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by: Bill Kerns
What was I truly expecting from the Willie Nelson concert on Sunday evening at City Bank Auditorium?
To tell the truth, I thought that the time had come for Willie to slow down a bit. In fact, even with his gifted daughter and son singing elsewhere on Sunday, I would not have been astonished if Willie occasionally drifted back into the shadows and allowed his Family Band to accept the spotlight.
He is, after all, 78 years old.
He mentioned once, in a song introduction, that his doctor told him to stay at home more, rest and be quiet — which only inspired Willie to write more songs, some of them making fun of the route he took to 78: “Too many pain pills, too much pot…”
And once he’d written new songs, well, what good is a song if it cannot be shared?
So Willie is back on tour. He arrived on stage about 10 minutes late Sunday — to an immediate standing ovation — and performed a Greatest Hits package that lasted just under 95 minutes.
In the so-called good old days, Willie’s encores sometimes lasted longer than his concert. Still, no one at all could complain Sunday, not after Willie Nelson delivered a 26-song set — and only one of those numbers was an instrumental delivered by his sister Bobbie at the piano.
Sunday night in Lubbock found Willie Nelson a musical magician, a Texas icon who sometimes had Georgia on his mind, back on the road again after yet another dear friend (and Family Band member) died badly in October and another retired.
He plays the songs he loves, and still astonished new fans with his ability to pick his old Martin acoustic guitar — the same instrument he long ago named Trigger.
Willie just keeps on keeping on.
Sunday’s set list:
1. “Whiskey River.”
2. “Still is Still Moving To Me.
3. “Whiskey for My Men, Beer for My Horses.”
4. Medley: “Funny How Time Slips Away,” “Crazy,” “Night Life.”
5. “Down Yonder” (instrumental).
6. “Me and Paul.”
7. “Help Me Make It Through the Night.”
8. “Me and Bobby McGee.”
9. “Georgia on My Mind.”
10. “Healing Hands of Time.”
11. “Good Hearted Woman.”
12. “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain.”
13. “Mamas, Don’t Let Your Babies (Grow Up to be Cowboys).”
14. “Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground.”
15. “On the Road Again.”
16. “Always on My Mind.”
17. “(I’m Not) Superman.”
18, “You Don’t Think I’m Funny Any More.”
19. “Jambalaya (On the Bayou).”
20. “Hey Good Lookin.’ ”
21. “Move It On Over.”
22. “Will the Circle Be Unbroken?”
23. “I’ll Fly Away.”
24. “Amazing Grace.”
25. “Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die.”
26. “I Saw the Light.”