AN EVENING WITH WILLIE NELSON & FAMILY, Monday, Feb. 28, 8 p.m., Kingsbury Hall, one performance only.
With a songbook as thick and expansive as Willie Nelson's is, the man has to struggle to get in as many songs in a nearly 2 1/2-hour-long concert as he can.
Nelson did just that, pleasing fans of the old Willie and new Willie, just as fast as he could get the songs sung. Nelson would sing a song to roaring approval, offer his trademark grin and a quick "Thank you" before promptly starting on the next one, many times while the crowd was still cheering.
A brief video was shown previous to the concert, marking the 150th anniversary of the University of Utah, though little paid attention. Instead, Nelson's name was chanted in an effort to get him out even quicker. Once the lights dimmed and he nonchalantly walked onstage, it only took him just seconds after picking up his guitar to start singing "Whiskey River" as a large Texas flag dropped behind him and the band.
"Good Hearted Woman" followed before Nelson addressed the audience amid cheers so loud, his comments were nearly drowned out.
"Well, hello there," he said. "It's been a long, long time. Thank you very much."
While Nelson may be well-known for his characteristic honky-tonk style of singing, country was only one of many genres Nelson offered up. The country tunes were there — with songs like his originally penned "Crazy," "If You've Got the Money, I've Got the Time" and "My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys" (which segued directly into "Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys").
The sold-out audience ate it up, some standing up and dancing and others offering their hoots and yells periodically throughout the songs, to which Nelson only responded with a smile.
But he dabbled in it all, dropping some jazz standards as well, like "All of Me," "Stardust" and the bluesy "Georgia On My Mind." The lights dimmed during such slow tunes, and the guitars were taken down to a mere crawl, with sister Bobbie on the piano many times being the only person playing an instrument.
Don't forget the Latin-influenced album Nelson cut in 1998, "Teatro." Nelson played three songs off of it, including the instrumental "Ou Es-Tu, Mon Amour? (Where Are You, My Love)" and the dark, brooding "I Never Cared For You."
The ones that really connected, however, were the tried-and-true crowd-pleasers. "On The Road Again," "City of New Orleans" and "To All the Girls I've Loved Before" had everybody clapping in unison.
A total of three red bandanas were tied to Nelson's head at three different times, only to be tossed to the audience after being on his head less than an average of three songs apiece. And when it came time for him to leave and return for an encore, he didn't.
"We took that part out. You know we're not going anywhere."
Five songs later, he was finished, singing "Please Don't Talk About Me While I'm Gone" as his next-to-last.
Good thing it was just a song and not a direct order — they'll be talking about this one for months.