An Evening with Vince Gill
Orpheum Theatre, Boston, MA 5/17/2025
By Kathy Hicks
I was truly lit up with anticipation as my brother, Gary, and I walked out onto Boston Common from the Park Street MBTA station. It had been several years since either of us had been to a show at the Orpheum, and even longer since we had been there together. Our father had passed away last September, and Vince Gill was one of his favorite guitarists, so it was a special show for both of us.
There was a considerable amount of construction happening on Tremont Street, making it somewhat confusing to find the entrance to Hamilton Place. We turned in and saw the impressive early crowd that had already gathered under the marquee to go through security. I had my camera bag checked, and then went to Will Call to get my photo pass and tickets before we went to find our seats.
Our seats were conveniently located just to the left of the soundboard. Initially my contract stated that I would be allowed to shoot (only the first three songs) from the soundboard. Unfortunately, this changed per the venue, and I was asked to shoot from the back of the house. These things happen, so we adapt. I was grateful I brought all my lenses with me that night.
Vince came out to a roar of applause and opened the show with his 1993 Billboard #1 Hit, ‘One More Last Chance’. He followed it with his 1994 #2 Hit, ‘What the Cowgirls Do’, and ‘You Better Think Twice’, which garnered him a Grammy for Best Male Country Vocal Performance in 1991.
He was on fire the first set, playing a selection of songs off albums spanning his career from the late 1980’s into the early 2000’s. Going to be honest, I have looked up to him for decades and know all the words to all the songs. So, I was singing harmony along with him, on every song, as I have at every show I’ve attended. I was thrilled at the song selection, especially when he played the Merle Haggard classic ‘The Bottle Let Me Down’, and Buck Owens’ ‘Together Again’, off his collaboration album with Paul Franklin, Bakersfield.
A little over halfway through the first set, Vince paused to introduce his incredible backing band. Jim “Moose” Brown (Hammond B3), Tom Bukovac (guitar), Eddie Dunlap (steel guitar), Jedd Hughes (guitar, vocals), John Jarvis (keyboards), John Meador (guitar, vocals), Wendy Moten (vocals), Jimmie Lee Sloas (bass), Billy Thomas (drums), Jeff White (guitar, vocals). I was thrilled to see John Jarvis and Billy Thomas still playing with Vince. They both have been with him as long as I’ve been going to see him play. The real treat was getting to see an acquaintance from my previous shows with the Earls of Leicester, Jeff White, playing with Vince again. Jeff is a phenomenal musician by his own right, and the fact that he can sing a soprano harmony over an elastic tenor like Vince is a testament to his own range and vocal ability. After introducing the members of his band, Vince featured a couple of them on solo songs. First up was Jedd Hughes, a fantastic lead guitarist and singer/songwriter from Australia, who performed a song from his upcoming album, Nightshade, ‘Loving You is the Only Way to Fly’. Then Vince invited the phenomenal Wendy Moten, the only woman in his entourage, to sing a fiery rendition of Bobby Gentry’s ‘Ode to Billie Jo’.
The second set was primarily devoted to his new material, the lyrics of which are incredibly emotional; many of the songs moved me to tears. Citing from a recent interview with American Songwriter, Vince said he’s writing with a bravery he didn’t have in his 20s. The new songs he’s written are about race, abuse, and forgiveness, writing from a place of life experience. He has a song called ‘Made Me,’ about his whole life playing music. He wrote ‘Benny’s Song’, another deeply personal track, for his best friend and guitar tech of over fifty years who lost his battle with cancer in 2020. He said the song is “a little bit selfish” and “rips his guts out.”
The song ‘When a Soldier Dies’ is a beautifully written piece on the sacrifice of the men and women lost in service to their country, and of the enduring grief of the families left behind. ‘March On, March On’ speaks on the seemingly never-ending struggle for equality, respect and rights for all human beings. ‘Nobody Held Her Like Me’ is a tongue-in-cheek ode to his first love, the guitar, the meaning of which didn’t hit me until later in the song, and had me chuckling when it became clear.
Vince followed up the new songs with ‘Pretty Little Adriana’ and ‘Go Rest High on That Mountain’ – a song written in part as a tribute to the late Keith Whitley and for his late older brother, Bob, who died of a heart attack in 1993. Then, to close out the set, he played a song of his from the early 1980’s that my dad used to cover, Oklahoma Borderline, which Vince and the band played with an absolute fiery abandon, many members taking their own individual solos.
The band left the stage to a standing ovation and roaring applause that didn’t stop until they came back out to do a three song encore that included ‘Whenever You Come Around’, written for his wife Amy Grant, ‘Don’t Let Our Love Start Slippin’ Away’, and finished up with ‘Liza Jane’, which my brother and I covered in our band together in the mid-1990’s, a song with more great picking from Vince and his band.
An incredible, almost three-and-a-half-hour show of great playing, some extremely amusing life anecdotes from Vince that had me almost rolling on the floor, and just consummate musicianship and class.
Here’s a video from a week later c/o E Rocks+’ YouTube channel
As someone who has been influenced by you her whole life, please keep this energy and fire going, Vince. Like a fine whiskey, you’re only getting better with age and this tour and new body of work is proof of it. Thank you for all you do.
To submit an article an article or review, or to just say hello hit us at [email protected]
Also- check out the search feature in the upper right hand corner and search for your favorite artist, event, venue or genre. You’ll be surprised at what you find!
Check out the Live Music News and Review.com Facebook page for updates and announcements.
