Row D, Seats
42-43
Another
year, another excellent show from Lyle and the crew, most of whom seem to have
been with him for 10 years or longer (in some cases, much longer). The inimitable
R&B singer Francine Reed was heavily featured this year, standing in the
front line of performers after she entered down the left aisle while singing
“Wild Women Don’t Have The Blues”, following the usual opening instrumental
“The Blues Walk”. As usual, Lyle also gave longtime members Luke Bulla and
Keith Sewell a chance to showcase one song each from their solo recordings. The
somewhat sedate audience certainly got its moneys worth, as the band came on at
8:00 and didn’t finish until around 10:40. As usual, the musicianship was
superb, with everyone getting solos at one point or another.
The band
certainly hit most of the favorites in the Lovett songbook – “Here I Am” near
the beginning, and “If I Had A Boat”, “She’s No Lady”, and “That’s Right
(You’re Not From Texas)” just before the end. Personally, I was equally
impressed by a number of songs that I was not especially familiar with, notably
“Family Reserve” (a Twitter request he neglected to respond to in his previous
show), “South Texas Girl”, “Don’t Touch My Hat”, “I Will Rise Up”, and “All
Downhill”. While he frequently closes his main set with an upbeat gospel-tinged
number, this year’s selection of “Pass Me Not O Gentle Savior” was slower than
the usual, although with a set of superb vocal solos it brought the crowd to
its feet for the first time in the show. (I later discovered it could be found
on a CD called Ultimate Gospel Hits, Vol.
1, in the company of “Gonna Build A Mountain” by Sammy Davis Jr. and, even
more oddly, “People Get Ready” by Lee Atwater.) Appropriately enough, the
encore was “Closing Time”, the final track from Lyle’s debut CD.
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