‘Variety’ called the show ‘a two-sided portrait of what heart, soul and understated heroism look like in music.’

Bonnie Raitt’s …Just Like That tour arrived in Hollywood on Saturday (24) at the Greek Theater, for her penultimate show with special guest Mavis Staples. Raitt’s 90-minute set included a generous selection of material from the 2022 album that gives the tour its name, as well as plenty of favorites from her distinguished songbook.

Highlights included her signature interpretation of John Prine’s “Angel From Montgomery,” which Raitt told the audience she wasn’t sure she would be able to get through on this tour, in the wake of her friend’s death in 2020. She also shared such fixtures as “Nick Of Time” and “I Can’t Make You Love Me,” covers of John Hiatt’s “No Business,” INXS’ “Need You Tonight,” and Paul Brady’s “Not The Only One,” before a closing “Longing In Their Hearts.”

Musing on the respective credentials, both as artists and as spokespeople for social change, Chris Willman’s review of the show for Variety called it “a two-sided portrait of what heart, soul and understated heroism look like in music…it was a show where you could think about what Staples meant during the civil rights movement, and since, or about Raitt’s role as a warrior without uniform in the early days of women fighting to get their due in rock.

“Or you could just enjoy the chops and grease that feed into the respective performances of historically significant figures who wear their mantles as lightly as anything else they’d need to peel off upon stepping into a humid roadhouse.”

In her own 50-minute set, Staples sang “This Is My Country,” the opening track (which on the record features the late Levon Helm) from her current album Carry Me Home. She also delved into her rich history with the Staple Singers, notably for the anthemic “I’ll Take You There” and for the Curtis Mayfield song “Let’s Do It Again.”

Raitt and Staples have one more show together in this double bill, tomorrow night (27) at the Rady Shell at Jacobs Park in San Diego, before Raitt continues her itinerary with special guest Marc Cohn on Friday in Tempe, Arizona. Dates stretch until November 19.

Watch Bonnie Raitt’s remastered Capitol Records video catalog on her official YouTube channel.

About The Author

Paul Sexton

Writer-broadcaster who contributes to The Sunday Times, Billboard, Music Week and many other titles, and presents and produces shows for BBC Radio 2, Virgin Atlantic and Emirates. Is partial to everyone from James Brown to James Taylor.

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