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Kris Kristofferson on Tour
When Kris Kristofferson hits the stage, it's clear why he's become a legend of outlaw country. He plays it like he feels it — as an unfancy, master singer-songwriter, sometimes with a band and sometimes without, strumming his acoustic guitar and delivering his game-changing songs with well-weathered style. His character-rich voice lets you know he's been around the block more than once, and the songs combine a poet's command of language with a country singer's knack for putting things together organically so they go down easy. Along the way, he slips in his one-of-a-kind perspective on things. He might be unpacking the wistful romanticism of "Me and Bobby McGee" or depicting the morning-after madness of "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down," but he always makes you see the world a bit differently.
Kris Kristofferson in Concert
After Kris Kristofferson first started making waves in Nashville in the late '60s, country music (and American music) was forever changed. Singer-songwriters had never written so frankly about sensuality, and country had never had its own Bob Dylan before. With Kristofferson came a glorious collision of poetry-laden lyrics and countercultural sensibilities with the attitude of rock 'n' roll and the template of classic country. Besides making waves with his own albums, he reached into our collective conscience through his songs' numerous covers, performed by artists like Janis Joplin ("Me and Bobby McGee") and Sammi Smith ("Help Me Make It Through the Night"). Before the '70s were over, his natural charisma and chiseled countenance had helped make him a movie star too, with films like Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore and A Star Is Born. Later he became a member of legendary supergroup The Highwaymen, alongside Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson. As the decades passed, Kristofferson has never backed away from his commitment to write and perform to the utmost of his abilities. He's a true-blue American legend.
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Kris was wonderful. He sang so many of his songs, the Strangers were great. The facility The Uptown Theater is so beautiful inside, intimate, great sound system, bar area is full of your favorites. Great way to spend an evening.
There was no interaction with the audience and his vice is going. But hey, it is Kris!
While he is in his twilight, he shone all night, continuing to play song after song without stopping. His band is excellent. A mellow, memory-filled night. And the crowd of old-timers was crazier than those at a Black Sabbath concert!
Kris Kristofferson is an American hero who wrote great songs and sang with spirit and harmony. But, his age has taken a toll on his voice. We went to see an incredible man and a great song writer, but at 84 years young, he isn't able to master the songs he once sung. He is still a hero to us all....
Love this venue and vibe. Kris and the group did a great job showcasing the music of one our generations great songwriters. The Merrill Haggard tunes were an added bonus!
Kris and the Strangers is a concert you won't want to miss especially if you listened to his music and saw his movies back in the day. Ojai has a great outdoor venue with great artists and Kris does not disappoint. You can close your eyes and immediately know who you are listening to. If you get the chance take time to see Kris before he decides to call it a day on the touring road.
I saw him in his 40's snd thought I better go see him because he probably wouldn't perform much longer....here he is at 83....going strong! God bless him.
If we had known that Kris Kristofferson had not been well and that his ability to perform had substantially declined we would not have attended this concert. We really felt deceived after spending $50/ticket for 4 tickets. Not only was the venue (Starlight Bowl in Burbank, California) only about a third full, but people began leaving early, as we did, when it became very clear that KK is no longer anywhere near able to sing or play the guitar. Why is he continuing to perform when his decline is so obvious. We felt sorry for him.
First when I purchased the tickets I picked the seats I wanted based on a diagram given on the site for starlight bowl. When we got to our seats, we were supposed to be in BOX B left side, row 1, seat 7-8. This was not true they were not in the first row of the box, they were in the second row - crammed in behind another couple. There was very little help at this show and the food was terrible and overpriced - I will be bringing my own food in the future. As for the show itself, I was looking forward to hearing Kris sing and it was awful. I know he is in his 80's but you could barely hear the words he was singing/mumbling - it was as if he recently had a stroke. In addition he needed assistance walking off the stage. I felt terrible for him. He needs to retire from singing in concerts.
A great venue to experience a great artist. Kris and the Strangers put on a memorable show.
The venue was good, though the seats are uncomfortable. Kris was really struggling to get through the evening. He gave it his best, but his voice is almost gone. Very sad.
Age is showing but the attitude is still there. Beautiful venue
This legendary musician, incredibly accomplished song writer, actor, former Army Captain, helicopter pilot , Oxford student and Pomona College literary major, is still rocking. The audience longed for stories, but he impressively sang nonstop for a couple hours. Speaking comprised briefly prefacing several songs, band introduction and reciprocating the audience's expressions of love and gratitude. It was a heartwarming thrill to sing along with him on Bobby McGee, etc.. Slurs were a bit concealed by the band, but he didn't miss a beat on lyrics or transcending us. The spirit of this sweet privilege included the audience's hope for encore. Much gratitude for a warm and nostalgic evening from a decades-long fan. Thank you, Kris Kristofferson
He is really at the point in his career that he needs to surround himself with someone dynamic.
Always enjoy my experience at the Uptown theatre. The performance by Kris Kristofferson and the Strangers was memorable. Always enjoy Kris and his song selection.
Loved the show. The theater was great. Our seats were also perfect.... great night...
I saw Kris Kristoffersonon on 8/22/19, backed by three of Merle Haggard’s band, The Strangers, at the Uptown Theatre in Napa, had a front row seat (sometimes it’s worth getting up close and personal). For perspective, consider that the last time I had seen him was in 1969 at the Berkeley Folk Festival when he had just recorded “Me and Bobby McGee” and it was not yet a hit. Now, I’m not one who’s given to superlatives, but I’ve got to say the man is a walking, singing anthology of genius and excellence in songwriting. As he went through his catalogue of some of his greatest songs, singing them quite well, (though in a lower range than originally, I’m pretty sure,) I felt like the songs, not the man, were front and center onstage, and he was just the vehicle for transmitting them, telling their stories. I can see why he was chosen as an actor, as that is what acting is all about. And he doesn’t use a persona like Tom Waits—he’s pure Kristofferson. Although he didn’t talk much between songs, he didn’t have to—his smiles, little gestures to his band, and his presence (that ineffable thing that you see on the runway in show dogs who win) said it all. I don’t remember him having that presence as well developed in 1969, which gives me hope that maybe winners aren’t just born that way but work at it till they acquire it. What is similar is his humble, almost bumbling style, which, while it wouldn’t work for most performers, comes across as genuine and endearing in Kristofferson, cutting a musical giant down to human size that the audience can relate to. Now, Kris probably doesn’t need the money, so this tour was about something else—connecting with his peeps (a goodly percentage of which were in the boomer age demographic or older)—giving them the music they grew up on and made love to. He was obviously having fun onstage, being in front of an audience and with a solid band backing him who were highly conversant in the idiom of 60s-70s singer-songwriter country genre, having years of experience with Merle. The Strangers also seemed to be enjoying being onstage with Kris in front of an audience again. They knew their chops and made it all look easy and sound great. They really shared the stage with Kris singing a number of Merle’s songs, alternating with Kris and spelling his voice, so that Kris and The Strangers were able to show their stuff to the advantage of both. This was a concert where the featured performer, the band, and the audience were all happier than pigs wallowing in thick, cool, glorious mud (which, for a pig, is an exalted state of being). As a songwriter myself, I felt something else was going on besides a fine writer and performer connecting with his audience’s experiences and memories of his songs in their lives. As Kris was singing “Loving Her Was Easier,” I got a strong vibe that the spirits of Mickey Newbury, Merle Haggard, and Guy Clark could have been there, drinks in hand, saying, “What you got?” as they listened to each other’s new songs, nodding, smiling as Kris sang lyrics that just nailed the emotion, the experience, the song style of the era—and afterwards saying, “Damn, Kris, you got that one right!” From all I’ve read and heard, the best songwriters of that era were inspired by each other to continually do better and reach a level of excellence in expressing their experience in song that, to my mind, is unsurpassed to this day. And I got the distinct feeling they are all still here, embodied in Kris now. He wears the mantle of their combined excellence. Which brought me to a somewhat spiritual revelation: We are not lost after we’re gone—we are present in our shared creativity, in the influence our work had and has on our cohorts, and we carry on connecting to others through them as long as one of us is alive to continue our memories and our works. Now, I’m not talking channeling or woo-woo stuff, here, but it seemed like Kris was carrying the onus of all those guys—like they were onstage with him, singing with and through him in the best possible way. Not like a burden or weight, but rather a freeing of all that creativity, an ability to play with it and have fun with it—like in the lyric, “Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.” Whatta ya got to lose?—nothing any more, so just go for it! That’s what all those guys were doing there and Kris was just enjoying the hell out of it. As was I. Good show!
You could see the joy and love of singing in his eyes during the show. It blew me away
Kris and the Strangers do a 2 hour performance featuring all of his super hits. The Strangers are featured on a few Mearl Haggard hits during the performance. The performance is just good music at a volume level that does not make your ears bleed. Worth the money for the show.
Intimate feeling in the theater and good legroom. Sound mix could be improved in favor of KK, but otherwise thoroughly enjoyable experience. Important that audience stays seated until the end of play which doesn't happen in many of today's mega venues where people pay high prices only to have to stand because the whole audience is standing and singing -- full-throat-ed -- throughout the concert.
