Jim's Concert Corner...

Last weekend we ventured out to the Melon Arena to catch the James Taylor and Carole King concert. We have seen James Taylor many times before, and he's always money in the bank, performance-wise. However, I had seen him on several TV appearances lateley, and he wasn't quite up to snuff (gasp!), so I wasn't sure what to expect this time around. Plus, I can't say that I'm a Carole King fan, so I wasn't anticipating this JT concert as much as previous shows.

Titled the Troubadour Reunion Tour, the show is a reuniting of the two singer/songwriter legends. The idea for the tour was conceived after a series of six performances Taylor and King gave at the Troubadour in Los Angeles in 2007 to celebrate the famous venue's 50th Anniversary. The shows sold out immediately, and got rave reviews from fans and critics. For the new tour, they were also joined on stage by their original bandmates guitarist Danny "Kootch" Kortchmar, drummer Russ Kunkel and bassist Lee Sklar, famous in their own right as "The Section."

Here's an additional informative snippet that I found online ..."King and Taylor's historic performance together at the Troubadour in November 1970 heralded King's transition to solo stage performer, after penning 22 Top 40 hits for artists ranging from Aretha Franklin's "(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman" to the Monkees' "Pleasant Valley Sunday", while Taylor was supporting his self-titled Apple Records release featuring classics such as "Carolina In My Mind" and "Something In The Way She Moves."

Now that you're all caught up, let's talk about the actual concert. The show was in the round (a constantly revolving stage gave everyone a good view) and both King and Taylor were on stage at all times, alternating their hits and joining each other on most songs. Like I said, I wasn't really looking forward to seeing Carole King, but wow — has she written a lot of hit songs! Google a list of her tunes sometime, and you will be amazed at how many, and how varied a list that it is. And let me just say this — I hope that at age 68 that I will be as energetic and enthusiastic about what I do as this woman. She was all over the place, jumping and running around the stage. It seemed to be contagious — even JT was more lively than I've ever seen him.

Both performers really seemed to be enjoying this tour, and it showed in their performances. It must be a real kick for them to be doing something like this 40 years after the first time around. King sounded great, and much to my relief, Taylor was his pitch-perfect self. He even played a few of his songs that I had never heard before.

Since this was the last event to ever be held at the Melon Arena, the whole show was given an extra bittersweet feel. It made for a great night and a wonderful concert experience. If you a fan of one or both of these artists, try to catch them in another city, or after the tour ends, pick up a copy of the DVD that was being filmed at the show.