STEVE EARLE, Red Butte Garden, Sunday.
Steve Earle brought a lot more love and a little less politics than expected to Red Butte Garden Sunday night.
The tone was actually set in Earle's introduction and decidedly understated wedding announcement for the opening performer: "Allison Moorer . . . Earle."
Throughout Moorer and Earle's solo acoustic sets, the love between the newlyweds would continue to flow, whether it was her welcoming the crowd to their honeymoon, the marvelous duets they sang together, or the deep, onstage kiss they shared near the end of the night.
His marriage of only a few days seemed to take the edge off of Earle's political rants and brought a greater sensitivity to his often forgotten apolitical songs. In many ways, it provided a nice reminder to his fans that, despite his extremely politicized recent efforts on the albums "The Revolution Starts Now" and "Jerusalem," he is also one of the great observers of human nature.
The crowd responded appropriately, quieting during songs like "Galway Girl, "The Mountain," and his dedication to Moorer, "Outlaw's Honeymoon," which required their full attention to succeed. They also stayed relatively quiet (for a Red Butte crowd) during his sometimes rambling stories.
By the same token, when given the opportunity to stand up and dance — on such songs as "The Devil's Right Hand," "Copperhead Road" and the satirical tribute to the Secretary of State, "Condi, Condi"— they grasped it gladly, although not well. Something about his music spawned utterly terrible dancing by fans who seemed more interested in bizarre contortions and hyper-seizures than rhythm.
While marriage was the focus, politics still played a prominent role, especially for Earle. Whether in the spoken word anger of "Warrior," the soft, anti-death penalty tale in "Ellis Unit One" or the more musically subtle but lyrically poignant "Rich Man's War," he proved that he has not lost his political passion.
Nor has he lost his revolutionary bent, and he was able to whip the crowd into a frenzy with a four-letter profane chant during "F The CC," a rocking freedom-of-speech rallying cry. However, his attempts at a boisterous sing-a-long during the chorus of "Christmas In Washington" were not as successful.
It almost seemed as if the crowd that shares Earle's politics and disgust with President George W. Bush has found solace in things like love. If this crowd's response is any indication, the revolution is more likely to start a little later — say, 2008.
The only real disappointment of the night was the length of Moorer's opening set, a mere half-hour that could have lasted more than an hour and still left the crowd wanting more. Her strongest song was "All Aboard," while her duets with Earle were gorgeous, especially her take on the parts originally sung by Emmylou Harris on "Comin' Around."
E-mail: jloftin@desnews.com