Venue:
Liverpool Philharmonic Hall
Date: 17/05/2018
Landmarks like these are becoming more common for our beloved rock stars as Nils Lofgren celebrates 50 years of touring with 15 dates across the UK. As with the 2015 Face the Music tour he is joined by multi-instrumentalist Greg Varlotta in the stunning auditorium that is the Liverpool Philharmonic.
Opening with Wonderland, Nils and Greg cover songs from his time with Grin and his solo records, interspersed with stories of hooking up with Neil Young and David Briggs in the early days to how the song Black Books was used on the Sopranos soundtrack. Most of these stories, as Nils himself admits, are common knowledge to his fans but his laid back and engaging delivery perfectly suited the tempo of the evening. Most interesting was how the piano part in the middle and end of Southern Man, from After the Goldrush, came from Nils and Ralph Molina practicing and Nils adding a polka style to the playing of the part.
Highlights were a stunning rendition of Buffalo Springfield’s Flying On The Ground which Nils thought was the first time he had ever played live and the biggest cheers of the night for Greg Varlotta’s sparks flying tap dance percussion accompaniment to Mud In Your Eye.
At 66 years of age, two hip replacements mean the trampoline and somersaults of his younger days are missing but the voice and sublime guitar licks are all still in place and as the silk scarves trailed in his whirling encore of Shine Silently you could easily see him still doing this in another 10 years.
The audience:
My 22 year old son remarked that he was the youngest there by a long way.
It made me think..
Who from today’s generation of musicians will be doing 50 year celebratory tours?
I saw him in Birmingham on Wednesday he played accoustic,strat,accordian,harp and tap danced!He said he will be back next year with a full band.
That’s good to know @Mak – big Nils fan and saw his last 2 tours but this one seemed to be very similar. So a band tour next year would be great although I assume it means the E Street band will not be reconvened next year.
I saw him in 1977 when he had Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers as support. NL had a corking piano player, and not being aware of the somersaults, I was very surprised and impressed by the sudden full flip NL did during the encore. Better than a box of laser beams. Glad he is still able to make a living and enjoys what he does.
Saw that same tour @Vincent – started my love affair with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
I like Nils, but this is the third tour where he’s done exactly this. Twice was enough so I really do hope he convenes a band next time.