Music

Jackson Browne

Festival Theatre, Edinburgh

Russell Leadbetter

five stars

IF Jackson Browne gets nervous on stage, he starts to yammer. His word, not mine, by the way. And yammer, entertainingly, he did throughout this rather spellbinding show.

Backed by a faultless six-piece band, including long-serving bassist Bob Glaub and ace guitarists Val McCallum and Greg Leisz, Browne delivered all the songs you hoped for – These Days, Fountain of Sorrow, Your Bright Baby Blues, For Everyman, Running on Empty – and much more besides.

Switching between piano and acoustic and electric guitars, he discussed some of his songs in detail. I’m Alive, a “California song”, was actually begun in Toyko; That Girl Could Sing was written for an “amazing singer”, Valerie Carter, who with Lowell George co-wrote his song Love Needs A Heart. He debuted Randy Newman’s A Piece of the Pie, which, though it “takes the p*** out of me”, and was every bit as dissonant as Browne had promised, did at least reference the disparity between rich and poor in America, a point about which Browne feels very strongly.

The striking Walls and Doors, from his most recent album, was written by the Cuban singer-songwriter Carlos Varela, who has had censorship battles with his own government. And as Browne introduced Which Side?, which rounds on bankers and fracking companies, he saluted Scotland’s Yes voters in 2014.

Songs and moments such as these reminded you of Browne’s lifelong liberalism and humanitarian activism, but his engagement with the audience – making them laugh, making them think, bantering with them as they bellowed requests for songs – was a joy to behold, too. Closing with an upbeat The Pretender, he encored with a quick namecheck for the late Glenn Frey before launching into Take It Easy. Finally, and only then, did he call it a night.