Yogi Berra may have said “nostalgia ain’t what it used to be,” but you couldn’t prove it Thursday night at the Orpheum Theatre, as the classic Last Waltz concert of 2 score years past was celebrated with old and familiar songs, but still delivered with verve and enthusiasm.
The core team of Jamey Johnson/ag and Warren Hayes/eg was joined by Terence Higgins/dr, Danny Louis/key and the iconic Don Was/b along with a snappy 4 piece horn section. Hayes and Johnson were in strong vocal form on tunes like “Up On Cripple Creek” and “Stage Fright” while the horns delivered punchy support on a celebratory “Caravan.”
Guest appearances included Dr. John, who ambled up to the piano and tapped into his inner Professor Longhair during his introduction to a thickly delivered “Such A Night” while the band slipped into a loose calypso from Conga Square with a gumbo’d “Down South In New Orleans.” With Danny Young taking over the piano, the band honky tonked to “Rag Mama Rag” before the legendary Cyrille Neville stood behind some percussion drums and dug a deep Bo Diddley groove on a tribal and ominous “Who Do You Love.” The party continued as Taj Mahal sat front and center and cheerfully growled out a bouncy and lively “The Shape I’m In.” Pieces such as “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” still rang fresh and fervent, and in light of Easter Week, material such as “I Shall Be Released” and “The Weight” seemed to have a deeper poignancy than usual.
The concert, while a celebration of events and times gone by, still sounded contemporary and relevant.
Upcoming shows from Nederlander include Kansas 09.13 and Air Supply 09.24