Rosanne Cash – The River and the Thread in Concert, Strathmore, 4/17/2015

Promenade Center, Row A, Seats 115-116 – front row in the Promenade section, dead center (wonderful sound!)

 

Rosanne Cash and her excellent band (including her “taller half” John Leventhal) put on a wonderful show on what seemed to be an unofficial Westat Friday – we ran into several current and former Westatians after dinner and at the show. During the first set, Rosanne and crew performed the 11 songs from last year’s Grammy-winning The River and the Thread album in order, with arrangements that were faithful to the CD but did not follow it slavishly. I’m not always a big fan of between-songs chatter, but Cash’s background information about each song here was a welcome exception, as it added greatly to the audience’s understanding of the material.

 

After intermission, Rosanne and the band kept the crowd happy by performing other highlights from her career, including some tracks from 2009’s The List (“I’m Movin’ On”, “500 Miles”, “Long Black Veil”) and a few of her 1980’s chart-toppers (“Blue Moon With Heartache”, “Tennessee Flat Top Box”, “Seven Year Ache”).