To get a sense of how extraordinarily hit-and-miss Al Green was Friday night at Toyota Music Factory, consider his rollercoaster version of the Bee Gees' "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart."
The song began as a train wreck, with Green out of breath, asking his 13-piece band to stop after they'd just started. "You made me mess up," he said, laughing because he knew he was really the one at fault.
But just 2 minutes later, the fireworks show began. Howling and wailing and scat-singing to the high heavens, Green sounded as glorious as if he'd just stepped out of a time machine set for 1972.
It was that kind of night. One second, his voice was limp and shrill and he sat on a stool trying to catch his breath. The next second, he was strutting across the stage and hitting sky-high falsetto notes as if it were as easy as blowing a whistle.
As a live performer, Green has always been unpredictable, and if he sounded particularly rusty Friday night, there was a reason. At age 73, he hasn't hit the road in more than five years. This was just his second show in a tour that takes him Sunday to the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, where he'll perform for 50,000 people or more.
Friday's audience was about one-tenth that size, but a lot of his fans were rabid to see him after so many years, pushing their way to the front of the stage to grab one of the long-stem roses he kept handing out. Whenever Green sauntered into the crowd, fans clogged the aisles so fast the singer had to beat a hasty retreat to the stage.
Back onstage, he relied heavily on his tight, funky backing band - sometimes a bit too heavily. At times, he let his backing vocal trio take over and sing his lines. During several tunes, he rested and let the crowd sing the words - a gambit he's been using most of career.
And sing they did, crooning with gusto to "Love and Happiness," "Tired of Being Alone," and of course, "Let's Stay Together," which closed the show on a tentative note as Green ran out of steam.
All the while, he flashed his mega-watt smile and excitedly waved his hands to and fro. The old throat and body might be bit out of shape, but the legend still seemed to be having the time of his life.
The Michigan husband-and-wife duo The War and Treaty opened the show with a rousing set of gospel-fueled R&B songs from their debut album, Healing Tide.
Tanya Blount had the more commanding voice of the pair, with a smooth, soulful style honed by decades of practice. She's been recording since the '90s, when she had some minor hits on Polydor Records.
Michael Trotter was endearing in his own right as he talked about his experience as a soldier in the Iraq war and his love of Al Green, whose vocal style he occasionally mimicked.
"I'm not gonna act like I wasn't practicing his moves in the bathroom mirror all those years," Trotter said. "Al Green is still opening up doors for young artists ... he's a national treasure."
Thor Christensen is a Dallas writer and critic. Email him at thorchris2@yahoo.com.
