Jackson Browne must drink from the same Fountain of Youth as Dick Clark. Save for a little grey stubble, Browne, who will turn 61 next month, looked about the same Monday night at the State Fair grandstand as he did in his Twin Cities debut in the early '70s at the Guthrie Theater.
However, at first, his concert at the Great Minnesota Get-Together left a crowd of 6,579 baby boomers feel like he was drinking from a fountain of sorrow. The 65-minute opening set made him seem like Grandpa Rock to Saturday's headliner Kid Rock. Browne focused on material from the '90s and '00s instead of the '70s and '80s tunes that earned him a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Performing a bunch of slow, unfamiliar-to-the-crowd tunes on the last night of a yearlong tour, Browne seemed tired and expressionless. The pacing and song selection were off, with only every third or fourth song (namely "Fountain of Sorrow," "In the Shape of a Heart" and "Take It Easy") connecting with the fans.
If it seemed as if Browne were running on empty in the opening segment, he turned into an almost-rockin' pretender after intermission. As he took the stage, a fan yelled for the song "Cocaine." Responded the star: "I could sing 'Cocaine,' but I'd have to sing you the rehab version, and I'm not sure that's what you're looking for."
Instead, Browne delivered the kind of the 1970s favorites the crowd was looking for -- "Jamaica Say You Will," a passionate "Rock Me on the Water" and the peppy, piano-propelled "Doctor My Eyes," which segued into 2002's "About My Imagination," which found backup singers Chavonne Morris and Alethea Mills getting fiery and guitarist Mark Goldenberg tearing into a full-on raveup.
The ensuing "Lives in the Balance," the 1986 tune fascinatingly recast as an acoustic Afro-Cuban soul piece, suggested that, yes, Browne needs to balance his repertoire.
Fans will tolerate his political forays ("Going Down to Cuba") and ponderous love dirges ("Just Say Yeah") as long as he gives them his pretty poetic reflections on relationships ("For a Dancer," "The Pretender") and remembers to rock out ("Running on Empty," the reggae-style "I Am a Patriot," with its fabulous vocal arrangement).
By the end of the 85-minute second set, when Browne played the inevitable "The Load Out/Stay," the State Fair fans probably felt that they had finally witnessed the quintessential 1970s Southern California singer-songwriter they had expected.
