I am so glad I received tickets for this show for Christmas from my grandmother! I was already excited en route to the Varsity, but got even more excited when I saw the tour bus parked outside, emblazoned with a Native American in a giant head dress on a horse AND an eagle’s head on the back. Inside there were plenty of white people from all walks of life with lots of cowboy boots and hats. I had the pleasure of standing in front of the railing where many older women kept shouting “WILLIE!!” for about 30 minutes before the show even started.

It was a dream come true to see a music legend, aged 79, whose career has spanned over five decades. Nelson has been touring as “Willie Nelson and Family” for while touring for a while now, as he was joined by sister Bobbie, 80, and son Lukas, 23. Bobbie plays the piano in Willie’s band. Lukas Nelson is on tour with his own band, Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real, as an opening act for his father. Lukas Nelson is a total babe and to top it off a great musician! He mixes the genres of country and the blues to put out a unique show. His singing voice sounds so similar to Willie’s it was cool to hear them collaborate on songs together. Lucas also wrote and performed tracks on Willie Nelson’s latest CD, Heroes, which was released in May 2012.

The whole show consisted of a lot of cover tunes with Lukas doing “Something” by the Beatles and the Neil Young song “Homegrown”. Even though this was a non-smoking venue, as soon as Willie came out on stage it was a cue for everyone to light their doobies. Willie’s set started off with a Stevie Ray Vaughan number “Texas Flood” which was a perfect segue from the bluesy set performed by Lukas. Willie performed a lot of his greatest hits like “Crazy”, “Angel Flying too Close to the Ground”, “On the Road Again” and “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain”. He also played a few obligatory pot smoking songs as well as my personal favorite “I Gotta Get Drunk.” Willie incorporated a lot of crowd involvement with “Mamas Don’t Let your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys” and in all of the Hank Williams Sr. songs he played like “Jambalaya”, “Hey Good Lookin’”, “Move it on Over” and “I Saw the Light”. It was basically one big sing-a-long with the crowd singing all the choruses. He ended the show with “I’ll Fly Away”. He did not do an encore, but considering he is 79 and stood up the whole show I don’t blame him!