{"id":887,"date":"2011-12-21T20:00:15","date_gmt":"2011-12-21T20:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/216.71.127.204\/wordpress\/?p=887"},"modified":"2015-10-13T18:52:15","modified_gmt":"2015-10-13T18:52:15","slug":"lyle-lovett-verizon-theater-houston-tx","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/houstonmusicreview.com\/wordpress\/2011\/12\/21\/lyle-lovett-verizon-theater-houston-tx\/","title":{"rendered":"Lyle Lovett – Verizon Theater – Houston, TX"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n
Written by Michael Pittman <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Dec 21, 2011 at 08:00 PM<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Image\"I\u2019ll go on record as saying Lyle Lovett is as good an ambassador for The Great Republic of Texas as there ever has been and probably ever will be. So it was an extra special early Christmas for the 2700 strong near-sellout crowd at the Verizon Theater when Lyle Lovett & His Acoustic Group took the stage this Wednesday night.<\/p>\n

With no opening act, Lyle transfixed the audience for more than 2 \u00bd hours with a sort of tour de force of songs spanning from his early days until now and the release of his Christmas EP. A true artist can find inspiration just about anywhere, but it takes an artist of Lyle\u2019s genius to make a trip to the grocery store into a work of art with \u201cThe Girl With the Holiday Smile\u201d. That song, as well as \u201cBaby it\u2019s Cold Outside\u201d from the new EP served up as good a holiday harmony as you\u2019ll find anywhere and I for one felt the Christmas spirit in each verse! Hehe..where\u2019s that store??<\/p>\n

The Acoustic Group is essentially the core members of the Large Band and at the very core of the Large Band are Lyle with John Hagen on cello and James Gilmer on percussion who have played together since way back to 1976.\u00a0 Long time member and one of my favorite musicians Viktor Krauss held down the double bass. The one and only Russ Kunkle on drums was there. The two guys standing either side of Lovett were Luke Bulla on fiddle and\u00a0Keith Sewell on mandolin\/guitar. Lovett never fails to bring us some of the most talented players around and these two were no exception as they raced each other to see who would emerge as King of the Riffs this evening. Those two were absolutely on fire.<\/p>\n

Besides the music and the songwriting, all of which were superb, there is an element I always look for when I see any musical event live. I watch the band members to see how well they interact and cue off of each other and this band is a masterful, brilliantly executed example of how to lay a rhythm in just the right spot or maybe drop that one special note in just the right place. There\u2019s a dimension that goes beyond the dynamic ebb and flow of a song, it\u2019s the intangible that puts the music over the top and makes us remember the music long after the show is over. In photography, as in most visual arts there is a compositional style called \u201cnegative space\u201d. We\u2019ve all seen it and in music you can think of it as the notes that DON\u2019T get played rather than the ones that do. When a group of musicians can work the negative space as well as this band does, and put that together with stunning songwriting and an unassuming personality you\u2019ve got a rare thing indeed. Hats off to this band and everyone in it.<\/p>\n

\"Image\"I\u2019ll give you what I remember of the song list later, but right now I\u2019d like to highlight \u201cNorth Dakota\u201d which is a song Lyle co-wrote with Willis Alan Ramsey and I can\u2019t finish this article without a mention of how much Texas misses Willis! Who knows, maybe if we all hold our mouths just right we can convince Lyle and Willis to come do a song swap at The Crighton Theatre here in Conroe. Now that would be a show\u2026<\/p>\n

Song List:<\/p>\n

Intro
\nHere I Am
\nI\u2019ve Been to Memphis
\nCowboy Man
\nPrivate Conversation
\nWell Alright (Buddy Holly)
\nI Will Rise Up
\nMy Baby Don\u2019t Tolerate
\nShe\u2019s Already Made Up Her Mind
\nIf I Were the Man You Wanted
\nThis Old Porch
\nKeep It in Your Pantry
\nI\u2019ll Come Knocking
\nMore Pretty Girls Than One
\nThe Girl With the Holiday Smile
\nIf I Had a Pony
\nShe\u2019s No Lady
\nNorth Dakota
\nWhite Freightliner Blues (Townes Van Zandt)
\n—–
\nThat\u2019s Right (You\u2019re Not From Texas)
\nYou Can\u2019t Resist It<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Written by Michael Pittman Dec 21, 2011 at 08:00 PM I\u2019ll go on record as saying Lyle Lovett is as good an ambassador for The Great Republic of Texas as there ever has been and probably ever will be. So it was an extra special early Christmas for the 2700 strong near-sellout crowd at the… <\/p>\n

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