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| Lukas Nelson @ the Luther Burbank Center (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real topped an eventful week with an out of the box superior performance at Santa Rosa’s Luther Burbank Center on Saturday night. The band’s equipment truck had been stolen from their Seattle hotel on Tuesday and a plea went out over social media. Luckily, it appears the hijackers were not adept at driving in February Washington weather as they got the van stuck in the mud – resulting in the thieves making off with only their soundboard and some pedals. Saturday night, the band was still using a loaner soundboard, but the sold-out audience would never have guessed by the crystal-clear sound and the band’s fiery performance.
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| Lukas Nelson @ the Luther Burbank Center (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Nelson took the stage and announced immediately “We’ve been told that it’s OK to dance here. We gotta’ keep the aisles clear, but everybody can dance.” Throughout the nearly two-hour performance, many in the audience would take advantage of that and celebrate on their feet. Nelson started the show in a soft spotlight with 2020’s “Entirely Different Stars” off their “Naked Garden” album as he leaned heavily into his Telecaster heavily as he gradually brought the full band into the performance until the door was kicked open into full sound and lighting. The show would lean into the most recent album “Sticks and Stones,” starting with the title track taken as the second song of the night. The fun “Fool Me Once” was up next – one of seven songs the band would play Saturday from 2017’s self-titled Lukas Nelson & Promise of The Real.
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| Lukas Nelson @ the Luther Burbank Center (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Nelson took a moment to introduce the band before the tender “Just Outside of Austin” – Cory McCormick on bass, Logan Metz on keyboard/organ/harmonica, drummer Anthony LoGerfo and Tato Melgar on percussion. Metz began “Just Outside of Austin” with a stunning, jazzy piano intro before Nelson took the wheel with acoustic guitar and the band’s soft backing. The tender and soaring song was paired nicely with the defiant and rebellious “Leave ‘Em Behind” off 2021’s incredible A Few Stars Apart album. Nelson began the song with his acoustic guitar before flipping to an electric to deliver a raging, screaming solo as McCormick laid down a thunderous bass line behind.
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| Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real @ the Luther Burbank Center (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Perhaps no song better demonstrates the son of Willie Nelson’s craft and diversity than “Forget About Georgia” off the self-titled album. As his soloing alternated between jazzy, bluesy and 60’s rock and he referenced the late Ray Charles, Nelson delivered classic lines like “So I say Ray, let me forget about Georgia. But a part of me hopes that she’ll never forget about me.” He also elicited a huge reaction from the crowd with the song’s line of “We made love for the first time in a hotel in San Francisco.” McCormick also shone bright with his harmonies with Nelson on the choruses.
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| Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real @ the Luther Burbank Center (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
After delivering a nice version of “Icarus,” Nelson announced, “This is a song about the far east,” before he got the crowd up and dancing as he two-stepped to the mic for a fun version of “Carolina.” The entire band then delivered a hard-driving and “Die Alone” that ended with Nelson and McCormick taking giant leaps in the air.
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| Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real @ the Luther Burbank Center (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Nelson’s Telecaster intro to “All the Pretty Horses” was terrific and contained a tease of the guitar intro of “Shallow” from “A Star is Born” – a film he helped compose much of the music for with Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga. With Gaga having spent much recent time in Marin County and an extra microphone set up on stage, I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who thought maybe…just maybe we might be in for a very magic guest appearance. Despite no appearance from the Queen of the Monsters, “All the Pretty Horses” did not disappoint – particularly when Nelson took a beautiful a cappella moment before the power of Promise of The Real kicked in completely.
Nelson took a solo turn for the next stage of the concert. First on acoustic guitar with a tender cover of his dad’s “Angel Flying Too Close to The Ground” and then a timely and passionate “Turn Off The News (Build a Garden)” where his line of “maybe I will turn off the fu#*ing news” was greeted with the loused roar of the night. Roger Miller’s “King of the Road” served as a fun singalong with the audience clapping before Nelson took to the piano to deliver a surprising and innovative take on David Bowie’s “Is There Life on Mars?”
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| Micah 'Particle Kid' Nelson & Lukas Nelson @ the Luther Burbank Center (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Following his solo turn, he brought the band back on and then announced, “we have a very special guest, my brother Micah Nelson.” The artist known as “Particle Kid” then joined the full band on stage for a crushing, rocking version of his “Everything Is Bulls#*t” that nearly tore the roof off the place and drew a huge cheer from the crowd. From there, Nelson & POTR hit the gas pedal hard for the last seven songs of the evening. A rollicking, fun version of “Every Time I Drink” had the crowd up and dancing. “Wrong House” – a great song about stumbling home after a long night of drinking - only to realize a case of mistaken address. Yet another classic Nelson lyric adds to the story with “Wrong house. Wrong home. May I kindly use the phone?”
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| Lukas Nelson @ the Luther Burbank Center (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
“Ladder of Love” was wild and chaotic with a bit of the intoxicating disorientation of Dead classics like “Cumberland Blues.” In Dead fashion, the band went straight from that song into Willie Nelson’s “Blood Mary Morning” with the song’s rolling ending resulting in the audience up front all with their arms up like they were hailing a fine Sunday sermon. The night had continued to gain momentum throughout with even the acoustic portion providing energy and fuel to the performance and “Find Yourself” took on a soul revue vibe with Nelson leading singalongs to wrap up the main set. The band returned shortly to another dramatic organ intro from Metz to lead into “Set Me down on a Cloud” with Nelson taking a blistering solo before the band closed the night with a powerful “Something Real” – the title track off their 2016 album.
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| Madeline Hawthorne @ the Luther Burbank Center (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Nelson & POTR weren’t the only ones to drive the Santa Rosa audience to their feet Saturday. Bozeman, Montana’s Madeline Hawthorne was dazzling with an energetic three-piece set reminiscent of the fun, talented honky tonk bands of Austin, Texas. Hawthorne has “it” – that magic blend of voice, personality and look that will likely take her far in the business and the audience could sense it (and buzzed about it during intermission). She was supported by the terrific guitar work from Taylor Sims whose telecaster and reverb blended the Texas sound with the some of the great surf guitar vibes. Bassist Ace Engfer delivered all the rhythm needed for the drum-less trio in the tradition of Elvis Presley’s “That’s All Right.”
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| Madeline Hawthorne & Lukas Nelson @ the Luther Burbank Center (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Most of their songs came from Hawthorne’s 2021 debut album Boots – a great listen that gives a glimpse of the energy that she brings to a live performance. Lukas Nelson joined Hawthorne for a terrific version of “High Sierra” – a song that originated with super-trio Linda Ronstadt, Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris. Hawthorne then played two new songs “Ghost” and “Exit” that both impressed. “We need more young women in the music industry,” Hawthorne told the audience in introducing “Boots”. “Even if you don’t know exactly what you’re doing, put two feet in and try.” Judging by the audience’s reaction and some of the inspired looks on the faces of young women in attendance, her words hit home with some future performers.
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