On Wednesday, May 15, Mavis Staples celebrated her 80th birthday with the second of three “Mavis & Friends” concerts. During the concert at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, the legendary soul singer was joined by a number of high-profile friends, including Sheryl Crow, Margo Price, Jason Isbell, Langhorne Slim, Nicole Atkins, The War And Treaty, North Mississippi Allstars, Elle King and more.
The evening began with a 30-minute introductory set, featuring a handful of the guest performers on hand. Langhorne Slim opened the set with the traditional “Old Time Religion,” before Nicole Atkins offered up “Have A Little Faith” and “Freedom Songs.” After two tunes from Phil Cook and friends, the frame finished out with “Sit Down Servant,” which the Tennessean reports earned a standing ovation.
From there, Staples made her first appearance of the evening, pairing the Staple Singers’ “Uncloudy Day” (featuring Marty Stuart) with “Take Us Back” off her 2016 record, Livin’ On A High Note. Next, Nicole Atkins returned to assist on another Livin’ On A High Note track, the Ben Harper-penned “Love And Trust,” ahead of “For What It’s Worth” featuring The Lone Bellow. Jason Isbell guested on 2019’s “Change,” offering up a soaring guitar solo, ahead of takes on “For Celestial Shore” with Nick Lowe and “Respect Yourself” with Elle King.
As the evening continued, more guests made moved in and off of the stage, helping the singer perform tunes from her most recent albums as well as her tenure with her familial soul group, the Staple Singers. For the final songs of the extended set, Margo Price teamed with Staples to sing a powerful rendition of “Will The Circle Be Unbroken,” followed by the Sheryl Crow-assisted “Touch A Hand, Make A Friend” and “I’ll Take You There,” featuring Wilco‘s Pat Sansone. The show culminated with an all-star performance of The Band’s “The Weight,” featuring all the musicians in the house including Billy Strings.
Fan-Shot Videos
I’ll Take You There Captured by Jasonferrell
Will The Circle Be Unbroken Captured by listentomaggie
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Will The Circle Be Unbroken Captured by annkpowers
The Weight Captured by g.ontheroad
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The Weight Captured by alight00
The Weight Captured by leebaker
Touch A Hand, Make A Friend Captured by scottyatomic
Change Captured by dlukask
Uncloudy Day Captured by AmandaBroadwayBand
Stronger Captured by jz474tn
Setlist (via Tennessean)
Introduction Set: Old Time Religion (Langhorne Slim), Have A Little Faith (Nicole Atkins), Freedom Songs (Nicole Atkins with “Howlin’” Pelle Almqvist of The Hives), Get Together (Phil Cook with Tamisha Waden and Mavis “Swan” Poole), Wish I Had Answered (Phil Cook with Tamisha Waden and Mavis “Swan” Poole), Sit Down Servant (The War And Treaty)
Mavis Staples Set: Uncloudy Day (with Marty Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives), Take Us Back, Slippery People, Love and Trust (with Nicole Atkins), For What It’s Worth (with The Lone Bellow), Change (with Jason Isbell), Far Celestial Shore (with Nick Lowe), Respect Yourself (with Elle King), Freedom Highway (with North Mississippi Allstars and War and Treaty), Stronger (with Wynonna Judd), You Are Not Alone (with the Milk Carton Kids and Pat Sansone of Wilco), Will The Circle Be Unbroken (with Maggie Rogers, Margo Price and Jeremy Ivey), Touch A Hand, Make A Friend (with Sheryl Crow), I’ll Take You There (with Pat Sansone of Wilco)
Encore: The Weight (ensemble)
