Rodney Crowell & The Outsiders
Fine Line Music Cafe, Minneapolis, Minnesota
November 17, 2005

If I never get to see another concert in my life, I think it'll be ok, because I got to see Rodney Crowell and his smokin' band at a little club in Minneapolis. Obviously, I will go to see other shows, but I'm not sure that they will matter at all. 

And to think, I just lucked into seeing this show. Well, luck and a little hard work, deceit, and support from my best friend. 

A couple of weeks previous to this, John Prentice phoned in to my radio show and said, "Hey Jeff, did you hear that Mary Gauthier and Eliza Gilkyson are playing together in Minneapolis on November 18?" I hadn't heard that, but put the wheels in motion right away to see whether I could make that show. Just out of curiousity and hoping to make things a little more interesting, I did a little searching to see what else was on in Minneapolis around that time, and lo and behold, there was a listing for Rodney Crowell at the Fine Line Music Cafe on November 17. Crowell's two latest albums are among the best albums I've ever heard (Fate's Right Hand is absolutely essential listening. Buy it. Now.) and I just knew that a show by this legendary performer would be a thing not to miss.

One problem. The show started early (8:00) and I had a final exam to write on the afternoon of the show. I wondered if it would be possible/worthwhile to see about writing the exam at a different time, but was kind of worried that a change in time and surroundings might make the exam even more stressful and make it more likely that I'd fail, but when I found out that a couple of my classmates had already asked to write the exam early and that they were writing it in a room that was familiar to me, I was sold. I wrote my math exam at the ungodly hour of 8:30, wrote another exam right after that at 10:30, and then blazed out of town at about noon. Thank goodness Kristi was along to help load up my stuff and drive like mad down there. Even leaving at noon, I was worried that we wouldn't get there in time or wouldn't get a decent spot to watch the show. 

WRONG.

We got there in plenty of time to get in and find a spot to hang up front. Originally, I wanted to ensure that we had reserved seating. The Fine Line offers reserved seating in the upper deck level for an extra $20 a ticket (redeemable for food, and I knew we'd be hungry). Stu said this was the way to go, and Stu is rarely wrong. I was a bit disappointed to find out that the reserved seats were all sold out by the time I figured out that I could make the show, but boy am I glad that they were. I would not have enjoyed the show nearly as much if I had been way upstairs, far from the stage, seated instead of dancing and moving around like a maniac, like I ended up doing. 

First up was Rodney Crowell's guitarist, Will Kimbrough doing an opening set by himself. He was pretty good. Very entertaining (especially during his crowd participation numbers: "You Made Your Bed (You Got to Lay In It) and my personal fave, a sing along number about cello master Yo Yo Ma). Kimbrough's set was short, but sweet. I suspect his songs would sound better with a band and some electric instruments than they did solo, acoustic, but they were pretty darn good in stripped down mode.

They sure are prompt at the Fine Line. After a short break, pretty much right at 9, Kimbrough and the rest of Crowell's band, The Outsiders, took the stage and started up. Crowell waited in the wings (very close to me, making for a tempting signing opportunity, but I'd get my chance later on) and then made a grand entrance. The band was hot. They rocked right from the start and I knew it was going to be a hot, rockin' show. 

I didn't know what to expect from Rodney Crowell. Over his amazing 30+ year career, he's been primarily known as a country artist, and regularly plays country festivals and can be heard on country radio, but his last couple of albums have been more rock than country. Very edgy, very political, very smart, very electric. Not what you'd expect of a country music legend at all. With that kind of a history and nearing 60 years old, I could have excused Crowell for resting on his laurels and doing a half-assed show in front of 300 or so people at a little bar in Minneapolis if he wanted to. I would have been ok with that and been happy to be one of those people I'm sure. The hot young band gave me some indication that this was not to be the case, but when Crowell came on, he seemed a little slow off the start. For the first few songs, he never smiled, never said a word, and didn't move around that much. The songs were great (a couple of the better ones off the new record and one of my favourite songs of all, "Earthbound," off the previous one) and the band was really into it, but the crowd was a bit restrained and Crowell seemed a bit hesitant to let loose. 

I think the first time Rodney really loosened up and said anything was a few songs in when an audience member shouted out a request. Rodney smiled and said that the request fell into the "stump the band" category, but that he'd see what he could do. He smiled and said that even though the band didn't know the song and he had no idea what the words to it were, he'd gladly make up new ones "after we get all loosened up and hot and sweaty." Even then, I wasn't entirely convinced that he was serious (either that they'd get totally loosened up and sweaty or that he'd do the song later on).

Again, I was wrong. 

From there on, Crowell seemed looser, happier, and more energetic by the minute. Each new song had him taking the show one step further. As he got into it, the crowd started to get into it (although I still can't believe how many people sat in their seats, especially on the lower level with all of us on the dance floor standing in the way). 

Over the course of two and a half hours (NOT an exaggeration), Crowell and the band did just about every song I could ever wish to hear, and then some. I was too busy having one hell of a good time to keep a setlist, but from what I can remember, they did the following (among others which are a little sketchy in my memory):

From the latest record, The Outsider:

Say You Love Me
The Obscenity Prayer (Give it to Me)
The Outsider
Beautiful Despair
Don't Get Me Started
(possibly more. Like I said, I didn't keep track, but it seemed like they did pretty much all of the album)

From the previous, amazing record, Fate's Right Hand:

Still Learning How to Fly
Fate's Right Hand (I didn't really think that anyone could get all of the words to this song straight in a live setting. It's rapid fire, almost spoken word poetry, but Crowell didn't miss a beat and didn't flub a word)
Earthbound
Time to go Inward
The Man in Me
Ridin' Out the Storm (featuring an amazing story of this song's inspiration. Powerful stuff indeed.)
Preachin' to the Choir
(sadly, I don't think they did "Come on Funny Feelin'" which I really love, mostly for the line "The funny feelin' never lies; it's there to open up your eyes/ make you stop and realize you're blessed/ get this frickin' anvil off my chest/ come on funny feelin'", but how the hell could I get away with complaining about the absence of one frickin' song!?!)

From The Houston Kid (which I can't find, but MUST soon. Hello? Santa?)

I Wish it would Rain
Wandering Boy (introduced by an amazing story about Rodney's childhood and the twins who inspired these two songs)
I Walk the Line (Revisited) (introduced by an amazing story about the first time Rodney heard Johnny Cash, trying to write a song about it, and later meeting Johnny and recording this song).

Older songs:

Ain't Livin' Long Like This
Let the Picture Paint itself

And still time for some covers!

Tobacco Road
Like a Rolling Stone

As long as I live, I don't expect that I will ever see a band introduced better than the Outsiders were. In the middle of "Like a Rolling Stone" (which involved a great deal of crowd participation. This was Minneapolis, after all, not far from ol' Bobby Dylan's old stomping grounds), Brother Rodney did some testifyin'. He told a tale about hanging out with his dog "Flearoy" (HA!) and hearing his neighbour's kids introducing her band in the garage to an audience of none, which impressed upon him the importance of a quality band introduction. There couldn't possibly be a better one than the one he delivered. I'm sure it was well rehearsed and the same every night, but nothing Crowell did in the night or the band introduction seemed insincere or anything but passionate and energetic and amazing. It was really funny and powerful, so I won't even try to relate any of it. Never was a band so deserving; these guys are awesome. I can't recall their names (other than Kimbrough, and that the fantastic drummer's name is Keo, or something like that), but they were wonderful.

After "Like a Rolling Stone" it appeared that the show was over, as the band came forward, took a big bow, and The Outsiders left the stage. But Crowell stayed behind, picked up an acoustic guitar and did a couple of solo numbers. Eventually, the band came back on and the show was back in full swing. Crowell said, "You back there! (pointing at the person who had made the obscure request earlier), I haven't forgotten about you!" He quickly taught the band the basics of the song and launched into it. You never would have been able to tell that it wasn't rehearsed. It was perfect. The show went on for another half hour or so.

All good things must come to an end, and so did this show. Although after 30+ years, critical acclaim, the friendship and admiration of some of the most amazing artists of all time (Johnny Cash, Emmylou, Guy Clark, Townes, etc. etc. etc.), and at the peak of his creative ability and artistic integrity, Rodney Crowell should be a superstar playing to thousands, he played to a few hundred on a cold night in a small club in Minneapolis at the end of a long, busy tour, and he gave it his all, and then some, and never at all seemed tired or frustrated. Instead, he ended the show by saying that he it was truly a pleasure for him to be able to play music for us. And it was entirely genuine.

As if he hadn't given enough of himself already, Rodney stopped to talk, sign CDs and slips of paper, snap photos, and just spend time with his fans. Even when fans were weird or demanding, Crowell never showed anyone anything but respect and love. I'm in awe of what a great performer, songwriter, and person Rodney Crowell turned out to be. 

I'm not going to say that this was the greatest show I've ever seen (it'll be a long time before I see another Lyle Lovett at the West End Cultural Centre calibre show) but it was definitely right up there, and it's been a looooong time since I've seen something so amazing, and don't expect to see anything like it for quite some time.

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Again, I'm reminded of that line in "Come on Funny Feelin'" that says, "The funny feelin' never lies; it's there to open up your eyes/ make you stop and realize you're blessed/." Well, I felt that funny feelin' and I felt truly blessed to have seen this show. I'm a lucky man in many ways. Although life sometimes gets me down, and I have to work entirely too hard to make things like this possible, one show like this makes it all worthwhile and makes life seem that much sweeter. Being able to make it there and have a great time with my best friend along watching a show that could have, should have, occurred in some much larger venue with a much larger crowd, I realized that I really have nothing to complain about (although I'll damn well keep doing that, we all know.)