E=MC⁵

RETURN TO SIN CITY: A TRIBUTE TO GRAM PARSONS
at the Universal Amphitheater, July 10

“Let’s not forget who we are,” advised event organizer Polly Parsons, whose own memories of her C&W revitalizer dad (OD’ed in ’73) are nearly prenatal. Who are we? Apparently she figures we’re folks who hope to make the right choices.

Numerous singers — backed by a crack band stocked with guitarist James Burton (who plucked with Elvis and Gram) and man o’ steel Al Perkins — each essayed a couple of Gram-related tunes. The evening divided into two sets, the Less Famous and the More Famous, with the former receiving the Freshness & Satisfaction Award. A pogoing Johnny Kaplan popped bennies into “Six Days on the Road.” Eastmountainsouth’s Peter Adams lent “Return of the Grievous Angel” his own deep white yearn. Kathleen Edwards lilted the homespun waltz “Juanita.” Jim Lauderdale chugged an ornery “Big Mouth Blues.” Jay Farrar’s “Devil in Disguise” was damned perky. Raul Malo of the Mavericks got the band synchronized with his easy motility on “Close Up All Honky Tonks.” My Morning Jacket’s Jim James felt the essence of “Dark End of the Street.” John Doe’s rough & real duet with Edwards on “We’ll Sweep Out the Ashes” was a genuine thrill. And Susan Marshall bull’s-eyed Parsons’ Memphis soul connection with a gutty, wailing “Do Right Woman.”

Steve Earle’s serrated voice cut to the bone on “My Uncle.” Lucinda Willliams, dirging “A Song for You,” didn’t care that Lauderdale had said Parsons “made pain sound so beautiful”; she made beauty sound so painful. Dwight Yoakam overrocked his role and lost dynamics. Norah Jones was Ms. Congenial Neutrality; her duet on “Love Hurts” with the elegantly dramatic Keith Richards demonstrated that maximum lyric delivery doesn’t require maximum pipes. The House of Blues Gospel Choir introduced the Lord into the general hell-raising, only to leave Him dogpiled in a final gangbang of “Ooh Las Vegas.” Sin rules. (Greg Burk)