Stephen Montoya
Lyle Lovett and his Large Band play Bass Performance Hall to a nearly packed house.
Despite missing two performances at Bass Performance Hall since it opened in 1998, Texas music legend Lyle Lovett has graced its stage every year. And every year, he seems to feel more at home when he does.
The only things that were able to keep Lovett from playing on the Bass Hall stage in the past included the COVID-19 global shutdown, which makes total sense, and a broken leg. The ladder of which happened while Lovett was trying to help his uncle with a bull on his farm in Klein, Texas just outside of Houston. Ed Bass, who introduced the 4-time Grammy winner, said, “There’s no virus and no bull this time to keep him away,” to a cheering crowd of over 1,700 people.
Lovett’s large band took the stage to play a warmup number to liven up the crowd and get in sync. Once this jazz jam subsided, Lovett took the stage to roaring applause, a performance trick he’s incorporated since first going out on the road with his Large Band in 1988.
In true touring form, Lovett’s set was full of songs taken from his latest album, 2022’s “12th of June” like his fun dry-humored romp “Pants is Overrated.” Lovett, knowing his fans love to hear music from his early years were also given a treat with his renditions of “If I Had a Boat” and a killer version of “She’s No Lady.”
The surprising breakout performance of the night, however, goes to a song titled “It’s a Naked Party,” which gets songwriting credit from his two 7-year-old twins Ella and Will Lovett. Much like a "VH1" Storytellers session, Lovett took the time to tell the audience how several of his songs came about.
“It’s a Naked Party” was one such song.
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Stephen Montoya
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Stephen Montoya
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Stephen Montoya
The way Lovett tells the story, he and his family tour together in the summertime to be close.
“We have a separate tour bus that the family rides in during this time. It makes it easier for us to put the kids to bed that way. Well, that, and I don’t want to lose my band,” Lovett says with a grin.
It was during one of these tours that Lovett says he walked into the family tour bus after a show to check on what were supposed to be two sleeping children. Instead, he says he opened the door to the bus and found his kids running back and forth with the lights on, while chanting, “It’s a naked party.”
Instead of reprimanding his kids, Lovett says he heard a great hook in the chant and proceeded to ask his kids if they’d like to write a song with him. “My daughter says, ‘if we write a song we can’t forget about unicorns,’” Lovett said. “Then my son says,” Yeah, and we should have a verse with a dinosaur in it too.'”
Lovett proudly explained that he took their ideas and turned them into a song. This fun song was really good too, showing off the fact that no matter what words you throw at Lovett, he can turn them into musical gold.
And speaking of musical gold, Lovett cranked the volume up to eleven with a spiritually charged version of his song “I Will Rise Up.” I’ll admit, I felt the power of Lovett and his band on this one. The nuanced vocal performance paired with the stunning vocals from his three backup singers was nothing short of incendiary. This song moved with purpose and poise as Lovett – raspy voice and all – delivered an almost 10-minute sermon of hope and perseverance.
Between songs, Lovett would take several opportunities to spotlight the various players in his Large Band, asking them questions and telling anecdotes. Yeah, Lovett’s performance was more than just music, it had a little bit of everything for everyone. It was so enthralling; I’m already anticipating next year.