At various points in his long and winding musical journey, Willie Nile has been compared to Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, and Bruce Springsteen, among others. The truth is, he has been a little of all of them, but the sum of it all adds up to a unique performer who, even nearing his 77th birthday, continues to be one of the best outright rock and rollers in the USA.
Nile brought his three-piece backing band to the Washington, DC area for several shows last weekend. Friday, he was at the Hamilton in the middle of the city. Sunday, he came to the intimate Collective Encore in Columbia, where he rocked out for just under two hours, playing songs old and new and telling stories about what it’s like to be both rocker and grandpa.
His opening number, from 2016’s World War Willie, provided a perfect introduction for those in the crowd who might have been unfamiliar. “Forever Wild” is a big anthemic recollection of what it used to be and what it’s like today.
Willie Nile and his sing-along songs are epic in concert
“Now as years roll by like a mystery train – Chasing blood through my vein – Some things can get lost in a hurricane – But some things remain – Sixteen and crazy – We were aching to be.”
Even without the piano that drives the album version, you could almost hear Bruce and the E Street Band singing the song.
A little while later, Willie started telling his stories. About writing songs for Mick. About playing songs with Bruce. About his meandering career that has proceeded in fits and starts. Through it all, he has been a quintessential New York rocker, as he first laid out on “Life on Bleecker Street,” from 2013’s American Ride, which Bono praised as being one of the best and most nuanced American albums.
“Lost and Lonely World” came from 2020’s New York at Night, though Willie couldn’t remember which album it was on. The crowd reminded him. Two things became apparent from that little exchange. First, Willie Nile has written a lot of songs – too many to remember. Second, he doesn’t have to because his fans do remember. It seemed at times that Willie knew half the Collective crowd.
One other thing became apparent. Willie Nile writes songs that make you want to sing along. It doesn’t matter whether you have ever heard the song before. His songwriting instincts are so fine-tuned that even brand-new songs sound like instant old favorites.
So even though I knew and could join in on “Lost and Lonely World,” I also found myself quickly singing along to “We Are, We Are,” “An Irish Goodbye,” and “It’s a Wild Wild World,” songs that have yet to be released. It was only the second time the last one had been played in public.
They will all be released on his upcoming album Great Yellow Light, due out in June.
When he wasn’t greeting friends, telling tales, or flat out rocking the house down, Nile spent a fair bit of time praising his band. They have been together for a while now, and it shows. Jon Weber’s aggressive drumming and Johnny Pisano’s melodic bass runs prevent the pace from lagging and provide an ideal floor for guitarist Jimmy Bones’ lightning solos.
For the final encore – the only cover of the evening – each took turns running wild all over “A Hard Day’s Night.” The crowd was on its feet, not just singing along, but dancing.
Willie Nile is a walking catalogue of rock & roll. From his black jacket featuring pictures and phrases of rock & roll’s history (he has a half dozen of them – Sunday’s featured Keith Richards on one sleeve), to the sensational name-dropping “House of a Thousand Guitars,” (singling out everyone from Jimi Hendrix to Bob Dylan, Robert Johnson to Muddy Waters, Hank Williams to John Lee Hooker), everything he does is steeped in rock’s past and present.
And maybe in its future. Why not? Nile may be about to turn 77, but his dad is still going reasonably strong - “getting boiled” with his kids – at 107. I don’t imagine Willie will still be rocking–or, as he defines what he does, “fooling around with conviction” – at his dad’s age. But after seeing the energy he still brings to a live show, I don’t imagine he’ll slow down anytime soon.