REVIEW: Emmylou Harris, Sunderland Empire
The latest stop on Emmylou Harris’s farewell tour saw a sell-out Sunderland Empire crowd enjoy a career-spanning set from alt country royalty. Simon Rushworth donned his double denim and trucker cap.
On more than one occasion during this near two-hour masterclass in live performance, an apologetic Emmylou Harris admits she’s guilty of brazenly thieving many of the best known songs in her 50-year back catalogue.
She tells stories of pinching a favourite tune there and stealing a memorable melody there after confessing songwriting is an arduous task, best left to her more capable and committed peers.
But there’s no reason to be sorry. Had Harris not lent her iconic tone to tracks such as One Of These Days (a George Jones cover) and Pancho & Lefty (courtesy of Townes van Zandt) then so many wonderful songs would never have realised their true potential.
Hers is a unique voice that adds emotional heft to almost any narrative and age has not diminished the 14-time Grammy winning artist and beloved Country Music Hall of Famer. Those of us who’ve waited ages for this gig are privileged to witness a gig for the ages.
Fresh from wrapping up a sold-out show in London the previous evening, closing out the Royal Albert Hall’s Highways Festival in typically evocative fashion, the darling of alternative country appears genuinely touched to be making her long-awaited Sunderland debut.
Truthfully, this tear-jerking trip down memory lane is a real coup for next door neighbours The Fire Station — the team promoting the only North East date on Harris’ farewell jaunt around the UK and Europe — and Harris clearly feels right at home on a stage that’s perfectly lit and suitably spaced.
There’s really no need for an extravagant backdrop, distracting strobes, a sequined dance troupe or a band stretching into double figures. Not when the music’s this good. Harris makes do with a couple of acoustic guitars and five trusted friends as she paces a carefully curated setlist that covers all the bases.
Those signature songs are interwoven with entertaining glimpses into the life and times of a generational talent. Harris references cutting her teeth in the clubs of New York’s Greenwich Village and the chance encounter with Gram Parsons that launched a long and successful recording career. Every so often she’ll mention yet another song purloined from a fellow musician as a concert-cum-confessional gains momentum.
Perhaps Harris doth protest too much. Highlights include Red Dirt Girl, Michelangelo and The Road — all her own work and all three standing toe to toe with the very best of Jones, van Zandt, Steve Earle et al.
Then there are the collaborations with the North East’s very own Mark Knopfler. The icing on the cake here would, of course, be the surprise emergence of the Dire Straits frontman but, alas, that dream scenario fails to materialise. Instead, we’re treated to the next best thing: pin-sharp renditions of Love And Happiness and All The Roadrunning — the latter revealed to be Harris’ personal favourite from the self-titled album co-written with Knopfler.
At 79 nobody can begrudge one of country music’s most beguiling singer songwriters a well-earned rest. Harris reveals she’ll still play the occasional show back home but her days criss-crossing the globe, entertaining the international audiences who first took her to their hearts, are coming to an end — she’s not here to elicit sympathy and concedes hers has been a privileged life, well lived.
However, all good things must come to an end. That Sunderland is included in Harris’s long goodbye is almost too good to be true and a rapt audience savours every spine-tingling moment in the company of Birmingham, Alabama’s favourite daughter. It’s taken half a century for Emmylou, ably supported by gentleman Jim Lauderdale, to entertain the Empire. Better late, than never.
Images courtesy of Adam Kennedy