Willlaaaaayyyyyy!

Well, I may be in New York all the time, so yesterday wasn’t my first day, but seeing Willie at Radio City Music Hall was certainly an experience to love.

First of all, Radio City is just magnificent! I’d never been there before, so seeing it in all its Deco-era glory was a treat. I love that they still have the signage intact – and the pedal-operated hand dryers – from the original design of the space.

The lounges still look like this!

But besides being a treat for your eyeballs and your typography-loving soul, the acoustics there are just phenomenal. The sound for the show was so well balanced and crisp, even though we were in the first mezzanine, you felt as though you were center orchestra.

We were not as close to the stage as some people, (Terri! Henry!) but, we had a pretty good vantage point.

Five Things I loved about seeing Willie at Radio City Music Hall

1. The guys who ‘accidentally’ snuck down from the second mezzanine to sit next to us and then were too honest to actually stay. Despite obviously being smitten by the idea of sitting next to Heather and Kim. You only find people like that at a Willie Nelson show.
   
   
2. All of the bearded, long-haired, cowboy-hat wearing crowd. Who almost made it possible to ignore the annoying hipster lads in their faux-hawks and tight jeans.
   
   
3. Blue Eyes Crying In the Rain. I know that Kim wanted Georgia and Heather loved On the Road Again, but Blue Eyes is my favorite Willie song. I lurve him!
   
   
4. Willie still wears the bandana! I love how he methodically ties it around the neck of his guitar before he puts it on. I bet he’s done that about 5 million times. And he walks like Yoda.
   
   
5. Willie’s sense of fair play and humor. He’s not the guy in the center of the photo when it’s him, Ray, and Merle. He doesn’t need to be. He’s not always in the spotlight during his own sets, he spreads that spotlight around. He’ll play the classics that you love, but he’s not afraid to branch out with his new stuff (You Don’t Think I’m Funny Anymore, in particular, made me want to call Dad – and I think that that is a compliment to any song)

All in all, it was a pretty special night. I could use a little more Willie in my life. I think we all could.

ps. Kim, I can never think of Pancho and Leftie the same way again. Thanks. No, really. Thanks.