James Taylor concert in Melbourne 16Apr2024

[Dave, Melbourne,Australia]

I thoroughly enjoyed the concert last Tuesday at Margaret Court Arena, part of the Australian Open Tennis complex.


James Taylor is 76 and has stated that this tour (including April 16 and 17 in Melbourne) is his final tour of Australia. I noted that his singing voice is finally declining.


His backing band comprised Dean Parks on electric guitar/pedal steel guitar, Kevin Hays on keyboards, Jimmy Johnson on bass guitar, Steve Gadd on drums, Andrea Zonn on violin/vocals, Kate Markowitz on vocals, Dorian Holley on vocals and (briefly) his third wife Caroline Taylor on vocals.


The setlist was as follows:
Something In The Way She Moves
Rainy Day Man
That’s Why I’m Here
Yellow And Rose (the only song he has written about Australia)
Anywhere Like Heaven (the only song in this concert that I hadn’t seen him perform on a previous Australian tour)
Never Die Young
Country Road
Sweet Baby James
Handy Man
Sun On The Moon
Carolina In My Mind
Mexico
Steamroller
Fire And Rain
Up On The Roof
Shower The People
You’ve Got A Friend
How Sweet It Is
Shed A Little Light
Your Smiling Face
You Can Close Your Eyes (it was fitting that the last song I’ll ever seen him perform was the James Taylor song I’ve chosen for my funeral - I managed to film it on my phone)


Two reviews of that concert:


https://silvertigermedia.com.au/2024...ne-16-04-2024/


https://www.noise11.com/news/james-t...eview-20240417


The following videos are from that Apr16 concert or from the Apr17 concert at the same venue (or from Adelaide/Manila in the same fortnight).


“Something In The Way She Moves”/“That’s Why I’m Here” (10min):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0Nyoz9jc4c


“Anywhere Like Heaven” (5min):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOc3bmNC6wc



“Never Die Young”(5min):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8viTzhLLgs



“Country Road” (including stand-out drums by 79-year-old Steve Gadd) 7min:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0npNI9pjtpU


“Sweet Baby James” (preceded by a brief folk instrumental) 5min:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7InD7jBXtQI


“Handy Man” (4min):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtsWg5Rqcm4


“Sun On The Moon” (4min):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSwwz7xb2ug


“Carolina In My Mind” (5min):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ku7YZ_AxATI


“Mexico” and “Steamroller” (including harmonica by James) 13min:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_odCH-2eFk


“Fire And Rain” (5min):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNDsCaP_1Aw



“Up On The Roof” (5min):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2oNdAkyov8


“Shower The People”/“How Sweet It Is” (11min):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6wcN4E8hdI


“You’ve Got A Friend” (6min):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMe9EEBu5kI


“Shed A Little Light”/“Your Smiling Face” (8min):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gxa5kPqDkAQ


“You Can Close Your Eyes” (3min):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaJlAUyWiLQ