Concert Review: Eddie Money at the Wildhorse Saloon, Nashville, TN 3/19/2009

The Money Man came to Music City tonight and brought his oversized bag full of hits with him. The result was a fun-filled trip down memory lane. I actually needed to be here to be reminded of what a great career Eddie Money has had; I mean the hits just keep on coming. And any thoughts that perhaps he has slowed down a bit over the years were quickly dispelled as I was trying (mostly unsuccessfully) to get some performance photos. The man is constantly in motion on stage, putting out a still-impressive level of energy.

Money's band was rock-solid, both instrumentally and vocally. While I can't say that any particular player stood out and wowed me (probably by design, because the focus is all on Eddie), they all had the licks and backing vocals down to a T. That made for a performance that was very true to the original recordings. This all worked out great, because the weak link in this show was Money's propensity for talking over his parts and sticking the microphone out into the crowd to get us to sing. You see this at a lot of concerts, particularly with the more established acts, and I never really care for it (even though the audience often does). After all, I come to hear the stars sing and play, not talk. And if I wanted to sing I'd go to a karaoke bar. But due to the band's right-on back up, and Money's likeable personality (he's still got that warm, always smiling stage presence), I didn't really mind the slacking all that much. Another reason everything worked out so well was that when Money was doing the singing, he was great; the voice is still there.

As a fan, you couldn't have asked for a better set list. Amongst other songs we heard "Can't Keep a Good Man Down", "Walk on Water", "Peace In Our Time", "No Control" (featuring some nice harp work by Money), "Two Tickets to Paradise", "I Wanna Go Back", "Take Me Home Tonight", "Baby Hold On", "I Think I'm in Love", and my personal favorite, "Shakin". He wailed on the sax in several songs as well and played a good long set (at least 90 minutes). There was a very good-sized crowd (all three levels were open at the Wildhorse) which is great to see these days. All in all, the concert just took me back to the 1980s MTV video era, in which Money was one of the true pioneers. And as usual, the sound at The Wildhorse was flawless. It was a very enjoyable show.

Spring has sprung, the concert season is officially here, and this was a great kick-off. Stay tuned for more coverage of the 2009 concert scene.