Willie Nelson At The Gorge

This past 4th of July we headed out to the Gorge in George, WA to see Willie Nelson & friends in concert. Apparently this was the first time Willie played a July 4th show outside of Austin, and it was certainly the first time we had ever seen him live.

We arrived at the Gorge around 3pm, to a sunny day of mid-to-upper-90s temperatures. Hot, yes, but at least it wasn't humid. We had plenty of sunscreen and a big Nalgene to fill with water.

The acts started around 4pm. Here's how they shaped up:

• Amos Lee - really great. Funky but relaxed, well balanced sound. Enjoyable toe-tapping songs. Quite unpretentious.
• Drive By Truckers - country-rock outfit. Started out with a pretty clangy, off-key sound but got better as their set went on. Some songs were hits, some were misses. They were louder than Amos Lee, and their harmonies were often off. Could have been bad mixing or bad monitor levels.
• Old 97's - pretty bad. Didn't sound great at all, weren't locking into harmonies, and their songs were boring.
• Son Volt - very good. Interesting songs, great sound, enjoyable set. Though why did Jay Farrar have to switch guitars after every song?
• 40 points - Willie Nelsons' two sons (Micah, Lukas) are in this band. Great solo guitar playing. Decent vocals. Some songs were ho-hum but not all that bad.

Then came Willie. He played a solid 2 hour set with back to back songs, including many classics but also about four new ones. He didn't sing as many high notes as his recorded songs have, but he still sounded great, and engaged well with the crowd. And yes, he played his old, beat up, twangy, slightly distorted guitar. It's Willie; he's classic.

After his set, it was time to head home. We left the Gorge around midnight, and even with a stop for fuel we arrived back in Seattle around 2:30 AM.