jackson Browne

Do you remember coming home from the record store and putting Jackson Browne’s “Running On Empty” on the turntable and listening to it for the first time. I mean for me, the needle would hit the end of side 2 and I would flip it over and had to play it again. It was that good. Hell I’m listening to it now as I write this review.

Last night Jackson came to town and just like the first time I listened to “Running On Empty”, he didn’t disappoint.

To me Jackson Browne is like an old pair of worn Levi’s. He’s comfortable. He’s comfortable to listen too, always has been for me. His voice takes you back to a time and decades later, the man has changed but the voice and style of song writing really hasn’t.

Jackson started the show with opening act David Lindley and started out with an acoustic set which included the great Warren Zevon’s “Seminole Bingo” and Springsteen’s “Brothers Under The Bridge” before leaving for a short time as Lindley did a couple of songs solo.

When Jackson came back it was with his full band and they were perfect for this show. They never overwhelmed the songs, they were the perfect accompaniment for a Jackson Browne show. He started the show with selections off his 2008 album “Time The Conqueror” and even though I didn’t really know the songs more than a once over, I found myself right into a groove, head bobbing and enjoying the moment. It’s like I said earlier, Jackson is like that old pair of Levi’s, just comfortable.

He soon broke into the older tunes hitting back into the early seventies with “Your Bright Baby Blue Eyes”, “Fountain Of Sorrow”, “For A Dancer”, “The Pretender” and before starting up “Rock Me On The Water” he did a little speech about the concerns of using plastic and the effect on the oceans and he was going okay until he talked about seeing the sign behind the stage warning against littering in the river for the sake of the fish and he said “Is there fish in there? You do know it does have the distinction that it once burned” which brought a spatter of boo’s and comments. He quickly ended the speech and got back to giving us a beautiful rendition of “Rock Me On The Water”. Right after someone yelled “Rosie” and he started to laugh saying “sometimes you don’t know when to do Rosie” (who would have thought a song about masturbation would bring the biggest hand! Okay that was a bad pun) and asked the crowd “Do you want to hear Rosie?” which brought a huge roar. Maybe to make up for the Cuyahoga River reference or just that it hit him at the right time because he had not been playing it at other concerts, sitting at the piano by himself broke into the crowd favorite and members of the band had to rush back out to do the call and answer part of the chorus. Without a doubt, the highlight of the night.

One of the nice things about a Jackson Browne concert is the interaction with the audience between songs, giving us a little insight into the song and what inspired him to write it. One great one was the story of his girlfriend wanting a “love song” about her that inspired him to write “My Problem Is You”. He rounded out the night with his great hits “Doctor My Eyes” and of course “Running On Empty” before doing the encores “Mercury Blues” and Little Steven’s “I Am A Patriot”.

Last night proved again, comfortable is good, if not great. If you don’t believe me go throw on that old pair of Levi’s and put “Running On Empty” back on the turntable and sit back and relax. It’s what I’m doing.