Gig Review: James Taylor Is Sublime - Even If It Wasn't Quite As Good This Time, In Some Ways Still It Was Actually Even Better (Or It Wasn't)

There was a time when there was gig reviews. Now we're living through a time creeping towards when there won't be journalism. I never could save journalism. But by crikey I can bring back gig reviews.

James Taylor

Wednesday, May 1

TSB Bank Arena, Wellington

Billed as An Evening With James Taylor & His All-Star Band, this was actually my second evening with him and the crew, having seen the show in Napier seven years ago. There’s a thing about first times, as we all know. And sometimes, perhaps especially with gigs, there’s something so special about finally seeing your hero/heroes. They come back again and it’s never quite the same, they’re just covering those years in between the gigs and/or repeating themselves, but that first time is the summation of your fandom from when you first started listening up until that moment of seeing them in the flesh.

But also, they come back again, and it might well be the last time. This is where I was very much at with James Taylor. And I’m sure I wasn’t alone. For he won’t be back to see us again down this way in this lifetime I’m sure. I wrote about my love for Taylor’s music late last year when the tour was announced. I was excited.

James Taylor’s Greatest Hits

And I’m enough of a fan to want to hear most of the same songs again, with just a few change-ups. No Walking Man or Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight tonight though. (We got those in 2017). But hey, this gig starts with Something In The Way She Moves, which was strangely absent from the 2017 show. So, you know. Swings. Roundabouts…

But I do notice some more vinegar in Taylor’s voice, and a little less honey. There’s a big difference between 69 and 76, and though he’s fit and witty, and beyond able, the voice has some croak. At times he’s closer to Warren Zevon than the James Taylor of the records, or even the James Taylor of 2017’s live tour.

It’s authentic though, and real. And it isn’t as if he cannot sing. It’s still (mostly) there, just a little aging on the sides. And that’s happening to us all.

Taylor’s All-Star Band features Dean Parks on guitar, who is a studio/session legend. James says if you’ve been listening to recorded music, you’ve heard Parks. And he’s not wrong. There he is on several records by Aaron Neville and Joe Cocker and Sonny & Cher and so many others. But if you want the legacy hallmarks, he was on over a half dozen albums by The Crusaders, and turned up on nearly every Steely Dan record.

At the back, Steve Gadd is on the drum-stool. (Chad Whackerman was subbing for him when I last saw JT). Gadd, like Parks, is all over so many records you’ve heard. Again, Steely Dan, also Paul Simon, Kate Bush, Eric Clapton, and the list could from there go on for days. But we first truly feel Gadd’s presence on the first significant highlight tonight, Country Road. I mean, sure, Handy Man is nice, and so is Anywhere Like Heaven, even That’s Why I’m Here, but it’s clear Taylor is saving most of the absolute bangers for the second of the two sets. So Country Road, particularly with its building drum fills, is a nice vibe in the middle of the first set. And such a great song. Still. Always.

It’s followed-up immediately, by its album-mate, that record’s title track, Sweet Baby James, which is charming too. And lovely. But at this point, what’s really moving the gig forward is Taylor’s most-excellent banter. Laconic, sometimes downright silly, he’s having a good time being sly and investing deeply in Dad Jokes (nailing them too!)

But the second set kicks off with Carolina In My Mind and then the hits really start to tumble. Mexico, Steamroller, Fire and Rain, Up On The Roof, Shower The People, You’ve Got A Friend, and How Sweet It is (To Be Loved By You) all in a row. I mean, that’s some lineup. But you know something, on a second watch of these wonderful musicians playing these glorious tunes, it’s really only Fire and Rain that truly stands up as something amazing. I mean, of course, there’s You’ve Got A Friend and Up On The Roof, but they are Carole King songs, even if Taylor has his way with Friend particularly. Fire and Rain, like Country Road, has some grit to it, there’s a little rocket to the pocket as it moves towards its goal. These are the songs that elevate Taylor from the radio-hits that bore so many non-fans, and won’t see them converted.

I did love this show. At times, I loved it more than the first gig I saw, even though, objectively, Taylor was not better. But most of the work is being done by my own nostalgia for the music. At least, James Taylor, and his amazing band — which also featured a trio of brilliant singers (Dorian Holley, Katie Markowitz, and Andrea Zonn) — did not under-serve anything, nor did they fuck anything up. It’s just that Steamroller seems a little (too) silly now, and Mexico is jaunty and crisp, but it’s never really there. Also, Shower The People is nearly Wonderful Tonight-level naff, despite the blend of voices being close enough to gorgeous.

Shed A Little Light, Your Smiling Face, and Song For You Far Away were the encores. I’d have rather Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight and Walking Man again, if anything. Although Smiling Face does have some zap. But really, to hear Taylor’s nimble fingers run deceptively close to virtuosic across the acoustic guitar was usually enough. And to see Steve Gadd one more time was also enough. To watch as he gives the greatest fla-boom in all of rock. Sometimes when he hits down on the snare and the bass drum at the same time, he is lifted from the stool, and you feel it all deep in your gut. It’s beautiful. It’s the very charge you need from great music. He’s there like a Tailorbird subtly stitching a nest for each and every song.

The odd feeling I left with tonight though, something I guess I’ve always been aware of: James Taylor is better than almost anyone realises. And yet at the same time, he’s really not quite as good as most of his fans seem to think.

Review from 2017: