The Willie Nile Band ~ 2010 March 27 ~ Iron Horse Music Hall, Northampton, MA
Band personnel: Willie Nile (lead vocals, guitar, piano); Ray Mason (backing vocals, bass); Frankie Lee (drums); Peter Hoffman (lead guitar)
Show opened by Ray Mason accompanying himself on Silvertone guitar
Set List
Willie Nile:
Dear Lord - That's the Reason - Vagabond Moon - It's All Over - Old Men Sleeping on the Bowery - She's So Cold - That's Enough For Me - They'll Build a Statue of You - The Big Show - Shoulders - Hungry Hill - Poor Boy - Les Champs-Élysées - People Who Died {Jim Carroll} - I Want To Be Sedated {Ramones} ... encore ... Sing Me a Song
Ray Mason opening set:
Shooting Over the Head - I'm Not That Kind of Guy - Reverb and a Zip Code - Are You Ready {the Barbara Mason song} - Cats - They Don't Make Records Like That Anymore - When I Meet You On the Moon - Wilson Road
Review
Concert Going Partner and I had never seen Willie Nile before, and had no idea what he'd be like in concert, but the show seemed like a safe bet for several reasons. Our friend Ray Mason had told us that he was going to open for Willie Nile, and then he was going to play bass in his band. We always enjoy seeing Ray perform, so we knew that at least the opening act would be good, and we were also interested in seeing Ray play bass. We were also interested in Willie Nile, and it seemed worth it to take a chance on him. I had Willie's first two albums (Willie Nile and Golden Down) but had never seen him perform, and didn't know any of his newer material. But it seemed obvious that he was one of those performers on the circuit -- the Graham Parkers of the world who have never received the recognition they deserve -- so we thought we'd take a chance on the drive to Northampton.
And what a magical night. At the end of the concert my Concert Going Partner and I turned to each other with The Question -- that question that keeps concert goers going to see performers they haven't seen before. And here we were asking The Question for the second time in four months. Having discovered Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams in November of 2009, we had the great privilege of discovering Willie Nile just four months later.
The Question, of course, is where has he been all our lives?
Willie Nile was that good.
Ray Mason opened the show with a solid eight song set, accompanying himself on his trademark 1965 vintage Silvertone, entertaining the crowd with his usual self-deprecating wit. The western-Mass.-based Ray Mason is well known and popular at the Iron Horse, having performed there many times.
Then Willie Nile walked onto the stage, and into my life. Carrying an acoustic guitar, and accompanied by Ray Mason on bass, Frankie Lee on drums, and Peter Hoffman on guitar, Willie strutted onto the Iron Horse stage, a giant of music, with fabulous hair, and dressed in black. Guitarist Peter Hoffman played guitar on Willie's early two albums, and this gave Willie the motivation to perform some of his rarely played earlier material, since he had the services of his original guitarist who already knew the songs. This was good for me since I only knew the first two albums. After this show I promptly acquired all of Willie's newer albums to play catch up on the catalog of this compact dynamo of a songwriter and performer.
Willie told many stories, including a story of how he had recently suffered a leg injury during a concert, but he was now getting better. He tore through the songs with enthusiasm, utter sincerity, and total lack of pretention. His singing voice is perfect for the rough 'n' ready rock 'n' roll which is his stock in trade. Frankie Lee, the drummer, is the co-writer of many of Willie's songs and his good friend. Willie's songs are about love and relationships, and about striving for a better world, and they tell stories of rich people, poor people and everyone in between.
Many songs had the audience singing along with no less than wild abandon. Willie just loves performing and he loves his audience, and he loves rock 'n' roll music; the love shone out of him like a 10,000 watt bulb, lighting up the crowd with a desire to throw themselves without reservation into this wild and special night. Showing a mastery of pace, Willie counterbalanced the high energy singalongs with a few mellow songs on the grand piano that was over on stage right. These included a song about baseball called "The Big Show" that has been used in a network TV baseball broadcast.
From the concert I took away copies of a DVD and a CD or two, and I took away a new musical favorite.
More Willie
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