It was a rainy night in Scottsdale Arizona, but we were all at Talking Stick Resort to see the iconic singer/songwriter/story-teller, Kris Kristofferson. As I was waiting for my photo pass, the ticket ladies told me it was a sold out show with only a few standing room tickets left. Normally I do not cover country music, but for me, Kris is more of a story teller/song writer similar to Joan Baez and Steve Stills. Kris came on stage with just an acoustic guitar. He started the show with Shipwrecked in the Eighties and Darby’s Castle. When he did Me and Bobby McGee, all I could think of was Janis Joplin’s classic cover of the song. During Best of All Possible Worlds when he sang, “And I wound up in jail to spend the night – And dream of all the wine and lonely girls in this best of all possible worlds” the audience laughed. As he was about to finish the song, Kris just stopped, saying he forgot the exit he planned for the song. Over the past years, Kris has been having memory loss issues, but lately he has been getting better and tonight he did an amazing job on stage. This was the only real problem during the show.
I thought it was very touching how a large number of couples started hugging each other during I’d Rather Be Sorry. The lyrics, “If I’m right or I’m wrong loving you, But I’d rather be sorry for something I’ve done, Than for something that I didn’t do“, seemed to touch everyone in the audience. This is a sign of a good song writer when their music really touches people. Throughout the show, Kris got a number of major applauses. During a couple of the songs, people would even shout out especially when he talked about all of the lonely women.
The show overall was very good. After the show I heard a number of people wish that there would have been better lighting. The thing the artists must remember is that the audience comes to shows to “SEE” them. Also, a number of people, myself included, wished that Kris would have talked a little about his songs. Kris is such a great story teller and song writer and he should really express this to the audience.
Review and photos by Fred Kuhlman
Promoter: Danny Zelisko Presents
Venue: Talking Stick Resort Showroom
Setlist:
- Shipwrecked in the Eighties
- Darby’s Castle
- Me and Bobby McGee
- Here Comes That Rainbow Again
- Best of All Possible Worlds
- Help Me Make It Through the Night
- Casey’s Last Ride
- Nobody Wins
- Feeling Mortal
- From Here to Forever
- Loving Her Was Easier (Than Anything I’ll Ever Do Again)
- Duvalier’s Dream
- I’d Rather Be Sorry
- They Killed Him
- Jody and the Kid
- The Pilgrim, Chapter 33
- Jesus Was a Capricorn
- To Beat the Devil
- Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down
- The Silver Tongued Devil and I
- For the Good Times
- A Moment of Forever
- Why Me
