I’ve known Willie Nile for almost 10 years now, been to countless shows, I’ve shot a dozen music videos for him, and consider him a friend. I was thrilled when he asked me to come shoot his show at City Winery New York on Wednesday, November 22.
Booked as a Career Retrospective, Willie was going to play one song from each of his 16 albums, from his first self-titled from 1980 to his latest The Day The Earth Stood Still from 2021.
Nile’s current band consists of long-time rockers such as Jonny Pisano on Bass, Jimmy K. Bones on lead Guitar, Rob Clores on Keys, and Jon Weber on Drums. For the show at the Winery, he included special guest James Maddock who opened the show and also joined the band on a number of songs as backing vocals and on electric guitar.
Playing to a sold-out crowd, the band hammered through the 18-song setlist, with the various album covers displayed on screens as Willie went one by one and gave a little background on the album and the song before playing it. Willie who turned 75 this year, looking younger than ever, vibrant and full of life and energy, was a sight to behold, a true Rock n’ Roll icon.
Opening the show with a 30-minute solo acoustic set was fantastic singer-songwriter James Maddock whose latest album “Night Works” came out earlier this year, his set included mostly material off that album along with a few old hits. James is currently on tour in Europe until the end of the year but currently resides in Brooklyn, so he’s often playing shows in the New York area and comes highly recommended. Make sure to add him to your radar for 2024.
Willie Nile – City Winery New York – November 22, 2023
Setlist: Vagabond Moon, Golden Down, Places I Have Never Been, Hard Times in America, Across the River, Cell Phones Ringing (In the Pockets of the Dead), You Gotta Be a Buddha (In a Place Like This), Streets of New York, American Ride, Forever Wild, Blowin’ in the Wind (Bob Dylan cover), Children of Paradise, House of a Thousand Guitars, Run Free, One Guitar, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Heaven Help the Lonely, A Hard Day’s Night (The Beatles cover)
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