Jackson Browne (Community Theatre - Morristown, N.J. 11-03-09)
There were a lot of people in front of the venue asking if anyone had a spare ticket. It was a sold-out event. After entering I made my way to the balcony and talked to an usher I knew and was introduced to several others as “Jersey Joe”. My usher friend told me he had sat in on the soundcheck and Jackson had worked on “freebird”(electric guitar). When the doors were opened one of the ushers went in to look at the stage. There were 15 acoustic guitars all lined up (in like a bicycle rack thing) and one was on a stand. Jackson came on stage a bit past 8pm. He was clean shaven. That  scraggly bears did make him look like an old man. He appeared youthful. He performed a set which was pretty much just non-stop music. A bit of talking here and there. He alternated between guitars(acoustic) and piano. His voice was slightly tattered but it actually added a bit of dimension to his songs. I appreciated the fact that he did not rearrange any of the songs to a lower register. He was faithful to the original and hit the higher notes. Obviously he has a great catalog to pick from. After about 4 songs he played “Running On Empty” (acoustic). He then waved his hands and said “goodnight…thanks for coming”. The crowd roared with laughter. He said he normally does that at the end of his shows. There was no setlist. The crowd was filled with fans. They yelled out songs (loudly) after each performance. He played from a bit past 8 to 9:15…20 minute break and then til almost 11. At one point he picked out a guitar and sat down. The crowd finally quieted making its requests and a woman yelled out a heartfelt request. He got up and picked another guitar and said he would do that song. Halfway through he forgot the lyrics and just stopped. The crowd roared with applause. He looked at the girl in the 4th row that made the request and said “I bet YOU know the rest of the words”. The crowd got more bolsterous as the evening progressed. He finally had enough and said something to the effect “I hear you making those requests but I know there are people out there sitting quietly hoping I will play their favorite song and besides I want to play some things I normally don’t”. The crowd quieted down with song requests a little after that. Musical highlights for me were “Rock Me On The Water(piano) followed immediately with “For Everyman”(acoustic guitar). I also enjoyed “The Pretender “(piano). The crowd pleaser was “Sky Blue & Black”(piano). The only speech he gave was about plastic water bottles and he pitched metal ones. He said you didn’t have to buy his on sale in the lobby “although they were a great deal”. Apparently there is a spot in the ocean near Hawaii where it is like a toilet bowl effect and all the garbage from the ocean ends up there. When he said it was twice the size of Texas the crowd gasped.//After the show I was walking to my truck and started talking to this huge guy. I said to him “gee we have no clue what happened with the election”. He said he was surprised Jackson did not do “I am a patriot” considering it was election day. This guy told me he really wanted to see the show and left the wife and kids at home. He had no ticket. He said he had never did this before but held up a small sign near the venue entrance “I need a ticket”. Some woman tried to sell him one for $90 (they were around $75 originally). He only had $80 and someone beat him to the punch. He said a total stranger walked up to him a few minutes later and handed him a ticket and said “here…enjoy the show” and gave him a FREE ticket. That was certainly a fan being nice to another fan.