The Lantern Tour
Town Hall, NYC
Oct. 27, 2018
The Women’s Refugee Commission was set up in 1989 to protect the rights of youth displaced by conflict and crisis. At Town Hall, Jackson Browne, Emmylou Harris. Graham Nash, Steve Earle, Shawn Colvin and Jerry Douglas combined musical forces in a benefit to those affected by the current crises of displaced families at our southern border.
All artists were seated onstage as they all took turns at the mic with acoustic performances accompanied by Dobro virtuoso Jerry Douglas, known for his work with Alison Krause and the Earls of Leicester. He accentuated the stark bareness of each number with sweetly placed notes that cried one second and were joyous the next. His version of Paul Simon’s “American Tune” was one of the highlights of the night as he added some dissonance to the originals lightly textured tones.
Introduced by Graham Nash as, “I’ve never I’ve never met a man more committed to social change than Jackson Browne (who he cofounded Musicians United for Safe Energy (MUSE) and spearheaded the No Nukes film and album in the ‘70s),” and accompanied by his trusty Martin guitar Browne gently fingerpicked his way thru Carlos Verala’s “Walls and Doors.” On it he stared down the crowd laying down the gospel that, “Some people build walls and others open doors.”
Emmylou Harris and special guest Joan Osborne played a beautifully poignant version of John Prine’s “Angel from Montgomery.” Harris played a plaintive cover of John Lennon’s utopian “Imagine.” On “Tell Moses” Steve Earle and Shawn Colvin joined forces for a footstomping revival.
Nash played “Immigration Man” and “Teach Your Children” that the crowd sang joyfully off key but on time to. Earle ended the night with a long winded tale on his love for his adopted hometown of New York City and its local delis tying their change of ownership, economic opportunity and pursuit of the American dream to this nation’s history of immigration. “Pilgrim” ended the night like a campfire sing along as the players traded verses and the crowd chimed in on the choruses that ended a grand night for an even grander cause.
