Mary Chapin Carpenter & Emmylou Harris – Wolf Trap, 8/27/2022

Prime Orchestra, Row G, Seat 104. Center section, but close to the left-hand center aisle this time. Excellent view and sound.

 

On an exceptionally humid (but rain-free) evening, what struck me most was the sheer joy exhibited in both sets by elite musicians who obviously wanted nothing more than to play before live audiences again after two years of pandemic-related restrictions. Harris and Carpenter were in fine form, with their bands contributing both with their instruments and voices. (I only recognized one member from each band – bassist Don Dixon, who’s been with Carpenter for many years, and guitarist Will Kimbrough, whom I remember from a couple of Rodney Crowell shows.)

 

The house was completely sold out, and there were plenty of folks on the lawn as well. All of them were as enthusiastic as the performers, greeting both with standing ovations when they came out – not surprising given the connections of both artists to the Washington area. Near the end of her set, Mary Chapin mentioned that her first of many appearances at Wolf Trap was in 1989, opening for Emmylou. I remember that well, as several friends and I had been going to see Harris whenever she came to the Filene Center. After that opening set, all of us became big Mary Chapin Carpenter fans.

 

Harris’s 90-minute opening set was a nice mix of familiar tunes from the 1970s and early 1980s with more recent material, after she had gotten more seriously into songwriting as well as performing. Highlights included “Wheels” and “Pancho & Lefty” (two of my personal favorites), an especially hot take on “Luxury Liner”, “Bang The Drum Slowly” (a heartfelt tribute to her late father), and the closing “All The Roadrunning”, with Carpenter coming out to join her on vocals. Over the course of the show, she also managed to pay her respects to several other artists, including Nanci Griffith and Billy Joe Shaver, each of whom died within the past two years.

Setlist (thanks to kadelejjr for posting both setlists, of which this one was by far the most complicated)

 

Carpenter’s 100-minute set was equally strong if not stronger, featuring all self-penned material except for the inevitable “Passionate Kisses”. While giving the audience what most of them came for in terms of her big hits, she also mixed in more recent songs, including four from 2020’s The Dirt and the Stars. Musical highlights included “Stones in the Road” (one of my all-time favorites), “Between the Dirt and the Stars”, an extended take on “I Feel Lucky” followed by a hard-rocking version of “Can’t Take Love for Granted”, and the one-two encore punch of “He Thinks He’ll Keep Her” and (of course) “Down at the Twist and Shout”.

 

In addition to the music, Chapin also supplied quite a bit of poignant and/or hilarious between-songs patter, including her experiences during the pandemic, her favorite grocery store (both the service and the music are great), and her band’s ongoing croquet competition.

Setlist