Concert Review
James Taylor
Jackson Browne
KeyBank Center
Buffalo, NY
Monday December 13, 2021
Review/Photos: Joseph Suto
A pair of 73 year-olds teamed up for what was a special evening at KeyBank Center Monday evening. James Taylor and Jackson Browne concluded the final show of their lengthy 2021 tour to a very respectable crowd. The tour began in July, and has had a few breaks in between but it all came to a close in Buffalo.
Up first was Jackson Browne who has sold over 18 million albums dating back to his self-titled debut in 1972. Browne played a good retrospective of material from his whole career. Kicking off with his top-10 smash 1982’s “Somebody’s Baby”, Browne set the tone for his set. Highlights included “Fountain Of Sorrow” and the song that put him on the map “Doctor My Eyes”.
It was during “The Pretender” that James Taylor made his first appearance of the evening as he joined Browne. Browne ended his set with what has become his signature song “Running On Empty”. Overall a very solid set by an artist who usually headlines his own shows
James Taylor is highly regarded as one of the greatest singer-songwriters of all-time. While he has had many charting singles over the years it was the US Adult Contemporary chart where he had much of his success including four number ones.
Like Browne, Taylor also played songs throughout his career not just focusing on the hits. Highlights included the usual suspects “Fire and Rain”, “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)” and of course “You’ve Got A Friend”.
Taylor did his best to keep the show on the lighter side telling stories and doing what he does best sometimes telling it like it is.
Sometimes less is better in the case of Taylor employing four background singers. Considering many of his songs were acoustic this reviewer found there to be no need to be that many as that took away from Taylor’s own vocal performance. His band also was huge but they were amazing and really added to the overall songs.
Taylor has been at this a long time and to see him still up there performing and really enjoying himself made it even more of a special show. Taylor has all the accolades one can achieve in the music business including being a six-time Grammy Award winner and a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. While there is no telling when Taylor will hang up his guitar and microphone, one thing is certain he will continue to perform as long as he enjoys it and that will make many of his fans very happy.
Set List
Jackson Browne
Somebody’s Baby
The Barricades of Heaven
The Long Way Around
Fountain of Sorrow
Downhill From Everywhere
The Dreamer
Until Justice Is Real
Doctor My Eyes
Late for the Sky
The Pretender (With James Taylor)
Running On Empty
James Taylor
Country Road
Copperline
That’s Why I’m Here
Mexico
You Make It Easy
Up on the Roof
Steamroller
Easy as Rollin’ Off a Log
Sweet Baby James
Fire and Rain
Carolina in My Mind
Shower the People
How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)
Encore
Shed a Little Light
Take It Easy (With Jackson Browne)
You’ve Got a Friend
You Can Close Your Eyes
