Jackson Browne - Fan Letters & Reviews
December 1999
I am looking for a ticket stub to Jackson's shows last New Year's Eve at Lake Tahoe. I collect my ticket stubs for all concerts I go to and place them in a scrap book and I was at those shows but because my tickets were obtained by a Ceasar's VIP, they would not give me a ticket stub. If anyone still has a ticket stub from one of those shows laying around and would be willing to send it to me it would be greatly appreciated. I can be contacted through my email.
Help me. I've been away from Jackson Browne for way too long. In the late 1970's I listened to For Everyman and Late for the Sky possibly more than any two albums in my life. I'm know virtually nothing about anything after Running on Empty, other than hearing some good things from Looking East on the local alternative station. Until a few weeks ago it had been years since I even listened to these great albums, but am now in the process of buying the first 4 releases. Interesting that he doesn't seem to play much from the early period. A question for the faithful: What are the most recommended Jackson CD's since Running on Empty ?
Webmaster's Reply: According to a survey taken on this Web site a few years ago, fans voting for their favorite Jackson Browne album definitely leaned toward Jackson's first four albums, with I'm Alive coming in next. At the cutoff on November 7, 1997 with just over 1000 votes, the final results were:
Complete results of the full survey can still be found in the FAQ Section of this Web site.
I have to disagree with the comment that Jackson "doesn't seem to play much from the early period". I think set lists over the past couple of years would include quite a number of songs from Jackson's 1970s output.
I missed the benefit concert in Sedona this year. I have collected T-shirts from the event each year. I was wondering if anyone had one that they would be willing to sell, or if anyone knew how I could obtain one. I can be contacted through e-mail.
I have written several Jackson Browne concert reviews over the years which Russ has posted on this website. I am a huge JB fan and all of my prior reviews have been very positive. This one, I'm afraid, can not be. Jackson Browne was a huge disappointment at his recent appearance as an opening act for the Eagles on December 28th at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
Now I am sensitive to the fact that an opening act is not supposed to "steal the show," and is there primarily as a warm up for the main event. However, when you lay out $500.00 for what were very mediocre seats, not to mention hotel and travel expenses, I say you should get one hell of an effort from everyone on the bill. Besides, no one is going to steal the show from the Eagles. I went there expecting Jackson's "A-show". What we got was 9 songs performed as half-heartedly as I have ever seen him play.
The set list was as follows:
I have several problems with his performance. First of all, nowhere in this set did Jackson play the piano. In every one of the 20 or so concerts I have seen JB, the crowd goes nuts when he moves over to the piano. Why would he do an entire show and not touch the piano? There was one there. Glenn Frey played it beautifully. Secondly, I think this is a very poor set list. Short for sure and just not very well thought out. I could have lived with the brevity of his set since The Eagle's set was amazingly long. However, when the crowd is filled with mostly Eagles fans, don't you think JB would want to play some of his more well-known songs? Why would JB not play some of his hits for this crowd to get into? I mean who knows "Culver Moon," "Barricades of Heaven," "For Everyman," or "World in Motion" except a die-hard JB fan. The crowd went to sleep during these songs. I don't blame them. Even "I'm Alive" and "The next voice you hear" were poor choices. At least these 2 received some radio air play over the last 6 or 7 years, but basically nobody knew them. The only time the crowd was into his set at all was during "Doctor my eyes," "The Pretender," and "Running on Empty." Now these were good choices. My wife and I met 2 couples in line and next to us who didn't really know any JB tunes. I confidently told them that they would be amazed at how many songs they would be familiar with upon hearing them and how impressed they were going to be with JB's musicianship. Well, they weren't.
What happened to "Late for the Sky," "Rock me on the Water," "Rosie," The Load-out/Stay," "Somebody's Baby," "In the Shape of a Heart?" If Jackson had played these 6 in addition the "Doctor my Eyes," The Pretender," and "Running on Empty" people would have been impressed and would have been screaming for more. Especially if some of them had been performed at the piano. As it was he just sleep-walked through a short and poor set. His mike was barely audible. I know all of the words to every song he has ever done and I couldn't tell what he was saying most of the time.
Anyway, on the positive side of things, The Eagles were simply amazing. They played for over 3 1/2 hours. They played every song you would want to hear. Their renditions of "Wasted Time," "New Kid in Town," "Take it to the Limit," and "Lyin' Eyes" could not have been fore perfect. As my wife said to me after Henley's ending on "Wasted Time," "That's as good as music gets." She was right on. It gave me chills.
As for those of you JB fans out there who are going to the New Year's Eve show, don't expect too much from Jackson, unless he changes things up dramatically. Maybe Linda Ronstadt will be better. She was sure superb at the fairly recent Nicollette Larson tribute concerts. If, on the other hand, you're going primarily to see The Eagles, you won't be disappointed.
Well, I guess that's almost all of my complaining. I am glad to hear that these Millenium shows are having trouble filling up. I can tell you for sure that I have spent my last $500.00 on any ticket for anyone. It's time that these promoters get back down to earth. And, as a guy who has spent thousands of dollars over the years buying JB records (yes, records) and CDs and attending his concerts, his lackluster performance and appalling lack of effort makes me feel like a sucker duped out of my concert-going dollar. Shame on you Jackson. Your fans deserve better.
I attended the Eagles / Jackson Browne concert at the Mandalay Bay Events Center last night. What an awesome show. It was my very first Eagles concert and they did not disappoint.
Jackson came on stage about 8:10 p.m., dressed in a black suit with a blue(?) button-up collared shirt. Probably the most dressed-up I've ever seen him. His hair looked great; he looked great.
He had his full band with him, including Scott Thurston, who I noticed has not played with him in awhile. Also the fabulous David Lindley, dressed in his finest polyester and red shoes, along with Wally Ingram. The rest of Jackson's band was also in attendance: Jeff Young, Kevin McCormick, Mark Goldenberg, and Fritz Lewak. Jennifer Gross provided the backing vocals.
The set list is as follows:
Jackson's set ended at about 9:00 p.m., followed by a 30-minute intermission.
At 9:30, The Eagles took the stage. They began with five songs from Hotel California, which they explained, is a tradition theyâve followed in all of their 90's concerts. The set list:
The show ended at 1:00 am. A very good show. I was not disappointed at all. I just want to add a couple of comments.
There were four large screens showing the concert. It was very well done, and I'm hoping for a video release. Credits were rolled at the end of the show. I guess this is the new way to go since there weren't any programs. My seats weren't bad, although I really appreciated the screen to see the close-ups. I hardly used my binoculars at all.
I was happy to see Timothy B. Schmidt had not cut his hair. Everyone else was pretty clean cut. Everyone sounded great. Gotta love those harmonies. Sometime during the show, I got such an attack of goosebumps and a feeling of awe at seeing these guys together. I can only wonder why it took me so long to see them live.
The only thing missing, IMO, is that for the last song, Take It Easy, they didn't bring Jackson back on stage. I mean he co-wrote the song, and I would have bet he would have been back (Since it was Las Vegas, I felt it would have been a pretty good bet, however, I didn't win much in the casinos either).
I hope I didn't run on too long. Since the tour is so short, just three shows, and the ticket prices were quite high, many who would have liked to be there were not able to attend. But for those who are able to attend the other shows, you will have a great time.