In her 11+ years on the scene, Sheryl Crow has placed many different faces on her music. She’s been bluesy & raw,  California cool and even tried her hand at 70’s rock. The first time I saw her she was solo & acoustic opening for The Bodeans at 328 Performance Hall back in 1993. The Bodeans were exceptional, but I didn’t know who Sheryl was and to be honest I don’t recall much about her set. But it wasn’t six months later that EVERYONE knew who she was when her debut album “TUESDAY NIGHT MUSIC CLUB” hit stores and went on to sell millions.

 

Touring to support her 7th album, WILDFLOWER, Sheryl and company hit the historic RYMAN AUDITORIUM for a Jan. 29th performance that was witnessed by a sold-out crowd. In fact, the show sold so quick that a 2nd show was added for the next night.

 

I have always enjoyed Sheryl’s music but not been a huge fan except for her first album so I didn’t know what to expect. Looking around, the crowd ranged from little kids to well dressed older people and had a very laid back vibe. In fact, the show started with a ballad. Dressed in a long white evening gown and high heels, Sheryl came out with her band and played a version of “Run Baby Run” that showcased her bluesy side. A pleasant surprise upon the stage reveal was the fact that besides her band, she was joined on stage by a 16 piece string section.

 

Throughout the 2 hour set she hit all the highlights from her career and threw in quite a few songs from the new album, leaving out the strings on some of the more rockin’ tunes like “Favorite Mistake”& “Winding Road”. While all the performances were good, there seemed to be an air of staleness to some of it. I find this a problem with a lot of shows at The Ryman.  The bands want to feed off of the crowd, but people don’t come there to rock. They wanna sit back in their seat and enjoy a show, and I am sure that most did. Like I said, the performances were good, just very tame. The crowd did come alive toward the end of the set with the show winding down with “All I Wanna Do” & “A Change Will Do You Good”. After leaving the stage for a wardrobe change, Sheryl came back looking hot, dressed in a black top and tight blue jeans to finish out the night with a three song set. By the time it was over, the crowd was whipped into a frenzy (again, rare for a Ryman show) and the band actually got into it enough to break a sweat.

 

 

For you guitar geeks, Sheryl seemed to mostly play her signature Gibson “Country & Western” acoustics as well as a Les Paul and a couple of basses that I didn’t get a good look at. Her guitar player Peter Straub (who can be remembered as touring with Pete Droge & The Sinners in the early 90’s….another great 328 show) relied on his two gold top Les Pauls as the workhorses but played as many as 9 other vintage axes like a Fender Jaguar, Butterscotch Tele and a couple of strats.

 

 

All in all, this was a solid evening of entertainment. I probably see 50-75 shows a year of this caliber and this was definitely a slick, well executed performance. I heard many people leaving, drooling over how good the show was but to be perfectly honest, I don't think I could go that far.  While a free concert is always nice, (heck, I was actually getting paid to sit there and enjoy this!) I would have been just as happy at home grilling out and playing ‘Tuesday Night Music Club” through the JBL’s.

 

Melting Pot Grade B+