Leon Russell and Dave Mason serve up '70s nostalgia live at Michigan Theater
Leon Russell performing live Thursday at the Michigan Theater.
Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com
Two rock legends dueled to a draw during a crowd-pleasing, if perfunctory, double-headlining performance at the Michigan Theater.
Although “dueled” might be overstating the case.
Fortunately for Leon Russell and Dave Mason, they don’t have to do more than go through the motions in order to satisfy fans seemingly hungry more for nostalgia than anything resembling contemporary relevance.
Not that Mason’s or Russell’s 75-minute sets were bad. It’s just that there wasn’t much to either 1 of them.
And perhaps that was the point.
Russell played 1st, launching into the first of countless — literally … we actually lost count — medleys, mashing up his own iconic version of “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” with the Motown staple “Papa Was a Rolling Stone” and the chestnut “Kansas City.”
And that’s about as adventuresome as it got. Russell spent the rest of the set playing by numbers, running through standard, 12-bar blues arrangements. Surprisingly, Russell and his 5-piece band never really clicked, missing the pocket through most of the set, even though most of the songs were carbon copies of 1 another, right down to sharing key signatures. Frequently, it was difficult to tell where 1 tune ended and another began.
Fortunately, Russell is fun to watch and, at 70, he’s a character, with his shock of gray hair, long beard and ever-present shades. He seemed to be having a good time, even if his only acknowledgement of the audience was to announce his last song — another medley of early rock ‘n’ roll standards.
Mason closed the show with a set that attempted a modicum of relevance, thanks to a handful songs from the Traffic founding member’s latest record, “26 Letters, 12 Notes.” But most of his set — also 75 minutes — was given over to his classic catalog, including Traffic’s “40,000 Headmen” and his solo smash, “We Just Disagree.”
Mason’s band was solid — if a little cheesy at times — and his Telecaster solos were frequent and serviceable, although they frequently outlasted his fresh ideas for them. But to see an audience react the way it did on Thursday when Mason launched into his signature tune, “Feelin’ Alright,” is to be reminded of how the appeal a really great song — no matter how simple — is timeless. As if on cue, the entire, nearly sold-out crowd was on its feet, singing and dancing along as if they were hearing the tune for the first time.
An encore reading of “All Along the Watchtower,” which Mason recorded with Jimi Hendrix, was pointless so late in the set, partly because his version only apes Hendrix’s, but mostly because a third of the audience left after hearing “Feelin’ Alright.”
Kind of ironic that a show that found its artists seemingly giving their minimum effort eventually overstayed its own welcome.
Will Stewart is a free-lance writer for AnnArbor.com.
Comments
Micky
Tue, May 11, 2010 : 9:29 p.m.
First of all, Leon was 68 last month...I have been a fan since my first show in 1972, and have stopped counting the number of times I've seen him. But I can tell you that I saw him in Memphis on May 2nd (and sat for 2 hrs on I-40 on a flooded roadway, just outside Nashville the day before, trying to get there), then saw him last Friday in Cleveland and again on Saturday in Covington. Yes, the set list was the same, but each show was entirely different. And the band and Leon were in sync each night. I don't know Mr. Stewart's age, but wonder if he does things as well as he could 35+ years ago? At 58, I know I can't...
Michael Marcovitz
Sat, May 8, 2010 : 8:42 a.m.
I thought this show was great. True, it was a nostalgia, or "legends" show. At least it was in a relatively small venue and the ticket price was right. People pay a lot more to sit a lot further back to see lesser artists. I believe both artists worked hard to deliver good performances. It is unfortunate the sound for Leon Russell's set was, to be kind, poor. When the band played it sounded like they were competing for sound, rather than contributing to the mix. Way too loud. For what reason? I only enjoyed the segment when the guitar player did his solo delta blues, and Leon did his solo version of his incredible "Song for You". The sound was much better in the second half. Dave Mason has a great band, performed well himself, and seemed to enjoy the occasion. Great vocals and signature guitar riffs. Personally, I wore out all my Dave Mason and Traffic 8-tracks driving around with friends in the 70's, so the nostalgia worked for me. The audience that stuck it out was treated to a memorable show.
Chrysta Cherrie
Fri, May 7, 2010 : 1:58 p.m.
A2Dave, a search engine optimization expert advised us that using numerals makes our stories more search-friendly. However, we're now moving away from that and returning to AP style in our handling of numerals.
Art Marroquin
Fri, May 7, 2010 : 12:17 p.m.
Will didn't hear the music; too bad for Will, everybody's entitled to an off night. But I was there and here's my take. Before getting into it, the terms "perfunctory" and worse,"nostalgia," belittle what these working musicians gave us Thursday night. They worked hard for their money, maybe Leon more than Dave, I'm not sure, but to imply that these guys or their bands mailed it in, as your reviewer does is ridiculous. There was this additional fact, if facts need to shown, that Leon's young guitar player came out into the lobby between sets, to sell CD's and shirts for the band. Not a big shot musician, just a young guy who had just played his ass off, come out to meet and greet and hawk some records. This kid played beautifully, Will Stewart what WERE you listening to?! His solo version of Walking Blues wasn't just a deft, respectful recapitulation of an old standard, he put life into the song. For the rest of the set, he swung in the pocket, that's all. Leon is a musician's musician, he's spent his whole musical life in the pocket and wouldn't have a bandmate who was any different. Historically, I've been a fan of Leon's since his Asylum Choir record (1968?), and I've followed him much more closely than Dave Mason (though I liked Traffic a lot). I came to see Leon, Dave Mason was a really nice bonus. This is true about Leon's set: that old boy and his band rocked hard, especially for a guy that did not appear to move perceptibly while he played. The thing is, Leon's gotten old, like the rest of us. He's always looked old, even when he was young, but now he's 70 and I believe he used a cane to walk off stage at the end of his set. To me, he didn't come across as infirm when he was playing. My beef, if any, was with the sound system, which seemed to over power the MIchigan Theater's acoustics at times, and made a lot of Leon's set "muddy" sounding (for some reason, not so much during Dave's set). But muddy acoustics couldn't drown out Leon's unfailing sense of rhythm and tempo or his musicality. This guy is a musical treasure and has been for a long time. He showed it Thursday night at the Michigan, whether your reviewer saw it or not. (If you've never heard Leon's Wedding Album, check it out, there's never been anything quite like it to my knowledge.) Now, alas, a musical hero gets older and gets disrespected by a jaded reviewer, who may be suffering from ennui, possibly agism. Dave Mason's set was fine, surprisingly familiar to my ears as someone who didn't follow him after he left Traffic. Apparently his music followed me and sounded just fine Thursday night. My sense was that the crowd mostly came to see Dave, who seemed more familiar to them. I wondered if the group think of it was that Dave was the headline act, so they were supposed to like him better. I dunno. But the people at this concert certainly know they heard more than a lame classic rock nostalgia trip from a couple of old pros.
A2Dave
Fri, May 7, 2010 : 11:44 a.m.
Not 1 intelligent observation that 1 would want to read even 1 time, even if 1 had only 1 chance to read 1 critic's take on what was 1 hell of a concert. "of 1 another"??? you must be kidding, right?
revras
Fri, May 7, 2010 : 8:59 a.m.
Will I totally disagree with your assessment of the show. This was a great show from start to finish. Leon sounded good and despite his lack of stage chat had a good connection with the audience. He is a true original. Dave Mason treated the A2 audience to yet another great show, displaying his strong vocals, great guitar chops and outstanding songwriting skills. Will, I am not sure what your expectations are? These two artists have written timeless songs and perform them with their own brand of verve and personality. Contrast this show with the Stephen Stills show of a few months back where Stills couldn't sing, performed lamely and expected us to be happy that he showed up.
recordhound
Fri, May 7, 2010 : 6:41 a.m.
Once again Will Stewart nails it. It's such a rare thing these days to read actual music journalism. We've become conditioned to getting nothing but empty PR jobs and fawning accolades. Nice work!