Concert Review: James Taylor and Bonnie Raitt at the Xcel Energy Center

Poster for James Taylor and Bonnie Raitt.

On Friday night James Taylor and Bonnie Raitt brought their songs to the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul in front of a supportive and enthusiastic audience. The show was Raitt’s first since undergoing emergency surgery at the end of April. She looked and sounded good, and she played some awesome guitar during her hour-long set. 

Taylor came out onstage to introduce Raitt, which was a nice gesture. It was clear to see throughout the evening what a close bond the two musicians have. I’m not that familiar with Bonnie Raitt’s music, but I enjoyed hearing her in person, and she puts on a very good show. Raitt’s songs were mainly the blues-rock that she’s most famous for, and her killer band did a great job backing her up. I was excited to learn that Ricky Fataar played the drums in Raitt’s band. To me, Fataar will always be the silent Stig O’Hara from Eric Idle and Neil Innes’ Beatles parody The Rutles. Cool fact: Fataar also played drums for the Beach Boys in the early 1970’s.

I can’t remember the first time I heard of James Taylor. Since we share a last name, I feel like I’ve always known who he was, simply because he was one of the most famous people with my last name. I didn’t listen to his music until I was an adult, but I really enjoy his songs. As I wrote in my review of Paul Simon’s concert, there’s something about Simon and Taylor’s voices that is warm and comforting. James Taylor always feels like autumn to me—he balances the excitement of summer with the wistful melancholy of winter. 

My wife and I saw James Taylor sing “America the Beautiful” at Obama’s second inauguration, but I hadn’t seen him in concert before. Taylor is an engaging performer with a low-key charisma who draws you into his songs and stories. In the video montage that preceded Taylor taking the stage, he said in an interview, “When I write songs I don’t present a version of myself, I’m presenting myself.” I thought that was an astute comment about his musical style. 

Taylor’s set list drew heavily from his classic 1970’s albums, and included just about all of his best-known songs. Highlights included a smoking version of Taylor’s blues parody “Steamroller,” which he said “takes longer to perform than it did to write.” Taylor opened with “Carolina in My Mind,” one of his classic songs, and a beautiful evocation of home. 

The band backing Taylor did a superb job of making his melodies come alive, and Taylor is an inventive enough singer that he’s able to vary his phrasing without making the songs sound totally different from the studio versions. Taylor’s voice has also held up amazingly well over the years. At 70, he doesn’t seem to have lost any of his top range, and his voice still has the same high tenor sweetness that it did back in the 1970’s. 

Taylor sang several songs accompanied by his backup singers, and it was lovely to hear them harmonize together. One of the highlights was “Shed a Little Light,” a lovely gospel-inflected song from Taylor’s 1991 album, New Moon Shine. Taylor also performed excellent versions of “Mexico,” “Up on the Roof,” and “Shower the People,” three of my favorites from his catalogue.

The encore was superb, as Bonnie Raitt came back out to join Taylor and the band for a cover of Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode.” Taylor then sang a lovely version of “You’ve Got a Friend,” and serenaded Raitt with “You Can Close Your Eyes.” It was a fun evening with one of great singer-songwriters.