On a perfect Saturday summer evening, Jackson Browne’s tour buses (An Evening with Jackson Browne 2022 Tour) rolled into Canandaigua to CMAC to play for fans of all ages. The award-winning, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer is best known and loved for his ability to address current events and issues through lyrical magic. His music continues to span generations, reaching new audiences who fall under his spell just as many of us had more than 50 years ago when he released his first album.
I first fell in love with his music when the 8-track tape was the preferred method to take music on the road. If you didn’t have his albums or 8-tracks, your musical library was lacking credibility, in my personal opinion (and we seriously couldn’t be friends). His voice reached my soul and injected a peaceful vibe no matter where or what surrounded me.
To this day, his voice still has that effect. I play his music now on streaming services rather than 8-tracks, but it’s on a constant loop. Last night reaffirmed what I already knew; his voice still moves me and his music sounded even better in person as he performed two full sets and two encore performances of all of my favorite music. In fact, I feel as though he pulled my playlist out and just performed the majority of them for me personally. Let’s be real, there are just too many for him to do ALL my favorites, as we would still be there. Thank you, Jackson Browne! That was so kind of you.
As I sat in my seat last evening listening to him and his amazing band perform, I couldn’t help but reflect that he’s been up on a stage playing to folks for more than fifty years. Fifty years doing what he loves most. Traveling across the world numerous times, you would wonder if it would become mundane to him. I can assure you that it doesn’t. He feeds off the energy in the audience (and his bandmates).
I first saw him live several years ago in Utica on his 2011 solo acoustic tour. In fact, he was the first concert I shot professionally as a concert photographer. With just him, a piano, and his guitars on stage, I was blown away (and “fangirling”) the entire evening.
Attendees kept yelling out song requests. This behavior seemed extremely rude and inappropriate, but I quickly realized this was a normal occurrence. It’s this interaction I believe that drives him while on stage. It was no different last evening as a very dapper (and polite) attendee stood up with a sign requesting “Yeah Yeah.” Diverting from the playlist, he went off script to fulfill the man’s request without a second thought.
I noticed it was about the time he played “Redneck Friend” that he began to take his momentum from the crowd. Dancing along, it became an all-out sprint to the end with two encores, one being his hit, “Take It Easy” which he co-wrote with Glenn Frey, and then of course my favorite, “The Load Out/Stay.” To say I was emotionally affected by hearing “Load Out/Stay” live, would be an understatement. It truly was one of the best shows I’ve had the opportunity to cover in my 11 years of doing this.
Off now to play a few more venues along the east coast, don’t fear if you missed the show. Jackson Browne and his band will be back in New York from July 26 through the 30 at the Beacon Theater in NYC. Don’t wait to get your tickets. You can tell them Kathy from 315 Music sent you.
SETLIST: Set 1: Somebody’s Baby, The Barricades of Heaven, The Long Way Around, Downhill From Everywhere, Fountain of Sorrow, Rock Me on the Water, Yeah Yeah, In the Shape of a Heart, Mohammed’s Radio (Warren Zevon cover), Before the Deluge, I Am a Patriot (Little Steven cover)
Set 2: You Love the Thunder, The Dreamer, Until Justice Is Real, For a Dancer, These Days, Redneck Friend, Doctor My Eyes, Late for the Sky, The Pretender, Running on Empty
Encore: Take It Easy (Eagles cover), Our Lady of the Well Encore 2: The Load-Out/Stay (Maurice Williams & the Zodiacs cover)
