Concert Review: Last of the Breed in Nashville

Brody reviewed the weekend show in Austin and has linked to several other reviews, so I’ll only post a few comments about the Last of the Breed Tour’s stop at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry House on Monday night. I’ll also post the complete set list as I do not believe that I have seen a complete LOTB set list.

Ray Price blew me away. After seeing George Jones on Sunday night, I truly believe that I have seen the two best vocalists alive in the space of two days. It seems impossible, but if he has lost anything over the years, I can’t hear it.

No Nashville concert of this magnitude would be complete without a guest appearance, so Little Jimmy Dickens did his comedy routine while the roadies changed the stage after Ray Price’s set. That makes four Country Music Hall of Famers in one night.

Elizabeth McQueen of Asleep at the Wheel has a fantastic country voice. I’ve heard her do a killer rendition of “You Ain’t Woman Enough to Take My Man” and I wish she would’ve soloed at some point during the show.

Merle Haggard’s voice was weaker than on his recordings but not bad. I couldn’t get over how old and short he looked. He also had some trouble synchronizing with Asleep at the Wheel at the beginning of his set; he swallowed the first line of “Take Me Back to Tulsa” and the harmony singers kept breaking in at the wrong time and looked confused.

I agree with Brody that “Pancho and Lefty” was oddly paced. However, many of Willie’s hits did not sound much like the studio recordings. Willie has always had very unique phrasing, and I suspect that putting him out on the road (especially as often as he performs) is like uncaging an animal. He keeps his interpretations more conventional in the studio and lets loose on the road. Interestingly, the three new songs that he performed sounded much more like studio recordings than anything else he sang. Perhaps he hasn’t been performing them long enough to shake off the studio polish.

Brady’s comment on Brody’s review was dead-on. While the show was fantastic, neither Willie nor Merle made an extraordinary effort to get through the most important material in their catalogs (Ray Price did a better job). This was my first time seeing either artist in concert and while I was not disappointed, I suspect that some in the audience were. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to see each of these fantastic artists at least once more, but watching them share the same stage was an incredible, once in a lifetime opportunity.

[set list following the jump]

Set List:

Ray Price:

“San Antonio Rose”

“Crazy Arms”

“Heartaches by the Number”

“Please Release Me”

“Help Me Make it Through the Night”

“I Won’t Mention It Again”

“The Other Woman (In My Life)”

“You’re the Best Thing that Ever Happened to Me”

“Make the World Go Away”

“For the Good Times”

“Mansion on the Hill”

Asleep at the Wheel:

“Route 66″

“Miles and Miles of Texas”

“Fat Boy Rag”

Merle Haggard:

“Take Me Back to Tulsa”

“I Wonder if You Feel the Way I Do”

“This Morning, This Evening, So Soon”

“That’s the Way Love Goes”

“Silver Wings”

“I Think I’ll Just Stay Here and Drink”

“Sing Me Back Home”

“Big City”

“Marijuana”

Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson:

“Okie From Muskogee”

“Pancho and Lefty”

“Reasons to Quit”

“Ramblin’ Fever”

“Back to Earth”

“I’m Going to Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter” (feat. Freddy Powers)

Merle, Willie and Ray:

“Pick Me Up on Your Way Down”

“I Gotta Have My Baby Back”

“Please Don’t Leave Me”

“Roly-Poly”

“Nightlife”

“Crazy”

“On the Road Again”

Willie:

“You Were Always on My Mind”

“Superman”

“You Don’t Think I’m Funny Anymore”

“Whiskey River”

“Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain”