Carole King: Living Room Tour - Mohegan Sun

Let's put it this way. If your 62 year old neighbor lady invited you over to her living room to hear her sing and play the piano, you might just want to instead rearrange your sock drawer.

However, if the 62 year old lady happens to be Carole King, you better prepare to get comfortable! I attended her "Living Room Tour" concert tonight at the Mohegan Sun arena, and it was great! The "Living Room" aspect of the tour implies that it simulates going on over to CKs, settin' in the sofa, and hearing some tunes, much like she does for political fund raisers.

The stage is set with a piano, a couch, a chair or two, some lamps, and that's it. There is no drummer, and only two guitarists that accompany her - Rudy Guess and Gary Burr.

Carole looks, and sounds, amazing! Even when her face is exploded onto the large projection screens, she still manages to look great. This is one of the first real successful female songwriters, who went on to become one of the first female "singer/songwriters". She may not be as glamorous as Joni Mitchell, but she sure can create a great tune. In this concert, she even dipped into some deep catalog instead of just playing Tapestry all the way through.

Her piano sound is unmistakable, and she really can get those deep lower notes to give her songs great power, although I did notice that she did not do as many intricate solos as she has done in past concerts. "Smackwater Jack", for instance, was done on guitar, which she seemed to enjoy playing.

Unlike Linda Ronstadt, CK's political pitch was purely neutral. She asked for help in preserving land in Idaho, and asked that everyone register and vote, no matter which candidate they prefer! No one walked out or ripped up posters!

The flow of the concert was stalled a few times, however. Gary Burr, a Nashville singer/songwriter, was given time to sing two of his tunes. Instead of doing them as an opening act, they were done in the middle of the first set. He sounded great and I was impressed with his guitar work, but the Connecticut casino crown was not ready for "country" music, and seemed to get a bit antsy during his segment. Carole joined in on the second tune, but still the response was not the same.

In the second act, the momentum built with three of CKs best loved tunes again came to a halt while we got an "impromptu" songwriting experience from Gary and Carole. Here, the audience really got restless, screaming out song titles and such. I think they sensed that it was not working well and they aborted.

Here is the set list:

Song of Long Ago
Welcome to my Living Room
Beautiful
Where You Lead
Now and Forever
Lay Down My Life
Been to Canaan
Love Makes the World
What Mattered Most - Gary Burr
Love's Been a Little Bit Hard on Me - Gary Burr
Smackwater Jack
Wishful Thinking
'60s Medley:
-Take Good Care of my Baby
-It Might As Well Rain Until September
-Go Away Little Girl
-Oh No Not My Baby
-Hey Girl
-One Fine Day
Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow
---intermission--------
Breath Into You
It's Too Late
So Far Away
Sweet Seasons
<Songwriting Demonstration>
Chains
Pleasant Valley Sunday
Being at War with Each Other
I Feel The Earth Move
----encore------
You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman
You've Got a Friend
Locomotion

At any rate, if you get a chance, check this tour out. It's not glamor, it's not pizazz, just an amazing performance by one of America's treasures.

Any one else see the show?

 

I can't remember, didn't she write or co-write many of those titles?

Amazing woman.

 

She may have been apolitical in her show but she did some very public campaigning for Kerry a few months ago. Which is fine by me, I think artists including Linda Ronstadt and the Dixie Chicks and Michael Moore have every right to express their political opinion, even if it pisses people off.

 

Yup! All of them, except the two Gary Burr tunes that he performed in the middle.

Yes, she does campaign for Kerry, which is what makes her "stage neutrality" even more impressive.

 

Carole is a fantastic artist/singer/songwriter
I find it interesting that out of all of her oldies set she didn't do any of her Spector hits...I wonder if there's bad feelings between them. I wouldn't be surprised.

 

The two songs that Gary Burr performed were huge hit records that he wrote some years ago. "What Mattered Most" was a No. 1 country hit for Ty Herndon in 1995, and "Love's Been a Little Bit Hard on Me" was one of Juice Newton's biggest hits (1982). They are both great songs. I can understand why the crowd might have been indifferent about the first song, as it never made it outside of country radio, but the second was all over even the pop stations when it was big.

 

I read your post, but skipped the set list. I have a 7th row seat for when she visits Los Angeles in August. Can't wait. IMO - greatest living female songwriter.

-BZync

 

It's tough for me to go to stuff during the week, but I sure wish I went after reading about it.

 

Thanks Tim. I had never heard of Gary or the song "What Mattered Most", but to hear him sing and play it, it sounded like it was a hit, and HIS hit! During this segment of the concert, he mentioned that it was a hit for someone else, and that "Love's Been..." would be recognized by the crowd. The thing that struck me was that it was a definite "change of format" in the middle of a show. Some appreciated it, some didn't.

I would imagine that it would be like having a sideman at a Linkin Park show step up and sing "Puff the Magic Dragon". (OK, well maybe not THAT diverse)

 

I saw her show Wednesday night at Wolf Trap. All I can say is that after seeing some legends disappoint on stage it was such a relief to watch one who still has the heart and the chops to continue performing wonderfully past her 60th birthday. She was amazing! If this tour is coming near you do not miss it.
And how did I forget that she co-wrote "Chains"?

Peace-
Norm

 

Norm! Glad you liked it. It's easy to forget a song or two of hers. I forgot that she had written Herman's Hermits first hit!

Her voice is still amazing, and she can still get those high notes. Not only that, she is still in such great shape that it is astounding and hard to believe when she says her age.

The tune "Welcome to My Living Room" is along the lines of Steely Dan's "Intermission" song, a song written for the show. Very clever and nice. Maybe there will be a live CD of this tour!

:-jon

 

I got to see this show on Thursday night at the Greek Theatre. What a sweet, intimate, relaxed show. It was wonderful. I'm so glad I went. And I went by myself. Couldn't find anyone who wanted to go. But when you only buy one ticket you can usually get a better seat than buying two.

-BZync