Brandi Carlile brings out Annie Lennox, Sarah McLachlan and more at Gorge
GEORGE, Grant County — From the get-go, Brandi Carlile’s fourth annual Echoes Through the Canyon was already set to be an extended family reunion, based solely on the announced performers. With her Gorge Amphitheatre takeover stretching to three days this year — an expansion led by Joni Mitchell & the Joni Jam and The Highwomen, Saturday and Sunday’s collaborative headliners — some unannounced appearances seemed highly probable. After all, the down-to-jam hostess with an ever-fattening Rolodex always seems to have a surprise or two up her sleeve.
As Echoes got underway Friday night, the special guests came literally crawling out from the crowd when Dawes frontman Taylor Goldsmith popped up from one of the front rows, flashing some impressive hops while hoisting himself up on the tall stage to join Marcus Mumford and ace guitarist/producer extraordinaire Blake Mills and Lucius for “Kansas City.” Mumford and Goldsmith co-wrote the song for their 2014 supergroup project The New Basement Tapes, based on long-lost Bob Dylan lyrics.
During his otherwise solo acoustic set, the main Mumford & Son cut the heavy material from his ultra-personal new solo album with a few M&S favorites and his cheeky British sense of humor, joking that Americans don’t know what the word “superlative” means, while noting it’s going to be a weekend full of ’em.
Carlile herself joined the British roots rocker for two hair-raising numbers, standing in for Phoebe Bridgers on “Stonecatcher,” and their heart-wrenching duet “How,” which Carlile helped him complete.
Earlier in his hourlong set, Mumford explained Carlile’s supportive role in helping some of his difficult material dealing with sexual abuse come to light. “When she asked me to come here, it was a very quick decision. I’d do anything for that woman,” he said.
While the cameos from Joni Jammers like Goldsmith, Mills and the omnipresent Lucius, whose soulful vocals seemed to make every song they graced 10 times warmer, weren’t exactly unexpected, the biggest surprises came during Carlile’s two-hour-plus headlining set, which contained a few choice oldies.
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“I can’t tell you how good it feels to play these old songs out here,” Carlile said after tender turns through “That Year” and “Again Today,” the former dedicated to a high school friend who took his own life when they were young. “I was right back at the Tractor Tavern in my mind.”
Carlile’s guest stars began with fellow Washingtonian Brandy Clark coming out for their mirror stare down “Dear Insecurity” from Clark’s new Carlile-produced album. “Two gay Brandies from the Pacific Northwest walked into the Gorge,” Carlile quipped as they launched into the piano ballad laced with weepy strings.
Though Mitchell wasn’t in the house Friday, it was one of many soul-baring moments that made it feel like the music icon, whose unflinching vulnerability seemed radical in the early ’70s, was there in spirit. (Carlile’s smoky rendition of “Woodstock” during the encore didn’t hurt either.)
The sit-ins continued with one of Carlile’s musical heroes (and Echoes vet) Sarah McLachlan, sailing through the Lilith Fair founder’s soft-rocking “Hold On.”
Still, nothing would top an electrifying Annie Lennox who burst out on the stage for a forceful rendition of her 1992 hit “Why.” Lennox easily commanded a gobsmacked crowd that sold out the 27,500 capacity venue, her booming voice enough to shake the Cascades. Even Mumford doesn’t know enough superlatives to describe the vocal haymaker Lennox threw during Carlile’s encore.
Beyond all the guest spots, the Pride-month pride that’s always coursed through Echoes Through the Canyon felt even stronger Friday than it has in past years, with Carlile mentioning it’s been one of the more difficult in years. Rising Americana star Allison Russell set the tone early, referencing the record number of bills targeting LGBTQ+ rights currently going through state legislatures. “All the fascists are bound to lose, as they’ve always been,” she declared resolutely over fleet conga rhythms, later noting an “empathy deficit” in the world.
Throughout their opening set, Russell and her Rainbow Coalition band (featuring San Juan Island’s Mandy Fer on guitar) made love feel like a righteous, revolutionary act.
The love fest continues tonight with Mitchell’s first headlining concert in 20-plus years and a rare Highwomen performance Sunday.
Source: The Seattle Times
