Lyle Lovett and Robert Earl Keen
by Paul T. Mueller–
It could have been, in Lyle Lovett’s words, “Mardi Gras energy” that made his Feb. 12 acoustic show with fellow Texas singer-songwriter Robert Earl Keen so special. Or maybe it was the fact that the two – college buddies, one-time co-writers, occasional collaborators, world-class musicians – were playing a long, relaxed set in a beautiful venue in front of a standing-room-only crowd.
Whatever the reason, the energy was there on Fat Tuesday in the Grand 1894 Opera House in Galveston, Texas. As revelers partied on in the nearby streets, Lovett and Keen, their microphone stands adorned with strings of beads, took turns singing their own songs and a few covers. Playing only guitars – Lovett’s strung with steel, Keen’s with nylon – they contributed riffs and the occasional solo, along with some nice vocal harmonies, to each other’s efforts. Between songs, well-known favorites and seldom-heard gems alike, they amused the audience (and each other) with hilarious tales spanning the arc of their careers, from novice performances in Texas A&M’s Basement coffeehouse to headlining shows all over the world.
One chill-inducing moment came about 90 minutes into the 2½-hour show, when Keen’s performance of “Rollin’ By,” his beautiful elegy to the expansive landscape and dying small towns of West Texas, turned into one of the evening’s few duets. Lovett’s reading of Keen’s evocative lyrics matched his partner’s quiet intensity, and the result was a vivid demonstration of the power of song. The end of the main set brought more of the same, as the two traded verses on their co-written “The Front Porch Song,” and the show-ending “Ain’t No More Cane,” a quieter, but no less powerful, treatment than Lovett’s full-band version on a recent album.
In between, more highlights than can be mentioned here: Keen’s “Merry Christmas from the Family,” which Lovett proclaimed “the best Christmas song ever written”; Lovett’s somber “Family Reserve”; Keen’s powerful “Shades of Gray”; Lovett’s jazzy take on the comically romantic “Her First Mistake,” which earned him enthusiastic applause from his partner; Keen’s sweet road tale “I’m Coming Home”; Lovett’s rendition of the Grateful Dead’s “Friend of the Devil”; Keen’s “It’s the Little Things,” possibly a backhanded salute to the impending Valentine’s Day, and Lovett’s all-out performance of “My Baby Don’t Tolerate.”
Final score: About two dozen songs, a lot of funny stories, and around a thousand happy fans leaving the historic hall to the recorded strains of “Galveston” and “Together Again.” Magic indeed.
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