With apologies to Sade, James Taylor is a smooth operator.
Saturday night, more than 6,500 were entertained by James Taylor and his All-Star Band at Wells Fargo Arena. It was the first night of a more than month-long tour that had Taylor and his band taking up residence in Des Moines since last Wednesday. All of the rehearsing paid off in spades.
Taylor and his 10-piece All-Star Band walked the crowd through his storied career with Taylor telling stories of many of the songs he performed. Taylor was chatty all night with stories of auditioning for the Beatles to moments of self-deprecation as he described several of his songs as “hippy/tree-huggerish.”
It was a real treat throughout the evening to hear the master songwriter tell the stories behind his biggest hits. When telling the story of how he came to write “Sweet Baby James,” you could tell that there is genuine emotion built into the song. While songs like “One More Go Round” Taylor asked the crowd to pay no attention to the lyrics because they were just thrown together haphazardly.
When you’ve had a career as long as James Taylor and play your biggest hits enough times, you have to do what you can to keep the songs interesting for yourself. Throughout the night, Taylor took liberties with many of the arrangements of his most well-known songs that at times, some songs were downright unfamiliar until he began to sing. Even then, some songs took a few lines to become apparent.
Upon announcing the show’s mid-way break, Taylor confessed to the crowd, “I don’t know why we do that (take a break). I’m just going to go back behind that curtain and look at my watch for 15 minutes.” In one of the cooler moments of the night, Taylor comes out as the intermission ends and mingled with the lucky few in the front row. He took time to shake hands, sign autographs, and take selfies with the crowd.
There’s something about being in the room when great musical moments happen. Like when Paul McCartney sings “Hey Jude,” The Eagles sing “Hotel California,” and in the case of Saturday night, when James Taylor sings “You’ve Got a Friend.” Truly one of those concert moments that sticks in your mind.
Top to bottom, it was a night filled with hit songs and a timeless entertainer. Taylor’s voice sounds exactly as good as you want it to sound and the performance is even better. He’s worth a ticket purchase each and every time he comes through.
Setlist:
Set One
Something in the Way She Moves
Today, Today, Today
Lo and Behold
Copperline
Everyday
Country Road
Mill Worker
Carolina in My Mind
One More Go Round
Sweet Baby James
Shower The People
Set Two
Stretch of the Highway
You & I
Raised Up Family
Handy Man
Steamroller
Only One
Fire and Rain
Up on the Roof
Mexico
Whenever I See Your Smiling Face
Encore
How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)
You’ve Got a Friend
Wild Mountain Thyme
