There is no understandable reason for the small turnout at Bonnie Raitt’s concert on Sunday night at Shoreline. She brought with her an entourage of phenomenal musicians to accompany her and even some of her peers to create joyous sounds with. Folks out here need to grasp hold of the reasons we are glad to be alive, which in case you have all forgotten are wine, women, and song.
Well, hey, with Bonnie Raitt you get two out of three right there and if you don’t drink because you get your spirits from the surefire intoxication of Bonnie’s ever casting love spell which emanates from her every motion on stage then you get all three. It’s a fundamental thing, she’s doing, you know.

David Lindley opened the show with a few mellow tunes and this allowed for the crowd to fill in a little bit before Jackson Browne came out to greet the audience with a little of his music.
Then from the wings came a good ‘ol boy from Virginia by the name of Bruce Hornsby to play on grand piano and beautiful Bonnie Raitt to join on vocals for a little old tune called “Down the Road Again.” Jackson played acoustic guitar for this song and was smiling alot–made you want to get up and dance!!!!

It wasn’t long before the stage roadie handed Bonnie her guitar and things got just a little heated up with “Are You Ready For a Thing Called Love.” Jackson and Bonnie were trading leads at this point in time as they would switch to whose song it was. Jackson Browne took over for a great “World In Motion” and then Bonnie took the lead back for “Let’s Give ’em Something to Talk About” and then the lead switched back again to Jackson on acoustic guitar for an absolutely smoking “Diamond In the Rough” with David Lindley playing mandolin, Bruce Hornsby on accordion, and Bonnie singing and giving up some swingle on the tambourine.

Then Bruce and Bonnie did “I Can’t Make You Love Me” on piano (Bruce) and Vocals (Bonnie) that was very moving, but laced with sadness. Then came a hit sure to please all in the crowd, Jackson Browne’s “The Pretender.” Followed by a powerful piano solo from Bruce Hornsby with a nice spacey jam in the middle that was much reminiscent of times we all spent together rocking with the Grateful Dead. Jackson and Bonnie were on the stage watching Bruce, but you had to strain your eyes to see them because they were not in the spotlight. They certainly had the best seats in the house for watching Bruce perform his magic.
Then Jackson and Bonnie both grabbed electric guitars and Shawn Colvin played an acoustic guitar as Bonnie picked up the lead again for “That’s Just Love Sneakin’ Up On You” and then Jackson took over for a fantastic “Running On Empty” that David Lindley played a ripping pedal steel jam on.

The finale was soon over and all the great stars twinkled out into the wings. Only to return for a lengthy encore which included a Jackson Browne classic “The Road” and a cover song written by Steve Miller “Mercury Blues.” The neverending encore flowed on with a very laid back “End of the Innocence.”
This preceded one of the highlights of the evening which was a special guest appearance by Bob Weir, the former guitarist from the Grateful Dead. The mellow mood had been set, and the chosen tune for closing the show was congruous with this. It was a poetic and timeless masterpiece called, “Black Muddy River” that was written by Robert Hunter and Jerry Garcia.
A grand finale it was, and certainly in some respects a song with a message of tribute to Jerry Garcia. Thanks for reading and we’ll see ye at the shows.