Kristofferson’s performance captivates audience | Local News | Summerville Journal Scene

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Kristofferson’s performance captivates audience

Published Tuesday, February 02, 2010 12:29 PM

By Stefan Rogenmoser
Summerville Journal Scene ®

photo by Stefan Rogenmoser

Kris Kristofferson performs during a stellar set Friday night at the North Charleston Performing Arts Center, where the country star proved he is one of the finest songwriters alive.

Kris Kristofferson’s performance Friday night at a nearly sold-out North Charleston Performing Arts Center proved that he is one of the best and most interesting songwriters alive.

Kristofferson, 73, captivated for close to two hours with just himself, a guitar and a harmonica. In this context his songs sounded more folk than country … half spoken, half sung, with plenty of melody.

The audience sat through most of the performance quietly, listening intently to every word and every note he picked on his Gibson acoustic guitar.

Kristofferson ended most songs abruptly with a “Thank you,” and often interjected commentary between verses. During many of the performances in the first set he paused between phrases, verses and choruses, throwing a curveball to audience members clapping along.

Kristofferson’s self-deprecating wit brought laughter, including when audience members tried to clap along – and ultimately found his unique style hard to follow. “It’s my fault, not yours,” he said.

The audience went wild with applause as he played his best-known songs such as “Me and Bobby McGee,” “Sunday Morning Coming Down,” “Best Of All Possible Worlds,” and “Loving Her Was Easier Than Anything I’ll Ever do Again.”

During a soulful “Help Me Make It Through The Night,” a woman near the front cheered loudly after the lyric “Come and lay down by my side.” Kristofferson stopped the song momentarily to say, “I’m 73, darlin’,” and carried on with the rest of the song to laughter and applause. After singing the lyric, “I don’t care what’s right or wrong,” he again drew laughs by adding: “Yes I do.”

Kristofferson’s children were a constant theme, and he dedicated one song to his kids “and their mamas.”

His newest song, “Closer To The Bone,” from an album of the same name released in September 2009, shows his writing is as clear today as ever. His songs are reflective, mature, funny and sometimes political. They reflect a diverse life.

“Sky King” is about a helicopter flight instructor and its humor kept the audience in stitches. Before he began the song, Kristofferson mentioned he had flown helicopters for the National Guard (and the U.S. Army Airborne Rangers) to make extra money for his wife and kids, and recalled that his time in the Guard included a stint in South Carolina.

Kristofferson famously landed a helicopter in Johnny Cash’s backyard to give Cash a demo tape. He was a Rhodes scholar who studied at Oxford and taught at West Point, was a boxer and an actor, starring in movies such as “A Star Is Born” alongside Barbara Streisand.

After a 15 minute intermission Kristofferson opened his second set with “Jesus Was A Capricorn.” After the harmonica solo, Kristofferson deadpanned, “It ain’t Dylan, but it’s all we got tonight.”

The second set included several songs dealing with religious faith and outsmarting the devil.

“You don’t know how good that makes an old man feel,” he told the standing, cheering audience after walking back on stage for an encore.

The first person to be introduced on stage by emcee T.J. Phillips of WEZL was not Kristofferson but a stunned Summerville resident, Rhett Bledsoe. Bledsoe and Phillips have worked together in radio. Phillips thanked Bledsoe, who sat in the front row, for introducing him to Kristofferson’s music and letting him sleep on his couch for a year.

“That’ll be a fine moment for me for a long time,” said Bledsoe, a dog enthusiast and semi-retired radio announcer who lived next to Johnny Cash’s producer while growing up in Nashville.

He wasn’t quite prepared for how good, charming and humorous Kristofferson was, Bledsoe said. “It’s just sheer talent. No special effects.

“He was on top of his game. Everything was flowing,” Bledsoe said. “It’s great to see a master at what he does on a great night.”

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