As a fan of a wide variety of popular (and not-so-popular) music from the 1950s (and sometimes even earlier) up through the present, one of my bucket list projects for years has been to put together a list of my 100 favorite songs of all time. At some point I decided that, once I got around to figuring that out, I could put it out on a blog, for the infinitesimally small proportion of the Internet world that might be interested. So, here we are. While the Top 100 will be a major focus, I also plan to post on a variety of other musical (and occasionally non-musical) topics, in which you may or may not be interested. (If a particular posting doesn’t ring your bell, you’re only a few clicks away from a dancing cat video on YouTube.)

Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Bonnie Raitt w/ Richard Thompson Trio – Wolf Trap, 8/27/2016


Row U, Seats 28-29 – last row of the Front Orchestra section (farthest back we’ve been in a while)
 
When the show started around 9:00, I initially figured we were in for a good-but-not-great evening – I’ve always thought the cover of “Need You Tonight” on her latest CD was somewhat misguided, and the crowd didn’t seem to warm up to “Used to Rule the World.” However, things really got rolling 5 songs in with “Shakin’ Shakin’ Shakes”, followed by Richard Thompson’s guest appearance for “Not the Only One” and “Dimming of the Day”, and didn’t let up from that point on. I had forgotten how great a singer she can be, particularly on ballads such as “Dimming” and “Angel From Montgomery”. The four-song encore was especially wonderful, starting with “I Can’t Make You Love Me” and continuing with “Nick of Time”, a version of “You Got the Love” that threatened to out-funk the Rufus original, and concluding with the sublime “Your Sweet and Shiny Eyes” (from 1975’s Home Plate).
 
Setlist
 
The Richard Thompson Trio delivered a regrettably short (under 40 minutes) but satisfying opening set to the enthusiastic sellout crowd, most of whom were already in their seats. The song selection emphasized the rock side of his repertoire, particularly a cover of “Take a Heart” (originally done in 1965 by British band The Sorrows) and an extended version of “Tear Stained Letter” to close the set.
 
Setlist

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