Concert Reviews

Kelly Willis

Live At Slims - Concert #2
San Francisco - September 8, 1999

Concert Review by Jeff Krasky

Kelly Willis impressed me so much the first time I saw her that I waited in eager anticipation for this second show. This time she brought The Hank Dogs and Chuck Prophet with her. Once again it turned out to be an unforgettable night of music.

Once again I was shocked with the large turn out. It was pouring down rain and we had a thunder storm going on, not a time you would think a lot of people would come out for a concert. I was wrong. In fact, the place was so packed I ended up having to stand pushed up against one of the sides of the venue. An impressive turn out. But that remains my biggest complaint about Slim's, they let the place get so packed that it can almost be uncomfortable. Not to mention the fact they didn't set out more tables before Kelly took stage like they did last time.

The Hank Dogs started the show off with their acoustic sound. As ashamed as I am to admit it, this was the first I had heard of the group. Their soaring vocals and simple acoustic instrumentals were a nice start to the evening.

Chuck Prophet and his band simply rocked the night away. I had of course heard Chuck's name before (he wrote “Got A Feelin' For Ya” for Kelly and sang on her record). This was my first time really getting to hear him perform. His heavy sound is best described as rock leaning Americana, which was a slight surprise after hearing the song he wrote. Chuck did his job, he got the crowd warmed up for Kelly Willis.

Kelly Willis took the stage after a short break while the stage crew worked to move instruments around. Amy Farris came out early to tune her instruments and stopped to chat with the people who were lucky enough to get that close to the stage (I wasn't one of them unfortunately, I remained stuck to my position for the whole show). Kelly opened with “Take Me Down,” which garnered a huge response from the audience. Her voice fluttering up to the high note on the chorus of that song is one of the best moments in music this year. She followed that number up with a haunting version of “What I Deserve.” Give credit to Amy Farris for providing the eerie background vocals. What a performance. In fact, that tended to be the general response to every song that Willis performed. Each one was a breathtaking performance that equaled if not surpassed the performances at the first Slim's show.

My biggest complaint (and at that it's not a major one) is that Willis focused very heavily on playing tracks from her new album What I Deserve. The good news is that What I Deserve is easily the best country album of 1999. Other tracks that were played include “Heaven Bound”, “Talk Like That”, “Not Forgotten You”, “Wrapped”, “Got A Feelin' For Ya”, “Fading Fast”, “Time Has Told Me” and “Cradle Of Love”. I was hoping to hear “They're Blind”, but for the second time it was left off the play list.

This time around Kelly played none of the other three tracks off her Fading Fast EP, which was a disappointment. However she made up for it by performing songs like “I'll Try Again” and “I Don't Want To Love You (But I Do)”, songs that you wouldn't expect to hear. It's always nice to get unexpected surprises like that thrown in to a show.

Show highlights were found with the completely rocking version of “River Of Love,” and the stunning acoustic opening of “Get Real,” which let Kelly's vocals sparkle. Kelly took the time to joke about her ex-husband and husband writing “Take It All Out On You,” before she belted that out with her band working every bit as hard pounding out the instrumental.

For the second time I walked away completely impressed with Kelly's talent on stage. She has the rare ability to hypnotize an audience with her music. No one took their eyes off the stage during her set. All I can hope for is that Slim's talks her into appearing regularly. Live country music doesn't get any better.

Editors Note: When I arrived at the concert, my two tickets were at will call. But there was no photo pass. A big thank you to Darren for being willing to loan us three photos from a Kelly Willis concert he attended.

Kelly Willis Live Concert Photos