Well, that "rehearsal" and her ill feelings mattered not a whit. Yeh, that senior citizen was Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Raitt had 2/3rds speed still out performs many other performers at full strength, even it they're juiced, surrounded by dancers on exploding stages and lip syncing
With a band, some of whom have been with her for 25 years, who understands Raitt's every nuance and could help out in those brief moments when she struggled, you really had to pay attention to find any gaps that were in the music due to her, as she called, froggy throat. At one point she commented "Good thing I sing the blues"
Yes. A very very good thing
There is something special about live music. The things that can't be duplicated in a recording session, those unexpected moments
Last year, when we saw Basia Bulat, it was at the end of the concert when Basia, stepped away from the mic, stepped to the edge of the stage at Massey Hall and unmiced, all alone with her tiny ukulele, she sang out into the theatre and it literally made my spine tingle
Last night, it was the way Bonnie dealt with the limitations of her bad throat. No quit in his woman, that's a fact. Decades of slogging it out in the music business, sometimes being acknowledged by the masses, usually working in her own idiom, beloved but largely unrecognized. She played songs that she had not played live in over 30 years, songs that she had recorded but had fallen off the set list. Not many people have those kinds of resources upon which to draw
One of the highlights of a Bonnie Raitt concert, for me one of the highlights of any live performance, is when she sing John Prine's Angel From Montgomery. Her live performance of this song is one of those reasons why you go see a concert. Her live version is far superior to any version of it she ever recorded. It is a seminal moment. Like when KD Lang sings Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah. I had to admit that last night I was a bit concerned
Yeh, sometimes I ain't so bright
There were a couple of reasons why Bonnie was able to deliver this song in a way that literally put a lump in my throat. First was her understanding of the song. She has been singing this song for a long long time. It is more than a song on a list that people want to hear. It means something to her, that is obvious. She knows what the song is, she knows what the song means. Her technical expertise allowed her to skirt around the tightness in her throat, still being able to achieve some beautiful harmonies with her band mates. But it was her emotional understanding of the song, and her understanding of her audience's emotions, that allowed her to give this song all the nuance and power you could possibly want
Understanding her music and understanding her audience is another important factor that Bonnie brings to a live show. Another high moment in her set is always I Can't Make You Love Me, not just one of her biggest commercial successes, but a song into which the singer puts everything. I've seen her have to take a moment after doing the song, letting her band rock out, to pull herself back together
It's a tough song for her to sing, both technically and emotionally but as she said "This song is important to me and I know it's important to you" and the road warrior understands why she was on that stage, to give us what we want
And she gave it us. The only song to which she did not accompany herself, just sitting on her stool (her comment about "us old broads need to sit down now and then" reminded me of when BB King would take a stool "we're not sitting down because we're tired, you understand") She sat there, for once her hands absent of a guitar and just poured her vocal chords and her spirit into this torch song
Yeh, that's why we watch live music
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