Emmylou Harris at the Royal Festival Hall

 
Emmylou Harris & The Red Dirt Boys

Simon Lynge

Royal Festival Hall, 1 June 2011

Oh Emmylou, could you be any more perfect? I've seen Emmylou Harris before but this time she seemed energised and happier, walking on to the stage with a little dance. It almost goes without saying that she looked absolutely radiant, wearing a silver headband and layers of brown velvet, satin and lace and the most amazing fringed suede boots, she launched into a song from her new album Hard Bargain, the upbeat, toe-tapping Six White Cadillacs, following it with Orphan Girl and Red Dirt Girl, both of which got a big cheer. Tonight, she told us, she would be digging out some old tunes and trying out some new ones and it really was a lovely mixture of both.

"Here's one I stole from George Jones," she said before singing the beautiful Beneath Still Waters, paying tribute to one of her favourite singers (and mine). Emmy's always been a great interpreter and she showcases this tonight with some lovely covers, from Bob Dylan (Every Grain Of Sand) to Townes Van Zandt (If I Needed You), adding her breathless gorgeous vocals to The Red Dirt Boys' superb backing. But in recent years Emmylou has shown that she's a fine songwriter in her own right and I have to admit I've loved her recent albums where she's embraced this side of her talent.

One of the best parts of the night is actually a meeting of the two. She first plays the two songs she wrote for Gram Parsons, who she credits for launching her career ("the reason I'm up on this stage is because I ran into a fella named Gram Parsons" she tells us): her classic From Boulder To Birmingham, written just after his death and one of her finest songs, and then the newly written The Road, which looks back at the path her life has taken because of him. She then followed this with two songs by Parsons himself, Wheels and Luxury Liner, both of which she has been playing for years and managed to both make them her own while keeping Parsons' legacy alive.

Aside from Parsons she also pays tribute to her father "who is still my greatest hero" she says and then plays two songs she wrote for him, Bang The Drum Slowly and The Ship On His Arm, the latter about her parents' separation during the war and made even more moving for knowing the story behind the lyrics. Another lovely moment comes when Harris is left alone on stage and after being given the wrong guitar and finally being reunited with the correct one, she explains that the guitar is her second ever guitar bought back in 1965 which she traded in her first one to buy and had been "in hospital for a while" but was all better now. She then plays a breathtaking version of Prayer In Open D showcasing that both the guitar and her voice still sound glorious.

There were so many wonderful moments, including some great trading vocals between Emmy and Will Kimbrough on The Carter Family's Hello Stranger and a beautiful version of her late friend Kate McGarrigle's song Talk To Me Of Mendocino. I mainly know this song because Linda Ronstadt covered it on Get Closer but, although I love Ronstadt, Emmy's vocals suited the song more and I've never loved it more.

I think my favourite moment of the night was during the encore. After coming out and playing a real oldie but goody, One Of These Days, a guy from the balcony who had been pleading that she play her version of Townes Van Zandt's Pancho And Lefty got his wish and responded with a loud "YES". Emmylou just looked up and gave a little grin and the song, once again beautifully performed, was a perfect ending to the evening.

Understated, elegant and sounding as stunning as ever, all in all it was a pretty magical evening and I don't think I'll ever get tired of seeing Emmylou and hearing her voice.

Opening the evening was an acoustic singer-songwriter called Simon Lynge, who hails from Greenland, "Yes, I'm an Eskimo" he tells us. His music reminded me of a happier Elliott Smith and he certainly was full of charm, telling us stories between songs of his life growing up in a small town in Greenland, the funniest being a tale of stealing a skull from a graveyard due to the dead being buried above ground there. His songs were pleasant and nicely melodic but it was the banter that really made him an entertaining watch.