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... by Joanne Corsano ... joanne@picturelake.com

Willie Nile - vocals, guitar, piano; Johnny Pisano - bass, backing vocals; Jimi K. Bones - lead guitar, backing vocals; Jon Weber - drums

Streets of New York {on piano} - Forever Wild - Run - Innocent Ones - Heaven Help the Lonely - The Day the Earth Stood Still - I Will Stand - All Dressed Up And No Place To Go - The Backstreet Slide - Runnin' Down a Dream {Tom Petty} - Across the River {on piano} - New York Is Rockin' - House of a Thousand Guitars - Blowin' in the Wind {Dylan} - One Guitar ... encore ... Children of Paradise - Run Free

[not sure of all song titles; corrections welcome] All I Ever Wanted - What the Hell is Going On - Heaven's Band - I Believe In Us - Checkin' Out - Hangin' with Keith Richards - Free Fallin' {Tom Petty}

Scroll to below videos for a review of the show.

Dan Zukergood - I Believe In Us

Forever Wild

Heaven Help the Lonely

New York is Rocking

House of a Thousand Guitars

One Guitar

Willie Nile was ecstatic to be playing in front of a live audience. He's done quite a few live streaming performances during the pandemic, but nothing beats the instant feedback from an enthusiastic audience, and that's what we were. He joyfully frolicked from one end of the stage to the other, striking poses and addressing the audience with terms of endearment. The sold-out audience also rocked out, jumping up from their seats with a handful of songs to go and crowding up against the metal fence the venue had in front of the stage, for Covid reasons. Willie played one or two quieter songs but for the most part the show rocked out.

Willie played a couple of songs from his latest album and for the rest of the 17 song set delved into many of the records he's put out over the last decade. When I first saw Willie live almost twelve years ago, the songs he had to choose from were much more limited since at that time his entire recorded output consisted of his first two critically acclaimed records from the early 1980s and a handful of occasional releases during that part of his life when he was balancing a real job, a family, and a recording career. But since the music career has been his focus over the past decade he's become extremely prolific, while not losing an ounce of the vivaciousness and joy that was such a part of his early sound.

He's wearing a new accessory these days -- a wedding ring! He and longtime main squeeze Christina Arrigoni tied the knot a few months ago. She's Italian and they had a ceremony over there and then one on this side of the pond. Another piece of good news on the family front is that Willie's dad is still going strong at age 103!

After the show Concert Going Partner and I had the chance to chat up Willie a bit, and he was just overflowing with a feeling of things finally being right, as he had the chance to catch up with many associates, fans, and friends. One of these was Northampton music devotee Tommy Shea, whose efforts to promote Willie early in his career were a stepping stone toward Willie developing the avid following he has in the western Massachusetts area.

Another good thing about this show was the opening act. Dan Zukergood and the Mostly Happy Band played a half hour of very good mostly original rock, including one song that made the audience laugh, "Hangin' With Keith Richards." Willie invited him up on stage to sing backup on "One Guitar." I picked up his band's two CDs at the merch table after the show -- highly recommended!

This was my first indoor concert since before the pandemic. It was general admission, which I like since all you need to do to get a seat up front is get in line an hour before the doors were opening. I bought tickets because the Gate City Arts required that concert goers be vaccinated. Kudos to the venue for carefully checking vax paperwork at the door. However, once inside, I'd say only about 50% of the audience followed the "keep your mask on" rule. People, it's a simple thing -- wear your mask when you're in a crowd like this. Even with a vaccination, you can still catch it and take it away to someone else.

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