By Dave Parsons
You never forget some songs of your youth, and the way they made you feel the first time you heard them. Fast forward 40 or 50 some years, and these songs, and the man who sang them, become old friends you hold dear to you. It was evident that these old friends were willing to brave unseasonal temperatures in the low 60’s to spend the evening of September 7 with James Taylor at the pavilion at StarLake in Burgettstown, PA.
Coming through the gates with blankets, and wrapped in fall jackets, they seemed to be determined to not miss this gathering, as if it were family. They sipped water, and glasses of wine as polite conversation passed the time until the lights dimmed. During the career spanning video highlights, set to the first half of Something in the Way She Moves, the band arrived onstage, and Taylor made his entrance and picked up the song mid-montage and finished it live.
Humble and style come to mind watching Taylor on stage. He knows history already calls him a legend, but his humble approach to telling the stories behind the songs, sprinkled in with a few dad jokes for good measure, and the audience was on a journey over their own life story.
Those life stories intersecting in relationships, family, friends and memories, going down various paths like October Road, Country Road, Copperline, and one more trip with Sweet Baby James before the intermission.
Already an hour into a show, Taylor and band took a 20 minute intermission. Just prior to the second half starting, a lady who appeared to be in her 80’s made her way to her seat in a white fur coat, perfectly styled hair and makeup, and using the assistance of a walker. She had a younger lady with her, who took the walker to the back of the section as the lady sat down again, carefully folding her James Taylor T-shirt and patting it on her lap. Taylor returned starting with Music and the expected trip to Carolina In My Mind. Explaining he was getting into blues mode, Taylor turned his cap around and gave a knowing smile as the band launched into Steamroller.
When the first notes of Fire and Rain rang out, I noticed the lady in the fur coat put her hand on her friends shoulder. I can only imagine the life lived between the first time she heard it, and now. Life made the wistful lyrics more bittersweet. Her closed eyes directed upwards, the wringing of her hands, and the free-flowing tears made it a reverent moment between her and Taylor….as it was for the other dozens of fans doing the same thing around her.
Bouncing the other direction, Taylor offered up heartfelt performances of Up on the Roof and You’ve Got a Friend. The second set ended with Shower the People and How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You). The requisite game of leaving the stage, planning to come back commenced, although in this case, the audience was demanding a few more minutes together. The 3 encores selections, Shed a Little Light, Your Smiling Face, and That Lonesome Road, were a fitting ending to an evening all about music, memories and a gathering of friends listening to the soundtrack of their youth one more time.
James Taylor Setlist:
Set 1:
1 Something in the Way She Moves
2 Everyday
3 Anywhere Like Heaven
4 October Road
5 Copperline
6 Secret o’ Life
7 Country Road
8 Sweet Baby James
9 Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight
10 Sun on the Moon
Set 2:
11 Music
12 Carolina In My Mind
13 Mexico
14 Steamroller
15 Fire and Rain
16 Up On the Roof
17 You’ve Got a Friend
18 Shower the People
19 How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)
Encore:
20 Shed A Little Light
21 Your Smiling Face
22 That Lonesome Road
