In Focus: James Taylor Returns to SPAC

On a picture-perfect summer night, thousands of faithful fans spent a fun filled evening with one of America’s favorite troubadours, James Taylor, at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) on June 28.

Taylor ambled onto the stage wearing his signature smile and his beloved felt fedora hat.  Launching into the first tune, “Whenever You’re Ready”, the applause and warm cheers from the audience showed they were indeed ready for an evening with ‘JT’.

Taylor, who has long been open about his younger days of heroin addiction and recovery, spoke of both journeys before performing the relevant tunes of “Rainy Day Man” and “T-Bone” seemingly as much for himself as for the crowd.

It’s no secret that James has been an advocate for progressive and environmental causes throughout his long career.  He subtly took jabs at the current administration throughout the evening to the enthusiastic response from the audience.  Explaining that his song, “Line ‘em Up” was inspired by Richard Nixon’s last day in office when White House staff members lined up on the lawn to bid farewell to the resigning president, he lamented “I never thought I’d say this but, I miss Richard Nixon.  At least he knew when he’d done wrong.”

Even though he may miss Nixon, he couldn’t resist commenting on Tricky Dicky’s infamous posture and style of walking; invoking the image of the evolution of man and likening his stance to that of “two or three places to the left of cro-magnon.”

Members of the ‘All Star Band’ were prominently introduced throughout the evening.  Bass player, Jimmy Johnson, took center stage for the starting licks of “Millworker” while Taylor performed a quick self-described costume change; simply trading his fedora for his equally well know newsboy cap.

One band member that brought out the fatherly pride in Taylor was his own son, Henry Taylor, who was featured throughout the evening as a back-up singer.

If you want to make the world a better place, your opportunity to do that is with the next human being that you encounter.

Use of the stage backdrop for videos increased throughout the night.  Images of people smiling and signing along with the lyrics of “Shower the People” appeared during that song.  “Handy Man” brought out comical images of home improvement projects gone wrong while horn section members Walt Fowler and Lou Marini donned hardhats and danced in the background.

While trading his acoustic guitar for an electric to perform “Steamroller”, Taylor noted the band would be taking a short break at the conclusion of the song.  He went on to state, “I’m not sure why we take a break, all we do is stand on the other side of the curtain and look at our watches for 20 minutes.”  However, that statement did not turn out to ring true, he spent the majority of the intermission sitting at the front of the stage interacting with audience members fortunate enough to be seated in the front rows.  Presumably, he was following his own philosophical statement from earlier that night; “If you want to make the world a better place, your opportunity to do that is with the next human being that you encounter.”

His second set brought out a few more political statements.  He performed “You’ve got a Friend” and “Up on the Roof” both of which were written by Carole King.  He chided that “…ordinarily no kings, but we’ll make an exception for Carole.”

The backdrop once again made a prominent appearance during the final song of the second set, “Your Smiling Face”.  This time, the cameras turned to the brightly lit audience as their smiling faces were featured signing along with one of JT’s signature tunes.

The encore featured James with all the backup singers tightly grouped together center-stage to belt out the acapella harmonies which open “Shed a Little Light”, Taylor’s tribute to the teachings of Martin Luther King.  Following the encore’s second song, “How Sweet It Is”, and the band getting together for their final bow, James pointed to his watch and held up a single finger, indicating there’s time for one more!  He wrapped up the evening with “Sweet Baby James” while images of his pop-up book of the same name, were displayed behind him.

Set One: Whenever You’re Ready, Rainy Day Man, T-Bone, That’s Why I’m Here, Mexico, Line ‘Em Up, Millworker, Shower the People, Handy Man, Steamroller

Set Two: Country Road, Copperline, You’ve Got a Friend, Up on the Roof, Never Die Young, Carolina in My Mind, Fire and Rain, Your Smiling Face

Encore: Shed a Little Light, How Sweet It Is, Sweet Baby James