Eilen Jewel Returns to Shirley

 ... for a last time?  Eilen suddenly has been around for a long time, we first saw her in 2008.  And this has been long enough for there to be several phases of her career, pre- and post-motherhood and divorce.  She made her fame and wrote most of her iconic songs while living in Massachusetts, but then moved back to her native Idaho and now tours rarely.  But she announced another tour, and that she'd be at the Bull Run on March 12th, and since then has hinted that it may be her last tour ever.

We were too late to get seats at the front table, but got the center one in the second row.  Sightlines in the Bull Run can be terrible, but this was pretty good, and just about perfect for the sound.  Eilen came on with her longtime guitarist Jerry Miller (who played seated for the whole concert), her ex-husband and manager Jason Beek on drums, and Matt Murphy on bass.  She started off with a couple of her newer songs, but then covered the whole span of her career in one long set, including some classic covers, and didn't seem to get tired at all.

Here are some songs I remember her playing, though this is by no means complete or in the right order!

• Mess Around
• Winnemucca
• Rich Man's World
• I Remember You
• Rain Roll In
• Dusty Box Car Wall (Eric Andersen)
• One of Those Days
• Mess Around
• The Pill (Loretta Lynn)
• Where They Never Say Your Name
• Heartache Boulevard
• Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos) (Woody Guthrie)
• Sea of Tears
• Green River (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
• Bang Bang Bang
• If You Catch Me Stealing (Bessie Smith)

The band walked off stage but not very far, and it didn't take much coaxing to get them back, where they surprised me by encoring with another great cover, The Doors' Soul Kitchen.  Out of there quickly after that and an uneventful drive home.  This was our 12th time (and last??) seeing Eilen play, and our 44th(!) concert at Bull Run.  Off to Port Chester tomorrow.