Lyle Lovett & His Large Band
Saturday, July 5
North Charleston Performing Arts Center
Something like a revival took over the Performing Arts Center on Saturday night — a choir-singing, Texas-swinging barnstormer, compliments of Lyle Lovett and His Large Band. The two-and-a-half hour performance cut a wide swath through Lovett’s category-elusive personal songbook: gospel and soul, heartfelt ballads, jazz, bluegrass, swing and straight-up pedal steel country.
For a journey like that, you need world-class companions. Start with 10 instrumentalists and three backup singers. Add in a nine-person choir ensemble and their choir leader, (all drawn from local Charleston churches). At times, there were so many people on stage it felt like an old-style radio variety show.
Standing in the center of this joyous maelstrom, the tall man himself, in a three-button suit fastened at the center button, white shirt, skinny striped tie, cuffed trousers, and black cowboy boots: the image of a retro-fashion Texas bandleader who kicked off the evening clapping along with his Charleston choir on “Church” from Joshua Judges Ruth.
The full house crowd slipped into Lovett’s pocket early, intermittently calling out for their favorites. Lovett replied, “We’re working our way up to it.” And they did, with a double album’s worth of music and playful stage patter thrown in.
From the soulful “If I Were The Man You Wanted,” to the raucous “That’s Right (You’re Not From Texas),” Lovett’s singing voice seemed only to grow stronger as the evening went on.
A hilarious, standout bluegrass number, “Keep It In Your Pantry,” featured Viktor Krauss on stand-up bass, mandolinist Keith Sewell and fiddler Gene Elders. They made a tight quartet on a tune you won’t find on a Lovett album (yet) but one well worth digging around YouTube to hear.
The entire band and choir ended the evening full circle with their closing encore, “I’m a Soldier in the Army of the Lord.”
All told, Lovett delivered an inspired, big bang-for-the-buck show. The only thing missing was someone to pass around the collection plate. — Jon Santiago
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