FARGOMONTHLY.COM — What A 20-Something Learned At The James Taylor Concert

The delight in seeing James Taylor at the Fargodome last night was twofold. One, his smooth voice and catchy songs were backed by a talented all-star band that provided an entertaining show. However, the main delight was from seeing my mom relive her life as he played from his 50 years of musical repertoire.

One of the perks of the job is being able to see many of the bands that come to Fargo. Last night, I was able to treat my loving mother to the Taylor concert. My main memory of Taylor is from the CD player as my mom and I cooked supper when I was a kid. Last night, those memories came crashing back. From the opening song “Wandering,” Taylor kept a steady blend of music and jokes coming.

What struck me as most interesting part of the show was watching the faces of the audience, which was filled with mostly people in their 50s, 60s and 70s, as they were transported back to where they were at in life from when they first heard his songs. My mom sang along and knew every word to most of his songs and you could see the smile grow larger as he performed his megahits like “Fire And Rain.”

The show wasn’t just good for nostalgia reasons. It was a treat for anybody who’s a fan of good musicians. His all-star band alone could have held the interest of everybody at the Fargodome. Consisting of notable musicians like“Blue” Lou Marini of the Blues Brothers and drummer Steve Gadd, they showed off their chops on many of the songs with impressive solos. Taylor ran through hits like Buddy Holly’s “Everyday,” “Going to Carolina,” and “Fire and Rain” in the first set alone.

As the second set came up, Taylor kept performing and telling stories. Perhaps the most musically impressive song, “Steamroller” showed off the band’s chops with its blues rifts and solos. As Taylor went into his encores of “Knock on Wood” and “How Sweet it is,” I looked at the smile on my mom’s face and realized that while we might not be cooking supper together anymore, we still have James Taylor’s music.

source: https://www.fargomonthly.com/entertainment/james-taylor/