Each contributes brilliant moments in Shoreline show
by Joel Selvin, Chronicle Pop Music Critic
There were more grins, kisses and hugs onstage Sunday at the joint concert by Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Shawn Colvin and Bruce Hornsby at Shoreline Amphitheatre than at a family reunion. Nobody in the audience could have enjoyed the show any more than the musicians.
“Can these people sing or what?” squealed a delighted Bonnie Raitt. “As far as white people go . . .”
These four singers slipped in and out of each other’s songs with the ease and grace of the old friends they are. Rarely do musicians of this caliber collaborate this openly in public.
Browne was the first onstage. Colvin joined him to sing harmony on his “Everywhere I Go.” When Raitt and Hornsby strode out for the final chorus, the tone for the three-hour twilight performance was established.
Backed by a six-piece band that included David Lindley, always amazing on anything with strings, and Wally Ingram, a magician on percussion, Browne, Colvin, Raitt and Hornsby put their voices together and sang one another’s songs with palpable enthusiasm. They acknowledged the applause from the audience, but they were clearly playing for peer approval.
Raitt beamed like a proud sister as Colvin soared off into the second verse of Richard Thompson‘s “Dimming of the Day.” And Colvin’s face glowed as Raitt tore into the second verse of “Shotgun Down the Avalanche,” one of Colvin’s finest songs from her stunning 1989 debut (Raitt’s rendition may have been a little stronger than the author’s).
Lindley played fiddle, guitar, pedal steel, dobro and something that looked like an electric oud, and generally entertained the other musicians with his fabulous musicianship. He and Raitt staged a mock battle on slide guitars during “Thing Called Love.” By the end of the evening, Colvin was reduced to sitting backward on Hornsby’s piano bench, just watching like any member of the audience. And it was Lindley who led the group in the finale of the 20-minute encore section, a round-robin version of “Mercury Blues.”
Hornsby was one more sparkplug for the proceedings. If he wasn’t adding a strong harmony vocal or reinventing one of his own songs, he was playing accordion behind Colvin’s “Diamond in the Rough” or adding jazzy underscoring to Raitt’s plaintive “I Can’t Make You Love Me.”
Each song had special touches: a vocal harmony, Ingram’s hand drums, guitarist George Marinelli‘s wah-wah mandolin solo. Or Lindley, once again, lighting the fire on Jackson Browne’s “Running on Empty” with a guitar solo that alone ought to win him a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
But in the end, fittingly, none of the musicians stood out over the others. Each had supreme moments. They mixed and matched almost evenly. The collaborative mood prevailed so thoroughly, the triumph was all theirs to share. The audience was just lucky to go along for the ride.
Source: © Copyright My San Antonio and SF Gate
Bonnie Comes Sliding Into Town with Friends
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.
Saturday’s concert wasn’t about promoting a new CD or the usual oiling of music biz machinery. It’s just about four talented artists that love music. Jackson Browne, Shawn Colvin, Bruce Hornsby and Bonnie Raitt, whose paths often have crossed on tours and in the studio while working on one another’s albums, have packaged their mutual admiration for a 22-show tour. “These are my favorite singers and songwriters in the world,” Raitt said in an interview with Browne, Colvin and Hornsby at NBC’s “Tonight” show studio before a recent performance. While it’s a dream date for singer-songwriter fans to see so much talent on stage for three hours, the foursome say it’s their chance to hit the road with people and music they love and respect. “It is like running away with the circus,” Browne said. “We’re leaving all the responsibilities and the hard-fought-for control that you have and giving it up to people that inspire you and challenge you.”
The tour, which begins Aug. 26 in Mansfield, Mass., and finishes Sept. 25 in George, Wash., grew out of benefit shows Raitt, Browne and Hornsby did together for Hurricane Mitch victims in December. They enjoyed themselves so much they decided to turn it into a longer gig. “We had such a great time,” Hornsby said. “Bonnie called me once a week for the whole month of January and said, `We have to do this. It’s too much fun, too much of a kindred-spirit feeling. We have to do this for real.”‘ They invited Colvin to join them, along with David Lindley, a longtime Browne collaborator. They’ve put together a five-piece band to back them and plan to perform a combination of one another’s music and some songs by other musicians. “It’s not like a Vegas show. This is four people playing in a living room, basically, and inviting 15,000 people,” Raitt said. 
The opener, guitar wiz and musical eccentric David Lindley. Backed by equally quirky drummer Wally Ingram, Mr. Lindley spent 25 minutes displaying his love of polyester and mastery of exotic instruments. From there, it never stopped. At the close of his set, Mr. Lindley picked up a fiddle and was joined by Mr. Browne, whom he’d backed through most of the ’70s. The two men played a duet of the Appalachian ballad, “Fair and Tender Ladies.” Then Ms. Colvin appeared and the musical commune commenced. They’ll be trading vocals on one another’s songs, offering new takes on familiar material. “They’re like super versions of these songs because of the concentrated vocal power,” Browne said. “Some of my songs are just better than they’ve ever been.” The friendship and good humor they hope will characterize the tour showed through during the “Tonight” show rehearsal, when the four and their backing band broke into a playful, funked-up version of “End of the Innocence” — a Hornsby-Don Henley composition — and a semi-bluegrass take on “Amazing Grace,” complete with whoops and hollers.
All four said they were happy to back out of the leader’s spot and blend into a band. “Anything’s a relief if you do one thing long enough,” Colvin said. “If you play solo long enough then you get to play with a band, that’s a relief. If you’re with a band, then you get to play solo, that’s a relief. “If you do your own material constantly, then suddenly there’s a world of other people’s material that you admire and love open to you, what a relief. It’s great for me to be a backup singer and a rhythm guitar player.” They’ll be recording the tour and have talked about putting out a live album or video afterward. And Colvin said they even talked about extending the quartet’s travels to Europe, Africa and Australia. The group kicked around ideas for a band name in the vein of other super groups such as the Traveling Wilburys. In the end, they decided a name would have been too confining and would detract from “something as special as this,” Colvin said. Instead, they said, they’ve simply focused on the music and having fun with musicians they’ve long admired. 
Next to the stellar Mr. Lindley, whose steel guitar remains one of rock’s most emotionally eloquent sounds, Mr. Hornsby was the night’s instrumental star. Rumbling though his blues shuffle with Ms. Raitt, “I Believe I’m in Love with You,” reeling off an extended piano solo to open “The Way It Is,” or pumping his Baldwin grand through the night’s first encore, his bluegrass arrangement of “The Valley Road,” he earned repeated ovations. Mr. Browne was a favorite of the boomer crowd. Looking no older than in his ’70s heyday, he did the title song to his best album, Running on Empty, and owned the place with the penultimate encore, the anthemic “The Load Out/Stay.” Mr. Lindley took the spotlight late in the show for a blistering “Mercury Blues” (Alan Jackson’s watered-down hit was a bad Lindley copy). Ms. Colvin shone on her “Sunny Came Home” and “Wichita Skyline.” “The combined history of these songs makes it such an unbelievable evening for all of us,” Ms. Raitt said, before snarling her slide guitar into “Something to Talk About.”
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