Show Review - Willie Nelson's Outlaw Festival 9/22/23 Clarkston, MI
Willie Nelson’s Outlaw Music Festival hit the beautiful Pine Knob Music Theatre just outside of Detroit on Friday night for a five-hour affair of great vibes and even better music.
The interesting thing about a show like this with four acts is that most of the audience didn’t attend the earlier sets, opting just to show up for Wolf Bros. and Willie himself – which resulted in a weirdly intimate feel for the first two.
Waylon Payne began the night with a shorter solo acoustic set, letting the late afternoon sun filter into the venue as he set the mood for what was to come.
The String Cheese Incident followed him and the energy immediately went way up. While I have heard lots of chatter about this band around the scene for years, this was my first time seeing them live (though I have seen keyboardist Kyle Hollingsworth and percussionist Jason Hann as part of one-off collaborations). Celebrating their 30th anniversary at the end of this year, SCI brought a playful and bright essence with their music, letting us dance and get loose as the sun set.
Multi-instrumentalist Michael Kang really impressed me, switching seamlessly between electric guitar and violin throughout their set. While some of their songs leaned a bit too heavily into bluegrass territory for my taste, I thoroughly enjoyed the music they produced and the clear joy on the faces of all the band members – a concert experience is always enhanced when you can see the musicians having as much fun as you are!
My most anticipated set of the night came next with Bob Weir & Wolf Bros – a unique project I have been hoping to catch live for a couple of years now. Originally formed as a trio with the Grateful Dead rhythm guitarist, drummer Jay Lane, and bassist Don Was, the lineup was expanded during the pandemic with keyboardist Jeff Chimenti, pedal steel guitarist Barry Sless, and a horn/string section dubbed “The Wolfpack.”
Unlike Dead and Company, which offered an experience similar to the Dead and could be viewed by some as a “nostalgia act” of sorts, Weir’s creativity and leadership are perfectly suited to this stripped-down setting. Tempos that may have felt languid or too slow in an arena-rock show worked so well as the musicians let the incredible songs breathe.
The set began with an unfinished “Playing in the Band,”where saxophonist Sheldon Brown led the improv with a dazzling solo. The jam transitioned smoothly next into “Ramble On Rose” and then “Mama Tried,” letting Weir showcase his cowboy side, fitting with the Outlaw theme.
There was only one thing I was hoping to hear from Wolf Bros at this show – “Weather Report Suite.” Only performed by the Dead in 1973 and 1974, plus being an incredibly rarity even among modern-era side projects, the “Prelude” and “Part I” of the suite has made a resurgence in this expanded lineup over the past few years.
Hearing the relaxed song in the late-summer air was such a treat, and the composition’s augmentation by the strings and horns was absolutely phenomenal. Chimenti offered some spellbinding piano work during the ensuing “Let It Grow” as the improv developed, infusing Lane’s steady beat with jazzy elements as he is wont to do. The horns took some turns with solos while the rhythm section continued to push ahead.
Next up was a standalone “Scarlet Begonias,” giving the band another opportunity to dive into improvisational waters with great accents from the horns throughout the ten-minute rendition. Eschewing the standard pairing with “Fire on the Mountain,” Wolf Bros. instead offered up a psychedelic rendition of “Tomorrow Never Knows,” a staple in Weir projects.
Fluttering flute ducked and weaved around the spacey tones created by the other instruments while Lane kept the distinctive tom-based groove together. Chimenti’s Vintage Vibe electric piano textures were perfect within the track before it bled seamlessly into a “Wharf Rat” landing pad.
As I mentioned earlier, slow tempos were perfectly complementary to the Wolf Bros sound, and Weir sung the Garcia ballad with great emotion and fervor before closing out the set with an energetic cover of “Around And Around.”
It was going to be hard to top that, but 90-year-old Willie Nelson was more than up to the task as he took the stage for his headlining set. It blew me away at Summer Camp Festival in May and it blew me away last night – to be so dextrous on the guitar and full of light in voice at that age is truly remarkable, and I count myself very lucky to have seen him perform twice this year.
Nelson opened his set with “Whiskey River” and it immediately felt like every person in the venue was tuned directly in to him. Accompanied by a stripped-down band, it felt like we were all in a warmly-lit living room (a 15,000-capacity living room) being serenaded by a musical legend. His joy was so clear as he egged on singalongs from the crowd during “On The Road Again” and each of his gestures to the other bandmates was so full of joy and gratitude that I felt honoured to be there.
While Weir has sat in with Nelson on a handful of songs throughout the tour, Pine Knob was the first time he joined the legendary musician for the entirety of the set. It was clear that the two musicians share a bond with each other after performing for so long and it was great to see Weir himself exude a feeling of joy to be playing guitar in that setting.
While the Outlaw Festival tour is drawing to a close in October after a run through the south, I hope that this won’t be the last time I have the opportunity to see a Willie Nelson concert – because as with any band, there is a truly unique connection between an attentive and caring audience and the artist on stage.