Singer/songwriter James Taylor showered the audience with love Friday night at the sold-out King Center. He whipped up an evening teeming with good times, humor, nostalgia and, yes, some great music in a concert that drews laughs, lots of humming, and even a tear or two.

We have known that the singer/songwriter who gave the world "You've Got a Friend," "Country Road" and "Fire and Rain," is acoustic alchemy itself. He can wring emotion out of a simple lyric like "winter, spring, summer or fall, all you've got to do is call," or "shower the people you love with love" and make the feeling continue to resonate long after the final note.

What you may not know, however, is that James Taylor is this side of a stand-up comedian. He delivers droll one-liners and quirky takes on "National Geographic," Richard Nixon, Moonies and chili dogs.

And he does it all with such ease and grace, the evening feels more like a gathering of friends. Yes, there were 2,000 of them, but that's the magic. There was an intimacy in the concert created by both Taylor and a production team sensitive to the Taylor aesthetic.

Superior lighting design helped set the mellow mood with subtle changes in the warm colors and a bevy of beaded lanterns. A projection screen turned into a family album of sorts, with Taylor showing photos of family members and friends, funny outtakes from television news and more.

"It's a terrible thing to pay money for a ticket for a night out and have to look at a family album," Taylor quipped.

Although Taylor appeared on stage with keyboard artist Larry Goldings, whose work on piano and organ worked in seamless concert with Taylor, he also sang with projected videos of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus.

The audience loved this humble artist. They almost didn't let him off the stage. Taylor kept coming out, apparently amazed at the unbridled affection the audience was showing him. At one point, he stood and put his hands over his face, as if embarrassed by all the fuss.

After three encores, Taylor came on stage, nearly sheepishly, to shake hands and sign old album jackets, sheets of paper and T-shirts brought to him by nearby audience members. This was a wonderful concert. And the lucky people fortunate enough to score a ticket -- in the 45 minutes the tickets were on sale -- no doubt went home completely satisfied. Source>>>

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