Review: Willie Nelson at Liberty Hall

Last night was the sold-out, full-capacity, fuck-that’s-a-lot-of-people, Willie Nelson show at Liberty Hall. It was a pretty intimate show for such a well-known act. Liberty Hall holds right at about 1,000 people, and there’s really not a bad seat in the house. This may account for the nearly $70 ticket price (which actually came within a hair’s breadth of $80 with service charges). Seriously, though – Willie’s getting up there in age, and the opportunity to see a legend in a venue as gorgeous as Liberty Hall only comes around once. Thus, the wife and I dropped the cash and saw it.

The show itself? Fantastic. We heard all the hits, a stretch of Hank Williams tunes (“Jambalaya,” “I Saw the Light,” and “Move It On Over”), as well as tunes by Ray Charles (“Georgia On My Mind”), Kris Kristofferson (“Me and Bobby McGee”), and two half-Waylon Jennings songs (“A Good Hearted Woman” and “Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow up to Be Cowboys”). Actually, Willie ended up doing three songs that were originally duets, when you throw in his duet with Tony Keith, “Beer For My Horses.”

That moment actually provided the part of the show that had me laughing. The audience was pretty much what one would expect at a Willie Nelson show in Lawremce when you factor in the ticket price – lots of well-heeled middle-aged folks, and some of the more country-leaning hipsters with trust funds / real jobs. But when you see a lot of Bush-hating, well-to-do liberals singing along with Toby Keith lyrics… brother, that’s priceless, especially considering more folks knew the words to that tune than those to “Will the Circle Be Unbroken.” Sad, really.

The only part about the show that bothered me was the seating. In an effort to make it more equitable (I assume), it was general admission. Seriously – seventy bucks a ticket, and no guarantee as to where you were going to sit. I mean, I’m used to GA and having to jostle for a place to see the show, but at that price, I’d like to be assured that I’m not going to have to stand for two hours. On the bright side, we managed to find two seat in the balcony. On the negative side, I had so little leg room, every time the large woman in front me leaned back, my knee got crushed.

Still, getting to see a two-hour, non-stop show in that environment totally justified the ticket price. Willie was pretty right-on with some flaming guitar solos, and it seemed like the show was one very amazingly entertaining never-ending song. Every time somebody tossed a cap on stage, he’d toss the bandana he was wearing into the crowd and wear the new hat for a bit. I really wish somebody’d had the foresight to toss a KU hat onstage. That’d have made for the best photo ever.

Always On My Mind” (live, from VH1 Storytellers)
On the Road Again” (from Honeysuckle Rose)