Concert review: Outlaw Music Festival

An unforgettable show with Southern Avenue, John Mellencamp, Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson

On my mission to see the remaining all-time greats, I was able to mark two of the best songwriters in American history off the list in one night.

The Outlaw Music Festival was almost too good to be true — John Mellencamp, Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson. For under $60. And my mom, who played a large role in me knowing who those men were, came with!

While I consider Dylan and Nelson among my favorites, I was actually a Mellencamp fan first. I got hooked on “Pink Houses,” and remember listening at 9 years old to Uh-Huh and then also into my tweens being into Scarecrow and Lonesome Jubilee, then backtracking as I got older and being into American Fool. From there, I kind of lost him.

I was 16 or 17 when I first started appreciating Dylan and getting into “Like a Rolling Stone” and the other hits. I got Highway 61 Revisited on cassette, then later had Greatest Hits Vol. II and Vol. III on CD in college. But it wasn’t until after college that I really began to appreciate Dylan more and listened to all his albums, particularly loving Blood on the Tracks, Planet Waves and The Basement Tapes. I went through a period where I considered him my all-time favorite. And though he’s dropped a couple notches, I’ve never stopped listening to Dylan and consider him to be in the conversation of my favorite musicians.

If you grew up in the 80s, Willie Nelson was just kind of part of the furniture. I knew those songs without even trying. But I never really considered myself a fan until later in college. I’ve never dug too deep into Willie’s catalog, but … he’s been making music for more than 60 years, and I’ve heard a lot of it. And, with Willie, what’s not to love? I’m sure he had enemies, but at 91 he’s outlived most of them.

Here’s some thoughts on each performance:

Southern Avenue

I hadn’t listened to Southern Avenue much prior to the show, but was tipped off from a friend who saw the show the night before in Tinley Park that they were really good. The band is made up of married couple Tierinii Jackson (lead singer) and Ori Naftaly (guitarist). They’re joined by Jackson’s sisters Tikyra (drums and harmonies) and Ava (harmonies and multiple instruments), along with funky keyboard player Jeremy Powell.

I have to think Southern Avenue was at least somewhat influential on Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter. But I also wouldn’t call Southern Avenue country — more like gospel-inspired blues and soul. They were among the best openers I’ve seen this year and would make a point to see them if they come back to the Decatur Triangle.

John Mellencamp

I was a little nervous about how this was going to go since Mellencamp in April had an incident in Toledo, Ohio, where he was heckled by a fan and walked off stage before eventually returning.

Mellencamp’s voice was always gravelly, but it seems smoking has added an extra layer. Still, he sounded strong at age 72 and his band remains high quality.

But then it happened. He stopped suddenly in the middle of “Jack & Diane,” but a man in the crowd kept singing, though most of us in the crowd could barely hear him.

“You sound better than I do,” Mellencamp joked, then told a story about writing “Jack & Diane” in which he apologized for the upcoming second verse (Suckin’ on chili dogs …) and said he wished it was better. Then, when the chorus came back around, he quieted everyone and said he wanted just the guy in the audience from earlier to sing. When the band started up, the whole crowd sang along, too, and Mellencamp stopped and said, “No, no, I want just the guy from earlier ,” then started the song up with the only the lone man in the crowd singing. After, Mellencamp said, “Thank you, thank you, that was beautiful … actually, it sucked, but thanks for trying anyway.”

What was very clear is that Mellencamp does not like “Jack & Diane” and resents the expectation that he has to still perform it because it’s what’s expected.

Bob Dylan

Maybe Mellencamp should adopt more of the Dylan attitude. Dylan, 83, does the songs HE wants to do, in the way he wants to do them. His set at the Outlaw Music Festival is MUCH more friendly to the casual fan in terms of recognizable songs than the shows he’d been performing in recent years, which featured mostly songs from his 2020 album Rough and Rowdy Ways. I’m familiar enough with his catalog that I appreciated his nod to multiple eras of his career, but I’d say my mom knew around half the songs.

This was my first time seeing Dylan, but I’ve seen his live performances and read enough reviews to know he performs his songs significantly different than he does on the original recordings. He seems to be singing them in a particular style, though I don’t really know what that style is.

It was more jarring that I expected. He came out strong with “Rainy Day Women #12 and 35.” But many of Dylan’s songs are more like spoken word performances, and this was especially true live. Particularly for the first half of Dylan’s set, the audience was as talkative as I’ve ever seen at a show — way too much talking. I think I would enjoy Dylan’s set much more at a quieter, more intimate venue.

Things picked up when Dylan said the only words he’d say outside a song all night, “We’re going to bring some of Willie’s boys out. Mickey?”

Out came harmonica player Mickey Raphael (more on him shortly), and though Dylan did a good job playing harmonica, Raphael brought some much-needed life to Dylan’s set. They played “Simple Twist of Fate” and, the highlight of the set and finale, “Ballad of a Thin Man.”

Willie Nelson

I wasn't sure what to expect. I’d read that his sons, Lukas and Micah, had carried him on the first leg, which began with Willie falling ill and missing the first few shows.

But his sons aren’t with him now that they’re on the second leg. He was accompanied instead by longtime guitarist Jody Payne’s son Waylon Payne, and Willie played the whole show, leading most of the songs or accompanying Payne on backup when he didn’t. Payne was outstanding at supporting Willie with his voice and guitar without ever overshadowing him. Every few songs, Willie would say, “OK, Waylon, do a song,” then Willie would play the same role for Payne that Payne was playing for him.

The amazing thing was, Nelson, at age 91, seemed to get stronger as the show went on. His voice isn’t where it was 20 years ago, but he went from sounding a little hoarse on the first couple songs to belting out lines on “Angels Flying Too Close to the Ground" and “You Were Always On My Mind.” His guitar playing, in particular, was breathtaking — especially considering his age and that his guitar, Trigger, looks even older than Willie.

In fact, Willie was basically the lead guitarist, though the aforementioned Raphael did a lot of heavy lifting. You don’t realize how key he is to Willie’s sound and how unique his tone is until you see him live.

Nelson more than exceeded my expectations and ended up being my favorite performer of the evening. This isn’t some money grab with the family shoving him out there to keep the cash rolling in. He belongs on that stage. It’s where he wants to be. And it was a thrill to get to see him.

Random thoughts

• When you have three artists 70 and above, you’re going to get some songs about getting older and impending death. Mellencamp has a touching song, “Longest Days,” with the lyric his grandma said while on her deathbed — “Life is short even in its longest days.” As much as Mellencamp didn’t like playing “Jack & Diane,” he loved telling the story about his grandma and performing that particularly poignant song. Willie takes a more lighthearted approach with “Roll Me Up” (“Roll me up and smoke me when I die.”). And, there was, “Still Not Dead,” with the lyrics: “I woke up still not dead again today. The internet said I had passed away. If I died I wasn't dead to stay. And I woke up still not dead again today.”

• After about the first 30 seconds of Southern Avenue when you couldn’t hear them at all, a speaker kicked in and the sound was outstanding all night. The lighting on the stage could have been better, particularly for Dylan. And while there were closeups of the musicians on the video screen during Southern Avenue and Willie Nelson, during Mellencamp and Dylan it was a static wide angle of the entire band — no closeups of Mellencamp or Dylan.

• Outdoor amphitheaters seem to be the worst venues when it comes to talking.

• My mom is 70. Willie Nelson was already a professional traveling musician and married man by the time she was born in 1954.

• Since 2016, I’ve seen Steely Dan, Carlos Santana, Jackson Browne, Little Feat, the Rolling Stones, John Fogerty, Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson. Add in the two Allman Brothers shows I saw in the ‘90s and that’s a pretty solid list of some of the all-time greats I’m proud to say I’ve seen. I’d really love to add Neil Young to that list before he hangs it up. Paul McCartney, Stevie Nicks, Eric Clapton and even that asshole Don Henley would also be nice, but I have my limits price-wise. And, there are a lot of really great, lesser known bands closer to their primes whose tickets are in my price range, so it’s a delicate balance.

• Here are links to the setlists that night from Mellencamp, Dylan and Nelson.