We've been fans of the Cowboy Junkies for years and they've just released a very good new album (All That Reckoning) and are touring behind it. It's wonderful that a band could be around for as long as they have and maintain and keep leveraging the style they started with 35 years ago. We were lucky enough to have the tour come by us, and we grabbed tickets to their performance in Lexington, at the refurbished Cary Hall.
I drove by a dormant Cary Hall for years on my commute and they've recently done things to the interior and opened it up for concerts, everything from local pops to some "classic rock" things that would attract middle-aged people like us, like the Cowboy Junkies, David Crosby, Brian Wilson, etc. They supposedly sold out for the Cowboys, and most of the people there were serious fans, though it wasn't really as packed as it could get. I suppose it was a summer Wednesday night (7/18) and a few people didn't show up for the show.
Ok with us! We had 12th(?) row seats in the left orchestra and the sight lines were great. The sound wasn't great; though they had some pretty good speakers (arrays left and right suspended above, big ones on stage), they never seemed to concentrate on getting the mix right. And that's what you want with that band! Their strongest point, and it's really a strong one in my world, is that if you get Alan Anton's bass just right and mix in Michael Timmon's guitar you can get this tragic, bluesy sound that's unique. And though seeing the band was a lot of fun and they all played very well, they didn't really approach that sonic atmosphere.
But it was a mellow mid-week night in a beautiful summer in a beautiful setting. Cary Hall was probably partly to blame for the generalized sound, as it is modeled like a big hall for oratory, like Fanueil Hall in Boston (Lexington is very concerned with their Revolutionary pedigree). But the hall was looking excellent and we were in a great mood for a sterling night of music. They put out a vase of roses for Margot, naturlich, and Michael was on his velvet bench, strumming that excellent guitar sound. Anton was over on the right laying down a simple but deep bass and Peter Timmons was really the surprise for me, leading lots of the songs on his traps, especially the new ones.
And of course they had Jeff Bird, who's as important as any other member of the band. He started on lap steel but then picked up his mandolin and got some really, really weird sounds out of it. The string interplay between him and Michael, who's one of the most original guitarists I know, was top notch all night. Jeff also chimed in on percussion.
They opened with the first part of the title track from All That Reckoning, and Margot soon informed us that they'd be playing some new songs, some old songs, some more new songs, take a break, and then come back and play all old songs. And that's kind of what they did, doing Mountain Stream, Missing Children, and the excellent Shiny Teeth from the record. They mixed in some old songs, like Bea's Song, 'Cause Cheap Is How I Feel, and 200 Miles, which was fantastic. Then they closed the first set with the reprise of All That Reckoning, just like on the record.
Margot had been up front about their touring behind their new CD and wanting everybody to buy it. And there were some long lines to buy it (at $20) at the break. Sarah and I wandered around a bit and admired the evening, but then got back to our seats among the gentlemanly white crowd. I thought we were all supposed to get off earth?
Whites (and Americans) are silly, but as I say it was pretty impressive how much of the crowd were fans of Cowboy Junkies. There were silly suburbanites chatting each other up of course, but when it came time for Alan Anton to lay down that line and Michael Timmons to twist us over it, there were people grooving to the sound all over the hall. Too bad they didn't get it quite right, but it was close!
Anyway, more great stuff in the second set including a totally out there Working On a Building, a poppy Southern Rain that got the feel of the day so well, and of course a climax of a funky Sweet Jane. But the one I'll always remember is when they were doing an acoustic interlude and Margot introduced a request for a wedding song: Angel Mine done by just her and Michael.
We stood up and gave them a round of polite applause when they were done, but they still came out and gave us a two-song encore: Neil Young's Don't Let It Bring You Down and then a rocker I didn't recognize. This was a lot of fun, though a summer simmer rather than a really hot concert.
Back home quickly from Lexington, on a school night.
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