Bonnie Raitt honors the late John Prine on his birthday at Milwaukee's Riverside Theater

by Piet Levy

Tuesday would have been the great John Prine's 77th birthday, if COVID-19 hadn't taken the singer-songwriter in 2020.

But his spirit was alive and well at the Riverside Theater in Milwaukee, with Prine's great friend and admirer Bonnie Raitt on the stage.

"There'll never be anyone like him," Raitt said to cheers from the capacity crowd Tuesday. "We just have to keep playing his music. Tell your kids to tell their kids to keep it going."

Raitt did just that, gently strumming the opening notes for her signature cover of Prine's "Angel From Montgomery."

Every time I've seen her play that song, it's a highlight of the night, between Prine's poetic lyrics and Raitt's tender interpretation.

But this time was different, even more poignant and powerful. Raitt's guitar — unaccompanied by her four backing musicians for the first verse — was gentler, her vocal tone softer, more conversational. It didn't feel like a performance. It almost felt like she was speaking directly to Prine in the great beyond, her voice soaring majestically to the heavens just for her final notes, her head humbly lowering at the end, as if in reverent contemplation.

Yet again the highlight of her set, "Angel from Montgomery" also made it clear what makes Raitt's concerts so special. Beyond the soulful voice and guitar work, beyond an extensive catalog showered with Grammys, it's her presence in the moment, now bordering on the profound in the wake of the pandemic robbing us, and Raitt, of live music.

That was evident Tuesday on another Prine tribute, before she performed the title track of her 18th studio album "Just Like That … ," released last year.

Likening herself to Becky to Prine's Tom Sawyer, Raitt talked about "his twinkly eyes" before wishing him a happy heavenly birthday. She said Tuesday that she put the music to "Just Like That … " a week after he died, and Prine's touch is all over the song. There's the directness of the lyrics that cuts to the heart, as the protagonist, a mother swallowed up in grief over the death of her son, recognizes that "no knife can carve away the stain/no drink can drown regret."

And then there's redemption that feels so real, so human, as a man appears on her doorstep, thanking her for "a life you gave us both": Her son was an organ donor, and the man had received her son's heart.

"I lay my head upon his chest," Raitt sang sweetly Tuesday. "And I was with my boy again."

The world, Raitt included, was shocked when "Just Like That … " won the song of the year award at the Grammys this year, beating out superstars like Taylor Swift and Beyoncé. Tuesday's performance confirmed it was worthy of that acknowledgement.

Across her hour-and-40-minute set, Raitt also acknowledged other musicians who have passed on in recent years, from Jimmy Buffett to Art Neville. She talked about her former collaborator, guitarist David Lindley, who died in March, before performing "Have a Heart" from "Nick of Time," with Raitt leaning her head on her guitarist Duke Levine's shoulder as he played.

There was sorrow Tuesday, yes. But the show was largely a celebration — of Raitt's proud self-proclaimed "elder" status, of the people no longer living who live on through us. That sentiment was set Tuesday with a bouncy "Just Like That … " song, "Livin' for the Ones," and Raitt honored its mission statement time and again.

After stinging from an ex-lover's cruelty for "Just Like That … " track "Blame It on Me," Raitt switched the tone, dropping the closing line "I blame it on you, baby" with delicious confidence to rousing cheers, the equivalent of a lyrical mic drop. And for a cover of Talking Heads' "Burning Down the House," Raitt reinterpreted Milwaukee native Jerry Harrison's trippy synths with rollicking blues slide guitar.

That wasn't the only nod to Milwaukee Tuesday. Raitt talked about receiving postcards from Milwaukee from her father John, the musical theater actor and singer, thinking of it as an exotic locale. And she revealed that on her day off from the tour Monday, instead of sticking around in Chicago, she hung out in Milwaukee with her longtime friend and local music scene hero Paul Cebar — touring around Walker's Point, Bay View, Third Ward — and dedicated "Blame It on Me" Tuesday to his partner Cynthia Zarazua ahead of her birthday.

“I saw a whole bunch of wonderful neighborhoods, and this is a really cool town," Raitt said.

Raitt also praised Cebar's show "Way Back Home" on WMSE-FM (91.7), saying Tuesday that she listens to it every week, calling it "killer."

"Paul is such an inspiration to me and such a great artist," Raitt said.

It was only fair then that Raitt would perform such an inspired set in his hometown.

6 takeaways from Bonnie Raitt’s Milwaukee concert

I can’t fathom how much fun it would have been cruising around Milwaukee neighborhoods with Paul Cebar. Paul, if you’re reading this, I know you’re plenty busy, but you should seriously consider starting a Milwaukee touring business as a side hustle.

Signs were posted around the Riverside Tuesday asking that people put away their phones during the show, and an announcement was made as well before Raitt took the stage. From where I was sitting in the balcony, everyone around me actually complied, and at night's end, as Raitt and the band took their bows, she gave fans permission to take pictures.

If Raitt’s tour wasn’t taking her to Minneapolis, she might have stuck around Milwaukee, given the excitement in her voice when she talked about Bob Dylan’s shows at the Riverside Wednesday and Thursday, and Lucinda Williams' Pabst Theater concert Thursday. She included a Dylan cover in her set Tuesday, “Million Miles,” dedicating it to Dylan's touring bass player Tony Garnier, who was in the audience.

Beyond warm words for her band, Raitt individually named and praised each member of her touring team Tuesday — and looked mortified when she accidentally popped her microphone at one point, apologizing directly to her sound folks for the loud noise.

Raitt's 2023 tour will wrap up this week after about five months. Tuesday, she said she would be trading performances for less exciting nights at home debating between reading the New Yorker or watching a movie. But you can see the final show: She'll be performing for an upcoming episode of "Austin City Limits" Saturday.

He wasn’t listed on the bill, but seeing Roy Rogers hit the stage as the opening act Tuesday was a delightful surprise. Once a producer for and band member with John Lee Hooker, Roy Rogers showed his Delta blues bona fides with a 40-minute solo opening set. There was plenty of showboating, his fingers strutting and sliding on acoustic guitar through “Down Home Girl” (an Alvin Robertson song later covered by the Rolling Stones). But his more nuanced interpretations were equally gripping, like the way his wavy guitar melodies fell to a whisper as he contemplated his inevitable demise during Robert Johnson’s “Stones in My Passway.” Raitt sang his praises during her set before she sang a song, and her longtime friend joined her at night’s end for “Gnawin’ On It” — a song they wrote together for her 2002 “Silver Lining” album — and a cover of B.B. King’s “Never Make a Move Too Soon.”

Contact Piet at (414) 223-5162 or plevy@journalsentinel.com. Follow him on X at @pietlevy or Facebook at facebook.com/PietLevyMJS. 

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