Here's a write up from the show. I wouldn't call it a review or a critique and the writer says we were drenched when the show was over which is a gross exaggeration. It spit a little near the end, but we hardly got wet at all.
James Taylor has never been one to shy away from telling stories in between songs. During his Saturday evening concert at Toronto’s Rexall Centre — the first pop performance of the inaugural BlackCreek Music Festival — the legendary Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter shared personal anecdotes about classics like Jump Up Behind Me and Sweet Baby James that revealed a warm personality and insights into a well-documented, but troubled past.
Although the outdoor amphitheatre seated thousands, Taylor’s storytelling and dynamic with his Legendary Band made for what felt like an intimate evening with old friends.
“This is a nice spot. Reminds me of my home, my living room,” joked Taylor, after starting the show with Everyday.
The 63-year-old folk singer, dressed in a turtleneck for the cool evening air, seemed at home onstage throughout the evening, performing for a Baby Boomer-heavy crowd. Laurie Uetz had wanted to see Taylor perform live all her life. “I wanted to see him, and I swore I was going to do it this year,” she said. “The way the man’s personality comes across, that’s really something.”
Taylor, who’s had his share of struggles with depression and substance abuse, has channelled these experiences into his music, but doesn’t seem to dwell on them too much. Warm and friendly, with an acerbic wit, Taylor joked with the audience throughout the evening. “They tell me that Canadians are polite,” he said. “But they clearly weren’t back in Vancouver the other night.”
The singer’s 21-song set included fan favourites such as Carolina In My Mind, Up on the Roof and Mexico. Others such as Jump Up Behind Me were made even more personal, with Taylor explaining that the song came after a turbulent, drug-fuelled year in New York City in the 1960s. “I called home after about a week [after his band The Flying Machines broke up] and I got my dad on the phone. … Twelve hours later, he showed up in a red station wagon and pulled me away from New York City and saved my life.”
These days, the only telltale signs of his past are classics such as Fire and Rain, which the singer performed just as it began drizzling at the Rexall Centre. Taylor’s life is much different now: touring, for example, has become something of a family affair for the musician. His third wife Kim Smedvig is one of four back-up singers in the Legendary Band, and the couple’s young twin boys could be seen running around the grounds at Saturday’s concert.
Throughout a 30-minute intermission, Taylor, crouching down onstage, spoke with fans and posed for photographs. Among those getting autographs was Kristina and Sami Elkhazin, a young couple who had grown up listening to Taylor with their parents. “I’ve been a fan since I was a kid because my dad really loved James Taylor, so he sort of passed it on to my sister and I,” said Kristina Elkhazin. “It was a dream come true to come see him. I crossed it off my bucket list.”
Elkhazin explains that she danced with her father to Taylor’s song You’ve Got a Friend at her and Sami’s wedding. “It’s kind of nice to go to a show that has no gimmicks. It’s just music and storytelling which is sort of what you miss out in [other] music.”
Ending the night with a two-song encore of Shower the People and You Can Close Your Eyes, Taylor fans were drenched from the rain, but hardly seemed to mind. “No one’s going to take that time away, you can stay as long as you like,” sang Taylor, ending the evening to applause.
