Here is a review of Eric's show last night by Arthur Wood

***

You don't want to know that Taylor was awesome. Well, he was a tad better than awesome. A very, very large tad.

From what Eric said, from the stage, it looks as if he's about to become seriously involved in "theatre work," along with fellow scribes Denice Franke, David Olney and Mike Sumler. It will involve "live" actors, with the action based around the narrative of songs by each of the foregoing writers.

From that point of view, with only seven and six songs in each set last night, Eric gave an "early" impression of what he proposed by way of long spoken introductions before each song [underscores by a repeated loop of melody played on his guitar], that provided much insight into his lyric. There's magic in his words, there's magic in his hands - thank God he decided to actively perform in public again some five years ago. In saying that, I'm ignoring his regular forays down to Anderson Fair in Houston and his bi-annual pilgrimage to the Cactus Cafe in Austin, during the years between "Shameless Love " and "Eric Taylor." As you might guess Eric still misses Townes a lot, hence  the two covers. The spirit is well however, and lives on in the form of Eric Taylor. Amen to that.

Best Wishes,

Arthur

***

Wymeswold Village Hall, Wymeswold, Leicestershire, 10/7/2000

Set Uno [55 minutes] :

Walkin' Back Home

Prison Movie

Hemingway's Shotgun

Louis Armstrong's Broken Heart

Where I Lead Me [Townes Van Zandt]

Two Fires

Strong Enough For Two

Set Duo [60 minutes]

All So Much Like Me

Dean Moriarty

Birdland

Happy Endings

Hey Little Ryder

Nothin' [Townes Van Zandt]