Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt swapped stories and told jokes for 140 minutes at the Uptown Theater on Wednesday, October 13. Every so often, they remembered to play one of the most iconic American songs of the past 50 years. The majority of the audience of more than 700 wouldn’t have had it any other way.
Longtime fans can compare and contrast decades of performances by both men in a variety of settings. This admirer witnessed Hiatt perform in Ry Cooder’s band at the Uptown Theater in 1981. He’s since played the same venue with a number of rock bands. Most memorably, Hiatt and Lovett performed in an acoustic song circle with Guy Clark and Joe Ely at the Uptown Theater about 25 years ago.
Lovett mixes it up even more than Hiatt. He’s assumed a variety of folk, country, blues and jazz themes in the approximately dozen times since I first heard him perform in the late 1980s. Just three months ago he performed at Starlight Theatre with a band featuring the heavyweight pop and rock rhythm section of bassist Leland Sklar and drummer Russ Kunkel.
Both men were as good as ever on Wednesday. Not only do their compositions thrive in stark acoustic settings, Lovett and Hiatt are exceptional conversationalists. Mercy, are they ever funny! The evening began with Hiatt teasing his pal about a bespoke shirt/jacket, a garment Hiatt characterized as a “jirt” or “shacket.”
Lovett exacted a genial form of revenge by lightly mocking Hiatt’s elaborate and entirely sincere story about his family’s encounter with ghosts. The pair’s freewheeling discussion also touched on songcraft, child rearing and Christianity. Although he’s more reticent than Lovett, Hiatt’s remembrance of stealing cars as a teenage delinquent in Indiana was the best tale told.
While they sometimes seemed like an afterthought, the songs performed by each man were well chosen. “12th of June,” the potent title track of Lovett’s strong 2022 album, was the most rewarding selection of the evening. The solemn meditation on fatherhood and family lineage was balanced by the new children-inspired romps “Pants Is Overrated” and “Pig Meat Man.”
He name-checked Houston Astros slugger Yordan Álvarez as the man “that won the game” in a thoughtful version of Chuck Berry’s “Brown Eyed Handsome Man.” Complimentary vocal and guitar assistance from Hiatt kept a few fan favorites including “If I Had a Boat” fresh.
Hiatt’s familiar weatherbeaten voice is like an abandoned barn impervious to collapse, but Lovett’s vocal tone seems to have undergone an astonishing transformation. A newfound vocal strength caused Lovett to sound like the star soloist of a laconic cowboy gospel choir as he traded verses on Hiatt’s “Thing Called Love.”
Hiatt also offered interpretations of his signature songs “Have a Little Faith in Me,” “Slow Turning” and “Drive South.” A spellbinding rendition of “Icy Blue Heart” was followed by a hilarious but insightful analysis of the motivations of the song’s characters. It’s precisely the sort of unexpected detour that made Wednesday’s concert an unforgettable exhibition of two master craftsmen at the peak of their powers.
