Music

Sturgill Simpson delivers a stellar show in between Coachella and Stagecoach

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Erik Kabik

Four stars

Sturgill Simpson April 23, Brooklyn Bowl

You could classify Sturgill Simpson’s Brooklyn Bowl concert as yet another Coachella spillover show, although Simpson was stopping in Vegas between performances at the Southern California alternative-leaning festival and at its country-music sibling, Stagecoach. From a marketing standpoint, Simpson may fall somewhere between indie rock and outlaw country, but his music left no question as to his strong country roots. In addition to songs from his two solo albums, Simpson’s 22-song, 100-minute set featured covers of songs by Willie Nelson, Keith Whitley and bluegrass sibling acts the Stanley Brothers and the Osborne Brothers (plus his now-signature country take on When in Rome’s synth-pop classic “The Promise”).

Simpson and his band put everything they had into the show, extending a number of songs into energetic jams that rarely meandered or lagged. The backing musicians took their turns in the spotlight, and guitarist Laur Joamets (who hails from Estonia, not a noted hotbed of country music) made the strongest impression, with intricate solos and subtle flourishes that approximated fiddle and pedal steel at times. The audience wasn’t quite as engaged as the musicians, though, and while there were clearly some hardcore fans upfront, the chatter in the fairly small crowd often nearly overwhelmed the softer, slower numbers.

Still, when Simpson broke into catchy, driving anthems like “Long White Line” and “Living the Dream” (the closest he comes to radio-friendly material), the audience responded, and there was no denying the power of his deep voice and his band’s musical prowess. Simpson impressed with some bluegrass-style picking of his own on “Poor Rambler,” but for the most part he was a humble, unassuming presence. He seemed happy to let the music speak for itself, and for those audience members who were willing to listen, it spoke loud and clear.

Setlist:

“Sitting Here Without You”

“Water in a Well”

“Long White Line”

“Time After All”

“Poor Rambler”

“Voices”

“Medicine Springs”

“A Little Light”

“Living the Dream”

“Sad Songs and Waltzes”

“Sometimes Wine”

“Life of Sin”

“It Ain’t All Flowers”

“I’d Have to Be Crazy”

“Railroad of Sin”

“Just Let Go”

“Some Days”

“The Promise”

“You Can Have the Crown”

“Turtles All the Way Down”

Encore:

“I Never Go Around Mirrors”

“Listening to the Rain”

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