Review and photos by Fred Kuhlman
Promoter: Danny Zelisko Presents
Venue: Celebrity Theatre
Date: Saturday, October 27th, 2018
Tour: Fare Thee Well… Tour 2018
I remember hearing Joan Baez in the mid-60s along with fellow folk music icon Bob Dylan. Probably my best memory of Joan when she sang at Woodstock. Being a child of the sixties, I also remember Joan as an activist for civil rights walking with Martin Luther King, Jr. and protesting the Vietnam War.
Joan Baez has had over a 50+ year musical career creating amazing albums including her first self-titled album, Joan Baez, then Diamond & Rust and her latest masterpiece Whistle Down The Wind. In 2015, the Library of Congress selected Baez’s debut album to be preserved in the National Recording Registry.
Joan’s current tour features a majority of songs from her latest album, Whistle Down The Wind. Joan is currently touring with Dirk Powell on a verity of instruments including banjo, fiddle, bass acoustic guitar, mandolin and piano. She also has her son, Gabriel Harris on percussion and Grace Stumberg provided backing vocals.
Joan started the show with her doing a solo acoustic guitar set of 3 songs. Being a good friend of Bob Dylan, she covered a number of his songs including the opening song, Don’t Think Twice. During the middle of the show, Joan read a statement calling for unity and compassion in these times, afterwards she got a standing ovation. Throughout the show, Joan told us the history or story behind a number of the songs so we got a better understanding. The one that stood out most for me was when Joan told us about how she came up with President Sang Amazing Grace after she saw President Obama’s tearful eulogy at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church honoring the victims of the 2015 Charleston church shooting.
Joan Baez is one of those great forces of nature. An amazing singer and songwriter and a champion of social justice. Another great moment of the show was when she had her band and crew come out on stage after the main set and as Jimi Hendrix’s version of Star-Spangled Banner played, they all bowed first and then took a knee. At first, I thought we would be a bunch of boos, but I was happily surprised to hear the crowd clapping and cheering.
Photos © Fred Kuhlman 2018, All Rights Reserved
Joan Baez Setlist: (Album/Cover)
Don’t Think Twice (Bob Dylan Cover)
There But For Fortune (Joan Baez/5)
Honest Lullaby (Honest Lullaby)
Whistle Down The Wind (Whistle Down The Wind)
Silver Blade (Whistle Down The Wind)
(It’s All Over Now) Baby Blue (Bob Dylan Cover)
Deportee (Blessed Are…)
Amazing Grace (Live at Forest Hill, NYC ’63)
Diamonds & Rust (Diamonds & Rust)
Me And Bobby McGee (Kris Kristofferson/Fred Foster cover)
Hello In There (Diamonds & Rust)
Another World (Whistle Down The Wind)
Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall (Bob Dylan Cover)
President Sang Amazing Grace (Whistle Down The Wind)
Joe Hill (One Day at a Time)
House of the Rising Sun (Joan Baez)
Darlin’ Corey (Pete Seeger cover)
Gracias a la Vida (Gracias a la Vida/Violeta Parra cover)
