James Taylor at Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre

I really love James Taylor so I usually try to see him whenever he comes to town.  However, I decided that I would try to spend less money on concerts this year (that is going about as well as you might expect) but I just couldn't resist getting a ticket to his show at Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre last night and I'm so glad that I did!  Taylor's voice is not quite what it once was but it was good enough and he had an amazing band with him including Steve Gadd on drums, Luis Conte on percussion, Jimmy Johnson on bass, Michael Landau on guitar, Walt Fowler on keyboards and horns, Lou Marini on horns, Larry Goldings on piano, Andrea Zorn on fiddle, Dorian Holley on backing vocals, and Kate Markowitz on backing vocals.  He played, without an opening act, for over two hours and divided his sets into "Deep Listening," which featured lesser known songs, and "Greatest Hits" with an intermission in between.  During the first set he played "Something in the Way She Moves," "Everyday," "Never Die Young," "October Road," "Secret O' Life," "Anywhere Like Heaven," "Country Road," "Sweet Baby James" (with a cool fiddle intro), "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight" (a highlight of the first set), and "Sun on the Moon."  I really enjoyed the first set but I have to admit that I absolutely loved the second set and sang every word to every song!  This set included "Carolina in My Mind," "Mexico," an epic rendition of "Steamroller" with extended solos," "Fire and Rain," "Up on the Roof," "You've Got a Friend," and "Shower the People" (my favorite James Taylor song).  He ended this set with a rousing rendition of "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) which got the crowd up and dancing!  For the encore he performed "Shed a Little Light," Your Smiling Face" (another highlight of the show for me), and "That Lonesome Road."  Taylor is incredibly droll and interacted with the audience by telling jokes (which he says he is recycling from tour to tour) in between each song and signing lots of items before the second set.  My favorite moment happened when someone yelled that they loved him and he answered that he loved them back but they should both see other people!  I had so much fun last night and I think this was a great way to start the summer concert season (even though I was a little bit cold by the end of the night).

Note:  The first time I saw James Taylor live was at this venue (when it was USANA Amphitheatre) years ago and I've been a fan ever since!