Willie Nelson used to be one of the Highwaymen, saddling up with buddies Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson as one of the four horsemen of the country apocalypse.
Now all of his fellow travelers are gone — Kristofferson, who died last year, was the last to pass — and Nelson rides on.
But never alone: At the Outlaw Music Festival’s 10th anniversary show at the Freedom Mortgage Pavilion in Camden on Friday that Nelson headlined, his compadres were there in spirit.
Sheryl Crow was in the middle of the bill that included Bob Dylan, plus formerly Philadelphian songwriter Katie Crutchfield, who performs as Waxahatchee, and Madeline Edwards.
Crow got crisp support by her band the Real Lowdown, which included West Chester drummer Fred Eltringham.
Her crowd-pleasing, 75-minute set was full of songs you know by heart: “All I Really Wanna Do,” “If It Makes You Happy,” “Everyday Is A Winding Road“ and “Soak Up the Sun,” the latter performed as the sun set serendipitously behind the Philadelphia skyline across the Delaware River.
Along with hits, Crow played a crunchy new song called “The New Normal” that took aim at President Donald Trump. “Nothing is immoral to the new leader of the free world,” she sang.
And she also played “Redemption Day,” her song that Cash recorded. Getting into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame — a distinction she shares with Nelson and Dylan — was nice, she said, but nothing compared to being covered by Johnny Cash.
Nelson’s other Highwaymen pals were also evoked. His band included Waylon Payne, the son of country singer Sammi Smith and Nelson’s late longtime guitarist Jody Payne.
Nelson’s marvelous 70-minute closing set included “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys,” his 1978 hit with Jennings.
And whenever the 92-year-old wonder needed a break from handling both lead vocal and guitar duties, he handed the mic over to Payne, who offered tart takes on Kristofferson’s “Help Me Make It Through the Night” and “Me and Bobby McGee” as well as Merle Haggard’s “Working Man Blues.”
Past compadres were honored, and new ones brought into the fold.
Waxahatchee pulled from last year’s superb Tigers Blood, and included the new standout “Much Ado About Nothing” and a cover of This Is Lorelei’s ”Where’s Your Love Now.”
Crutchfield — who grew up in Alabama and spent her 2010s in Philly — has grown more confident on stage and the influence of fellow Southerner songwriting heroes like Lucinda Williams has become more pronounced. She fits right in with the Outlaw family.
As does Dylan, in his own bizarre, brilliant way. Crow summed it up: “Willie Nelson made me want to play music, and when things made me scratch my head, Bob Dylan made me want to write songs about them.”
The show was opened by Americana songwriter Edwards at 4 p.m. I didn’t make it through traffic in time to see her, but she was among many who joined Nelson at evening’s end for country-gospel standards “Will The Circle Be Unbroken?” and “I’ll Fly Away” and the jokey closer “It’s Hard To Be Humble.”
Dylan didn’t participate in that convivial activity. All his career he has been hiding in plain sight. These days, he hides in darkness.
Last year, when the Outlaw Festival played Camden in a Fourth of July Picnic edition, the lights were dimmed so you could barely make him out on the video screen.
This year, the stage itself was brighter, but Dylan, 84, sat in the back at his piano behind the drum kit, the top of his hoodie-covered head barely visible. Under the Pavilion roof, the video screens were off.
Was it weird? Of course, it was a Bob Dylan show. But it also sounded fabulous.
Last year’s Outlaw set was quiet. This time, the band — guitarists Doug Lancio and Bob Britt, drummer Anton Fig and longtime bassist and bandleader Tony Garnier — was more rugged, cranking it up appropriate to the spacious setting.
There were ingeniously chosen covers, by Bo Diddley, George “Wild Child” Butler, Charlie Rich and Bobby “Blue” Bland. There were also classics from throughout Dylan’s career: “Love Sick,” from 1997’s Time Out Of Mind, and vintage early 1960s selections “Masters of War,” “Highway 61,” “Desolation Row” and “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright,” after which he walked to stage front and revealed himself to be a living, breathing entity.
Some altered arrangements made IDing songs a guessing game. Was that “To Ramona”? It was. But “All Along the Watchtower” was remarkably straightforward.
And for me, the real killer was “Blind Willie McTell,” with Dylan singing the blues about a bluesman and the unchanging times, “when power and greed and corruptible seed seem to be all that there is.”
Nelson was wonderful. And much better than last year. In 2024 he had missed the tour’s eight previous performances with a respiratory ailment, and it was unclear if he would make his own Independence Day party.
He did, and gamely performed, but sometimes seemed out of breath and weary. By comparison, he was spry and spirited on Friday, staying seated before walking off stage and blowing kisses to the crowd at its conclusion.
The Family Band is without sons Lukas and Micah, who have other touring commitments. But it feels as close-knit as ever, with Nelson leading the way and harmonica player Mickey Raphael, who’s been with him since 1973.
For the opening flurry of Johnny Rivers’ “Whiskey River,” followed by Nelson’s Zen koan “Still Is Still Moving to Me,” and three masterpieces in “Funny How Time Slips Away,” “Crazy” and “Night Life,” Nelson didn’t miss a beat or breath.
His phrasing as a singer is singular — though shaped by his love of Frank Sinatra — and expressive as ever. But it’s his guitar playing at such an advanced age that might be most remarkable.
As secretive as Dylan is, Nelson is just that open, with the video close-ups of wizened fingers plucking his battered acoustic guitar Trigger and coaxing a depth of feeling out of “I Never Cared For You” and “Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground.”
The repertoire was familiar, with one exception. “Last Leaf,” from his 2024 album Last Leaf on the Tree, was written by Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan.
Nelson is no stranger to facing up to his mortality in song, and he did it humorously on Friday with “Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die.”
“Last Leaf” is different. On Friday, he sang it with a determination that showed the resolve that’s helped him manage to endure all these years.
“I’m the last leaf on the tree,” he sang. “The autumn took the rest, but it won’t take me.” Not yet anyway, thank goodness.
And even after he’s gone, Nelson assured us, he’ll remain with us. “I’ll be here for eternity, if you wanna know how long,” he quietly boasted. “If they cut down this tree, I’ll show up in a song.”
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