As the Charlottesville Pavilion gets another year older, does it stop making sense? Is it running on empty? Not from the looks of this morning’s press release, which announced summer concerts from David Byrne (June 10), Jackson Browne (August 4) and George Jones (August 8) as part of the Pavilion’s 2009 season. Ticket sales for each show begin Friday, March 27, at 10am.
The timing is pretty excellent for each act: After nearly three decades since their previous collaboration, Byrne and Brian Eno released 2008’s Everything That Happens Will Happen Today, which splits the difference between Eno’s ambient dilly-dallying and that worldly, conscientious sage thing that Byrne does so well. It’s a tasty listen that should get a bit of a kick from a live show, which will feature tunes from the pair’s history of work. (This means cuts from the mangled mania of My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, as well as those three masterful records the pair made with Talking Heads.) No Eno on tour, but expect a trio of dancers and Byrne’s own endearing dance moves.
Jackson Browne, meanwhile, has stuck to his guns for roughly as long as Byrne fired his at any style that moved. Browne’s website is streaming his latest studio album, Time the Conqueror, his first full album of new material since 2002’s The Naked Ride Home and solid as any JB material. However, Browne also gave his arrangement chops their due with a pair of Solo Acoustic albums released in recent years. Expect a bit of both from his live sets, but behave, won’t you? We all love "Something Fine," but it seems like Browne’s trying to find his footing with the new material. I have it on my headphones now, and it’s worth a listen.
And George Jones? Well, in 2008, the man put out a stellar collection of duets, Burn Your Playhouse Down, and nabbed Kennedy Center Honors. But if you’re looking for a reason to catch Jones’ gig, I can’t give you a better one than this:
Of course, if excitement don’t kill me, spending dough on three concerts might, and I doubt I’m alone here. So make your choice, people—who among these three will put on the best live show?
