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JAMES TAYLOR
@ Adelaide Entertainment Centre,
Adelaide
19th April 2024
(Live Review)

Review by Colin Reid

Photos by Michael Selge

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James Taylor / Photo – Michael Selge

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The large room at The AEC has been turned into an all seated affair for the visit of multi grammy award winning singer songwriter and guitarist James Taylor and there is barely a spare seat to be found in the room such is his crowd pulling power.

There will be no support act tonight. Despite having just turned 76 years of age James and the band will be playing two full sets.

James ambles onto the stage wearing his trademark flat cap and is greeted with very warm applause. ‘You’re wearing RM Williams’ comes a voice from the crowd referring to James’ footwear, it is a brand made in South Australia. ‘Why yes I am’ he replies ‘I’ve bought them back home’.  With that the tone has been set. James has immediately broken the barrier between what could have been a sterile, large auditorium gig and turned it into an evening where, despite the size of the venue, it feels intimate and cozy.

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James Taylor / Photo – Michael Selge

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The set opens with “Something In The Way She moves” which James jokingly describes as his audition song for Paul McCartney and George Harrison at Apple Music way back in the late 1960s. ‘They must have liked it’ he jokes ‘because Paul signed me and George re-wrote it as his own’.

The pattern has been set for how the evening will run. James is natural and engaging and the songs aren’t simply played but instead are introduced and anecdotes are shared about when and why they were written. He is charming and comical and it isn’t just insights into his music that he shares but also he takes time throughout the evening to introduce each and every one of his All Star band. He highlights their incredible talents and is more than gracious in his praise of the individual achievements outside of playing with him.

The set moves on with “Thats Why I’m Here” and James shares about John Belushi and also alludes to his own problems with addiction and then onto “Yellow and Rose” the only song he has written about Australia which was in response to his reading “The Fateful Shore”.

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James Taylor / Photo – Michael Selge

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“Anywhere Like Heaven” features beautiful pedal slide guitar from guitarist Dean Parks.  It was really special and James made sure to draw attention to it, a lovely moment.  “Country Road” is a cue for cell phones to come out in force for the first time tonight and those that did record it were rewarded with a fabulous version of the song. “Sweet Baby James “ is another highlight before they move into the first of several cover versions with Jimmy Jones’ “Handy Man”.

Set 1 closes out with “Sun On The Moon” and James leaves his acoustic guitar and joins his 3 backing singers to form a four person vocal powerhouse.  Jokingly he tells us that for the next 20 minutes thim and the band will just be hiding behind the curtain looking at their watches and counting down the minutes until they can come back on!

The intermission over Set 2 kicks off with three classics in a row. “Carolina In My Mind”, “Mexico” and “Steamroller”.  The crowd responded enthusiastically and are really getting into this. For “Steamroller” James swaps out his acoustic for an electric guitar. He jokes around that the electric guitar was a great improvement over the earlier steam and gas powered guitars but that he was surprised to see a number of horse drawn guitars still in use when the band played a gig in Amish County earlier.  He has a way about him that even if the material is strongly in the dad joke category and even if he makes it every night it feels genuine and natural. “Steamroller” is played as a solid and powerful blues song, James is really into this and is bouncing across the stage as all of the band demonstrate their virtuosity.

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James Taylor / Photo – Michael Selge

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A little out of breath after the exertions of the last song James shifts momentum back down a gear. He returns to the acoustic guitar and takes his place back on his stool and they play “Fire And Rain”. Whilst all the band are playing this is very much James’ song with a cone of light on him the only light on the stage. It is a fantastic version delivering the emotion of the song perfectly.

Set 2 is full of absolute classic songs all of which have been huge for him over the years. Backing singer Dorian Holley, described earlier by James as the singers singer, really showcases his talent on “Shower The People” before the set closes out with their version of the Carol King hit “You’ve Got A Friend” and then Marvin Gaye’s “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)”. The audience are up out of their seats for that one.

There’s still time for an encore and it brings everyone out of their seats to dance and applaud. The band form up and acknowledge the applause after “Your Smiling Face” before James closes the evening with “Song For You Far Away”.  It has been a special night. Hopefully they will come back to the Southern Hemisphere again but if they don’t those who saw them on this tour were treated to a wonderful evening.

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James Taylor / Photo – Michael Selge

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Check out Michael Selge’s full gallery of this event HERE

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James Taylor / Photo – Michael Selge

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Follow JAMES TAYLOR
Website – Facebook – Twitter – Instagram

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James Taylor / Photo – Michael Selge

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Press Release 8th February 2024 (below) HERE

JAMES TAYLOR
and his all-star band
announce 2024
Australian Tour Dates

Extra shows added due to
overshelming demand, as dates
sell out across the Country

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AMNPLIFY – DB