Sweet Troubadour Reunion in St. Paul: James Taylor and Carole King Still Have it!!

As soon as I saw that James Taylor and Carole King were doing a Troubadour Reunion Tour, I knew I had to make it to a show. The grooves are nearly worn off my Taylor and King LPs and Tapestry was one of my very favorite albums to sing along with. I couldn’t wait to see this pair in action. I scored a floor seat at St. Paul’s Xcel Center the morning the tickets went on sale. Since they were doing the show “theatre-in-the-round” style, I was pretty sure that no floor seat could be bad.

It was a beautiful day to make the 3 hour drive to Twin Cities. On my way I played my various James Taylor and Carole King CDs. Just singing along with those familiar tunes (oh why hadn’t I listened to this wonderful music recently???) I teared up with nostalgia and my voice broke several times. Uh-oh - was this concert going to have me weeping while I sang along? I so enjoyed re-visiting these favorite albums that when I made a bathroom stop at a Minnesota Target Store, I searched out and bought the new Taylor-King Troubadour Reunion double disk CDs - happily it was on sale for $11.98!!

I had searched out a Thai restaurant just 8 blocks from the arena and tried 3 new things (Thai Chang beer (a light, refreshing brew), Cashews fried with Holy Basil, Kaffir Lime Leaves and Thai Spices (very good but I would have liked twice the basil and spices) and Waterfall Salad(a spicy beef, veggie and cilantro salad) and my usual favorite, Chicken Coconut Red Curry. The curry was not quite as good as what I get in Cedar Falls, but all in all, a tasty pre-concert dinner.

I have never been to the Xcel Center when it was set up with a central round stage instead of an end stage. There were 24 rows of seats in each corner of the arena, plus a special area set up with cute little ‘cocktail tables”  immediately surrounding the stage. I don’t recall seeing those seats in the regular ticket sales, so maybe those were available via auction or their fan clubs. I was in row 22, so not real close but way better than up in the nosebleeds!

They included some oldies in their pre-concert music mix that had some of us in the audience singing along before the show even started. No opening act for this show - at the appointed time James and Carole simply walked out to the stage with their band members and back-up singers, circled the stage to wave hello to all the fans, and then began an evening of delightful music.

EVERY song was a pleasure, alternating between some of the really big hits (So Far Away, Natural Woman, Carolina in My Mind, Too Late Baby, Sweet Baby James, Shower the People You Love With Love,   Fire and Rain, etc.)  and some of the lesser known but still favorite tracks (the songs Carole wrote or co-wrote for the Everly Brothers and later Art Garfunkel (I'll Do My Crying in the Rain), James’ Steamroller Man or Machine Gun Kelly). They also alternated between Carole singing with James accompanying, or James singing and Carole accompanying, or the two of them doing true duets. Although the crowd - almost exclusively folks 45-65 from what I could see, was rather subdued during each number,  sitting politely during most songs, they were carefully attending to every nuance of voice, facial expression and instrument and were definitely LOVING it , standing to clap and cheer at the END of almost every number!!  Lutheran Minnesotans!

Carole and James told stories, shared recollections, cracked jokes - you really got the feeling that they were enjoying sharing this experience with the audience. James joked that he and Carole had been performing together since, what, maybe 1903 (lol) and later quipped that “we apparently performed here repeatedly” (but you know how faulty memories of the seventies can be (lmao!). The guitar and piano music was sweet as ever.  James reported that his guitar had been “born here in Minnesota” (and the guitar said that it was good to be back home!). The voices of James and Carole have aged a bit - Carole’s more so than James’ - but the heart and soul and love that they put into their music is just as deep if not deeper than ever. They introduced their band members with love and humor and had great old photos from 40 years ago -these were the same band members that were with them in the seventies! And as Carole and James sat side by side, sharing a hug, so in tune with one another, it was clear that they have a special friendship that goes far beyond their professional endeavors.

They closed the show with Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow and You've Got a Friend (my 2 all time favorites!!) but then came back for not just one (Up On the Roof) but actually TWO encores!!

I’m sure you’ll notice that my favorites are primarily the sweet and slow tunes but let me assure you that James and Carole definitely rocked out several times during the evening - I just didn’t tend to capture those on video. When they were playing on the opposite side of the continually rotating stage I sometimes had to resort to the video screens for my shots. I used both an old and a new camera during the show so you’ll see a difference in quality. 

For anyone who has ever been a Carole King or James Taylor fan this reunion show is an absolute must. Run, don’t walk to buy tickets and enjoy the trip down memory lane with songs that are actually timeless!

Sexy Serenades in St. Paul

Blue skies, sunshine and low sixties welcomed me and my teenage trio (daughter Annie and friends Katie and Randy) to the Twin Cities. We did a little shopping so didn’t arrive at our hotel across from the Xcel Energy Center until close to six. I guess I should have gotten there earlier – I ran into Blue-Jeans-Gal in the elevator and she had seen C-Rod jogging and Brian driving his T-Bird during the afternoon. She is another Iowan and won tonight’s Backstage BBQ Experience pass from iLike! iLike has been good to us heartlanders!! Kingsford Charcoal made their presence known with an enormous blow-up BBQ grill serving as an archway through which to enter the arena (“I walked through hot coals to see Keith Urban!”). They had a little “EDS” problem and it collapsed into a big heap at one point (luckily before the crowds arrived). Once inside we got our Monkeyville Minnesota scrapbook pages stamped and headed for our seats.
My daughter and friends came prepared with posters, one saying "My mom smelled your neck!" and the other "We want to smell it too!". Oh Lord!

The Zac Brown Band were fun openers – mostly lively numbers, a couple surprisingly with a nice reggae beat. I’m going to have to check out their album. After they finished, the Kingsford/Masterpiece BBQ Sauce folks showed kind of a nice promotional video on the side video screens. It began with the sound of a heartbeat to get our attention, but then included shots of Keith and his motorcycle and a big white (?) tour bus, all obviously going out to a BBQ in the country. Then lots of live footage of Keith and the guys at the BBQ that has been featured online and in promotional materials. Later there were some shots of setting up the stage and the racks of guitars. They also used those side screens to announce who won the signed guitar from Keith (and Verizon) this evening (I guess this tour the guitar giveaway happens behind stage before the show rather than out in the audience like last tour.) During the break, as the crew set up the stage for Keith, I kept expecting them to pull shut those big black curtains like they did out east. But no curtains tonight! Maybe they decided they weren’t worth the trouble. Tonight they did create quite a cloud of vapor centerstage to focus attention on Keith’s mysterious rising out of the floor during Hit the Ground, but it was almost too thick – if I hadn’t been sitting off to the side I’m not sure I could have seen his ascent. Still working out some of those little details I guess. No matter – the crowd still screamed their heads off as the show opened!

It looked like the Xcel Center was pretty much sold out – even the highest rows of the nosebleed seats up in the rafters looked full and Keith called attention to them several times during the night. I was sitting in the second row of the second set of risers from the stage (right near row 22 of the front floor). Pretty good seats except for the 6’8” big guy on my stage-side that I often had to peer around whenever Keith came over to the microphone on our side L Tonight the satellite stage was set up about 6 feet beyond the sound mix area and perhaps 20 feet in front of the risers at the far end of the arena, leaving a large area of empty floor for fans when Keith made his trip out there.

Keith looked especially fetching in a red/black/white plaid shirt and blackish jeans tonight. The video screens really showed him to his best advantage so there were times I couldn’t help but give out a little moan or felt a little weak in the knees. And I think he knew it too, so we got more sexy looks than usual. He also seemed to make a point tonight of holding picks in his lips or in his teeth for a bit, then tossing those out to the crowd (in addition to those he flings when he is playing) – what is that about? A guitar-y way of blowing a kiss? Tonight they sometimes used the 5 big video panels to show five Keith’s at once! Gosh I might blow a fuse if they keep doin’ that!!

The music was wonderful as usual, the guitar solos stunning – no departures from the setlist tonight. The crowd was thrilled when Keith made his first trip offstage towards the end of Better Half, all those fans slowing down his progress to the back of the arena. No sign reading from the small stage tonight and no one was invited up. He introduced Making Memories of Us with a slightly different lead-in:. “This is a song for anyone who is getting married, thinking about getting married, wishing you could get married, have got no intention of getting married.” :) When I knew the song was nearly over and Keith would be returning to the main stage via my side of the arena, I leapt (okay, lumbered) from my second row position, over the first row chairs, so that I could be immediately above Keith as he passed by. And it paid off – the first row folks were happy for the “alert” so they had their cameras ready forclose-up shots, and I slid my hand down his bare arm as he passed.:)

He was cute to watch grooving in the background to Chris R’s, Brian’s and Jerry’s little vocal solos. And I think I caught some good video of his dancing, clapping silhouette during that wonderful percussive ending to If Ever I Could Love. Tonight Keith added or really emphasized a rhythmic, plucking, slapping, pulsing beat of the guitar during his (short) walk down the catwalk at the start of Raining on Sunday, then said in a deep sultry voice “Are we still feeling okay?” “ How about you guys sitting up high around the arena?” and then said, no actually sang to us “Do we feel like singing?” and then again “Do we feel like sing-in’?” before actually beginning to sing ROS.

Fun guitar play before You Look Good in My Shirt, but not the usual classic riffs. Maybe someone will be able to put a name to it, but I didn’t recognize it, just enjoyed it! I jumped up and down when I realized that tonight Keith was going to come down the ramp on my side of the arena for YLGIMS and hoped he would either choose to climb up either the aisle close to me or the one close to my girls.

Well he did cross right in front of us, but tonight the crowd that rushed towards him was so overwhelming that he never made it to any of the staircases! I was worried for him because it seemed so many were reaching for his hair and head I thought he could lose an eye! He and his body guards finally had to retreat to stage without the usual perching on a chair somewhere to sing a little. I hope that kind of crowd response doesn’t lead to him abandoning the trips offstage!

The thunderous applause and echoing screams were so loud after Somebody Like You that when Keith came back on stage for the encore he just looked at the audience and said “Holy Hell Minnesota!!” shaking his head in disbelief. “Thank you so much for making us feel like family every time we come up here!” Wow – I am loving the acoustic guitars of Keith and Chris during You’ll Think of Me. They have such a full resonant sound - just beautiful.

I’m worrying a little about Keith’s voice. Although most of the evening he sounded just great, towards the end he got a little froggy and needed the audience to help with the vocals. I’m afraid his madcap schedule in Canada did not give him the break he needed after the previous three concerts. Chicago show tomorrow and Green Bay Saturday – I hope they won’t strain his voice too much! Take good care of yourself Keith! Thanks for another wonderful evening!!

Post Script:

I sat next to a couple great gals, Lori and Julia, who host an afternoon show on FM107 here in the Twin Cities. They were a lot of fun and shared a nice story of their experience meeting Keith and Nicole in New York on the red carpet for the opening of Australia. They shouted to Keith and said that they were from Minnesota. Even though it was her big evening, Nic called Keith’s attention to these fans who had traveled all the way from the Midwest and both Nic and Keith came over and chatted with Julia and Lori – one of the only (if not the only) stops the couple made on the red carpet.

Secondly, my teen trio were completely overwhelmed by Keith’s show this evening and are frantically trying to figure out a way to see him again this tour. They weren’t Urban “virgins” but they definitely have fallen more deeply under his magical spell!

Videos to come but I have to sleep now!

Sensational St. Paul

Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul is a huge arena and it seemed to be filled to the brim with Keith and Gary fans last night. Even the third tier nosebleed seats were full! I had already missed the ticket pre-sale when I decided the Twin Cities concert was a great opportunity to bring my best friend, an Urban Virgin, to the show since she has a daughter in town whom she likes to visit. So I bought a pair of floor tickets on Ebay and hoped for the best. With every arena numbering their sections, rows and seats differently you just never know where you’ll be until you actually get to your seats. Section C was supposed to be mid-floor and we had seats 13-14 in the 17^th row, so who knew where they would be. Well God smiled on us and gave my friend a first Urban experience she will never forget. The Xcel Center had a short section A, so C was closer than I expected and – hallelujah – seats 13-14 were right on the catwalk!!! We were so tickled, although Joan did not yet really realize just what that meant.

After gushing over that pleasant surprise I noticed something else. There was no person-sized gap between the catwalk railing and the catwalk on the side we were sitting. When we arrived the railing was about 8 inches from the walk but as soon as people started leaning on it it moved even closer. We, like the women I had observed with envy in Champaign, could rest our elbows on the catwalk and, with my arm extended, I could reach almost (but not quite) to the middle of the walk!!! This was going to be extra interesting! I decided later that they are obviously doing this on purpose. Keith and the guys slapping more hands this tour has been a big hit, and now moving the fans closer to the catwalk allows even more fans to possibly get the thrill of a touch and also makes for some great camera shots of fans close to Keith during his kneeling guitar solos.

I noticed that there was an orange piece of tape on the catwalk next to me and I hoped it meant something special. And it did – from the very start. Once Gary ventured off the main stage, he came down the catwalk right to that orange tape for part of Nothing On But The Radio. Emboldened by the actions of all the neighboring ladies on the catwalk, I followed their lead and first felt the black suede of his boots. And a bit later the orange tape marked the spot where he set his stool to sing Life Ain’t Always Beautiful (but my view was!) and those of us nearby gently tugged his pants leg when he was done, trying to get his attention for one of the hand grasps he gave a select few. Never got a hand, but I’ve pulled on Gary Allen’s pants – lol!

I caught a hand slap from Brian (tonight in a purple dress shirt with his vest and tie) after their catwalk trip at the end of Faster Car, and Brad Rice actually handed me (rather than tossing) his guitar pick, so I was getting “touches” right and left, but you know who I was waiting for!

My prayers were answered when the orange tape also turned out to mark the spot for the ROS microphone!! I watched (with rapid heartbeat) Keith’s slow approach as he strummed that long introduction to ROS and came to stand right in front of me, inches away. He smiled as extended arms all along the catwalk stretched out hoping for a touch. I didn’t even have to stretch – that suede boot was smack dab in front of me, so I gave it a rub, remembering how he teased us by pulling off those boots one at a time in that Moline KU-Tube videotape. It was early in the evening and he was singing so sweetly, I was still a bit timid and stood there, enraptured, for the rest of the song, just swiping at the edge of his jeans as he turned to retreat down the walk. But all evening he sauntered first close to one edge of the walk, then across to the other side – by no means staying in the center where he would be most out of reach. I took that as a bit of an invitation! He returned to the orange tape multiple times and by the end of the evening I had twice felt that muscular right calf and was so tempted to reach higher…. .. Joan was snapping pictures all the while – maybe she caught one of my Keith “contacts”. (And here is one of Linda feeling up Keith….)

I noticed during all the shows this weekend the songs were peppered with extra “Sweet babies”, “Pretty babies” and even a “Sweet baby girl”or two. Maybe he is pining for his sweet baby. Also a few lyric changes here and there although at the moment I am blanking on the one or two I told myself to remember for you all. The audience in St. Paul was very animated but didn’t sound quite as good as the Chicago crowd J. There was a bit of excitement mid show when some guy worked his way down the row in front of us (uninvited) and boosted his butt up onto the catwalk. Since he was right in front of me I told him he was blocking my view and couldn’t sit there – no sooner were the words out of my mouth and security hauled him away !! No butts allowed on the catwalk!

The music, as always, was just wonderful, the guitar work astounding! Keith was in fine voice and even sang us a few extra songs (“You’re not ready to go home yet, are you?” And the audience gave a resounding NOO!!!) So, during the encore, they did a long rendition of The Joker, with Gary coming back out to sing a couple verses. (Both Brad Rice and Brian are really getting into their shots at soloing at the mike!) Keith followed that with Billy Joel’s You May Be Right. Midway in the show we were also treated to an extended guitar intro and then rocking chorus of Saturday, Saturday. And following Everybody each night this weekend Keith sang a brief bit of Glen Campbell’s Everybody’s Talking At Me during the video shots of that magnificent tree (any particular significance to that song selection, do you think?)

Keith once again stayed around after the rest of the band left the stage, slapping hundreds of hands. He even jumped off the small stage (into the fenced in area surrounding the stage) to get to more fans that were still standing around that enclosure. And I got a hand grasp on his final return down the catwalk (so at least one touch of the evening was “voluntary” rather than me just copping a feel – lol! And during that brief grasp I got out a “Thank you Keith for a fantastic night!” My newly initiated urbanite friend agreed that it was the best concert she had ever seen. Having begun with catwalk seats though will she ever be able to sit elsewhere? That’s two Iowa Urban virgins that I have induced to travel a couple hundred miles each to their first KU concert this weekend – one to Chicago and one to St. Paul. Have I earned my KU Girl Scout badge yet?