Tuesday, March 31, 2009

I Dreamed I Saw Joe Hill Sunday Night

More doings down at the concert hall, only this one actually was at the actual concert hall...

Yes, as alluded to below, I went and saw Joan Baez herself in concert on Sunday night, and I can safely report that an excellent time was had by all (and by "all," I mean by everyone except the reviewer for one of the local dailies, who seemed worried that the concert was going to get all political on him, which it didn't unless you count about half the set-list). Anyhoo, Ms. Baez still has the voice, even after 50 or years in the biz!

And what did she play? Well, she did play a nice selection of the old stand-bys, "Farewell Angelina" for example (I do not believe that this video was made recently):



And you can toss in "The Night They Drove Ol' Dixie Down," "Forever Young," "Swing Low Sweet Chariot" (done a capella) and a number of her other favourites, including the song referred to in the title of this post.

She also performed some new material, including three excellent songs by Steve Earle, who really does have a way with lyrics. I've tracked down videos for a couple of them here:





There were other delights to be had as well - she did some of her own poetry, and related a number of amusing anecdotes (including the one about some unknown guitar repairman writing "too bad you're a communist" on the inside of her guitar. The limited edition guitars made especially for her now all have that written inside them, and they come with a little dentist's mirror so you can read it!). She also hilariously sent up Bob Dylan during "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright."

And of course, it all ended with everybody singing along to "Amazing Grace!"

1 comment:

Crimson Rambler said...

a most memorable and happy evening!