‘I’m very privileged to have fans who let me play so many new songs,'' Jackson Browne said at one point in Tuesday night’s concert at the nearly sold-out Orpheum Theater in Boston. But in truth, as appealing and melodic as his tunes are, it is his lyrics that set him apart, and his fans savored the new material as much as his hits. Browne was on the second stop of his ``Time the Conqueror'' tour, which coincides with the Sept. 23 release of the album by the same name. With no opening act, Browne did two sets, a 70-minute opener, and an hourlong late set, concentrating a lot on the new music. Browne’s four-piece backing band was anchored by guitarist Mark Goldenburg, whose superb colorations evoked the old days when Ry Cooder’s bluesy accents accompanied Browne’s work. The band was also augmented by backup vocalists Chavonne Morris and Alethea Mills, two talented young women Browne discovered in 2001 singing at a South Los Angeles high school. As for the new music, tunes like ``Off Of Wonderland'' and ``Live Nude Cabaret'' continue Browne’s skein of social commentary tunes, the former with an easy folk-rocking tempo, and the latter with a steamy rhythm that also manages to be pensive. ``Giving That Heaven Away'' was a more subtly rocking, wistful take on modern life. ``Just Say Yeah'' was the kind of toe-tapping, joyful rocker Browne excelled at in the 1970s. ``Going Down to Cuba'' yearned for ``freedom to travel ...
Anytime
‘I’m very privileged to have fans who let me play so many new songs,'' Jackson Browne said at one point in Tuesday night’s concert at the nearly sold-out Orpheum Theater in Boston. But in truth, as appealing and melodic as his tunes are, it is his lyrics that set him apart, and his fans savored the new material as much as his hits. Browne was on the second stop of his ``Time the Conqueror'' tour, which coincides with the Sept. 23 release of the album by the same name. With no opening act, Browne did two sets, a 70-minute opener, and an hourlong late set, concentrating a lot on the new music. Browne’s four-piece backing band was anchored by guitarist Mark Goldenburg, whose superb colorations evoked the old days when Ry Cooder’s bluesy accents accompanied Browne’s work. The band was also augmented by backup vocalists Chavonne Morris and Alethea Mills, two talented young women Browne discovered in 2001 singing at a South Los Angeles high school. As for the new music, tunes like ``Off Of Wonderland'' and ``Live Nude Cabaret'' continue Browne’s skein of social commentary tunes, the former with an easy folk-rocking tempo, and the latter with a steamy rhythm that also manages to be pensive. ``Giving That Heaven Away'' was a more subtly rocking, wistful take on modern life. ``Just Say Yeah'' was the kind of toe-tapping, joyful rocker Browne excelled at in the 1970s. ``Going Down to Cuba'' yearned for ``freedom to travel ...