I had hoped to post about the Lyle Lovett concert last night, when it was fresh, but I was completely exhausted. I hadn't slept well the night before. Then traffic was awful getting to work, work was awful, and traffic was awful getting home. At work, we got a new ticket system put in, which is fine when it works, but it was having all sorts of problems. No worries, though, the other system is still installed, so we can just use that, right? Unfortunately, around the same time, that system went absolutely apeshit, printing out all sorts of bizarre tickets and receipts while the cash drawer just kept opening over and over again, while the screen displayed all sorts of gobbledygook. The computer support guy said that the director's computer started shooting sparks at the same time, so apparently some sort of evil came to visit the aquarium yesterday. In any event, I was already exhausted before I even left for the concert. But once I got down to the bay, I was pretty excited, and forgot about being tired.

Around 7:45, Lyle's band took the stage, and began playing. A few moments later, Lyle himself skulked out on stage in an ill-fitting black suit, and began to sing "Mack the Knife." As the sun was setting and the fog was rolling in, and an amber spotlight illuminated Lyle, his brooding, soulful rendition, that was almost unrecognizable to someone mostly familiar with Bobby Darrin's version, was worth the price of admission alone. I had been reluctant to buy Smile, choosing instead to get more of his older stuff, but having heard "Mack the Knife" and the other songs he played off the album, I'll be picking up Smile today. The band played a bit after that, and then Lyle sang, I believe, "Blue Skies," and I began to wonder if Lyle Lovett had turned into Harry Connick, Jr. But Lyle showed he could reinvent himself as many times in one concert as he has over his recording career. He played his country hits, like "If I had a Boat" and "She's No Lady," standards like "Straighten Up and Fly Right" (I've been in love with this song since hearing Rosemary Clooney's version...Lyle commented on it a bit before playing it, to paraphrase: "This song never made any sense to me, but I try to follow its advice. I think there were some happy people when they wrote this") and "Summer Wind," and gospel and R&B influenced works like "Church" (one of my favorites) and "Here I Am."

Lyle Lovett and his Large Band played for two hours or so, and I'm sure I can't even begin to recount what all he played. It was a great show, though. And Lyle highlighted his band and backup singers well. I can't remember the names of the musicians, sadly, but they were all supberb. A chellist who looked like a svelt Randy Newman, and in fact sang Randy's part when Lyle performed "You Got a Friend in Me," was especially impressive during second encore, when his chello solo brought down the house. All the musicians shined, but it was Lyle's backup singers that deserve the most praise. I missed some of the names, but Sweet Pea Atkinson I recognized, and I was especially impressed by Francine Reed. She brought the audience to its feet more times that Lyle. I'd appreciated her work on Joshua Judges Ruth especially, but had never really given it all that much thought before last night. Her rendition of Nina Simone's "Sugar in my Bowl" was probably her best moment of the night, but picking one is hard. The All Music Guide notes that "her amphitheater performances with Lovett must have surely had an effect on sales of both of her records," which is the understatement of the year; I don't know how you could see this concert and not love her.

The concert got out around 10:30, and I headed home, exhausted. Awesome show, well worth Humphrey's exorbitant cost ($75 to be packed in shoulder-to-shoulder like sardines). Lyle Lovett is just so cool.