Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

Concert review:

James Taylor completes his summer tour with hit-filled evening at T-Mobile Arena

James Taylor

Biden Inaugural Committee via AP file (2021)

James Taylor performs Jan. 17, 2021, in a concert as part of the events ahead of President Joe Biden’s inauguration in Washington. James Taylor and His All-Star Band made the final stop of their 2022 concert summer tour Saturday, July 30, 2022, at T-Mobile Arena.

Updated Thursday, Aug. 4, 2022 | 2:40 p.m.

How sweet it must be to be James Taylor.

Taylor, the 74-year-old singer-songwriter whose folk-rock hits in the 1970s kept him atop the charts and made him a household name, brought his show back to Las Vegas with an evening that saw him and His All-Star Band entertain an appreciative audience at T-Mobile Arena for just over two hours Saturday.

James Taylor setlist at T-Mobile Arena

“Everyday"(Buddy Hollycover)

“Copperline"

“That's Why I'm Here"

“Mexico"

“Walking Man"

“You Make It Easy"

“Easy as Rollin' Off a Log" (Johnnie ‘Scat’ Daviscover)

“The Frozen Man"

“Steamroller"

“Sun on the Moon"

“Caroline I See You"

“Secret o' Life"

“Traffic Jam"

“You've Got a Friend"(Carole Kingcover)

“Up on the Roof" (Carole King cover)

“Sweet Baby James"

“Only One"

“Carolina in My Mind"

“Shed a Little Light"

“Your Smiling Face" Encore:

“Fire and Rain"

“How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)" (Marvin Gaye cover)

“You Can Close Your Eyes"

The evening started with a showcase of videos played on the arena’s big screens featuring everyday people playing one of Taylor’s many hits on various social media platforms and commenting on how his music was helping them in the early, unsettled days of the pandemic. “James Taylor and his music is the grounding rod to help us get through to the next day,” one of them remarked.

And with that, the curtain lifted to show Taylor surrounded by his band of eight musicians and four vocalists. At center stage playing an acoustic guitar, Taylor launched into his version of Buddy Holly’s “Everyday.”

With more than 50 years in the recording business, Taylor has probably seen it all. But he showed genuine appreciation toward the audience and his ensemble throughout the night. And they returned it to him.

“Ah, Las Vegas,” Taylor said at the end of the first song. “Thank you for bringing us back. … It’s great to play live music for live people again.”

Taylor spun yarn after yarn, and tune after tune. Not all of the songs were from his greatest hits albums. But the music was entertaining and the host was gracious, if not self-deprecating, when swaying away from his most familiar tunes.

“I’ve got another nonhit for you,” he joked before launching into “The Frozen Man,” a 1991 song about William James McPhee, whose body was found 100 years after a failed expedition through the Arctic in search of a northern waterway passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

But Taylor knew his fans came to hear his hits — and he delivered. “Copperline,” “Mexico,” and “Walking Man”served as warm-ups to his covers of Carole King’s “You’ve Got a Friend” and “Up on a Roof,” which he followed with his cowboy lullaby, “Sweet Baby James,” then “Carolina in My Mind,” “Shed a Little Light” and “Your Smiling Face.”

He returned for an encore that featured two of his biggest hits: “Fire and Rain” and his rendition of Marvin Gaye’s “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You).” “You Can Close Your Eyes,” the 1971 hit, closed out the night.

While the spotlight was clearly and rightly focused on Taylor, his band — including percussionist Michito Sanchez, guitarist Michael Landau, Lou Marini on horns and Andrea Zonn on the fiddle — and vocalists also shined bright.The concert was the last for singer Arnold McCuller, who has toured for the last 50 years with the likes of Taylor, Linda Ronstadt and Phil Collins.

This review was corrected to change an error involving singer Arnold McCuller.