Texas was treated to three dates this week on the current Jayhawks tour – November 17, 18 & 19. The stops in New Braunfels, Austin and Houston represented the final three shows on the groups fall portion of this “reunion” tour. The tour starts up again in January on the West Coast.
I was fortunate enough to catch the Friday night show at the historic Paramount Theater in Austin and the Saturday night show at The House of Blues here in Houston.
This Jayhawks lineup consists of Gary Louris on electric guitars, Mark Olson on acoustic guitar, Karen Grotberg on keyboards, Marc Perlman on bass and Tim O’Reagan on drums. Of course the star of the show is the familiar and beloved vocal harmonies of Gary and Mark.
I thoroughly enjoyed both shows I attended. The Jayhawks played a generous portion of classic Jayhawks favorites while mixing in several of the new “Mockingbird Time” songs. The classics included “Blue”, “I’d Run Away”, “Waiting For The Sun”, “Take Me Wih You (When You Go)”, “Settled Down Like Rain”, “Two Hearts” and “Wichita” which opened both shows. Some of the new songs like “She Walks In So Many Ways”, “Tiny Arrows” and “Closer To Your Side” sounded great and certainly held their own.
After the Austin show, Gary and Karen came out to the merch table and chatted while signing things. Last night here in Houston, all five band members came out and were very generous with their time and their signatures. Aside from being very good musicians they also seem to be very nice people.
The opener for these shows was native Houstonian (now New Yorker) Jolie Holland. She is best known to most as a former member of The Be Good Tanyas. Her style is somewhat unique and I found her to be enjoyable to listen to. Her Townes Van Zandt and Jimmie Dale Gilmore covers went over well here in Texas.
If you have a chance to catch any of the remaining tour dates, I highly recommend you go. You will not be disappointed!
