Credit: Photo by Gary Miller

Norah Jones

Zilker Park, Oct. 10

Decked out in cowboy boots and a red dress, in front of a backdrop of white curtains, Norah Jones inspired worship. “We have the same dress,” quipped one fawning female. “We’re soul mates!” Playful in conversation and soulful in song, the singer could do no wrong, captivating an all-but-silenced and awestruck audience throughout her entire set. Switching from electric guitar (“I Wouldn’t Need You”) to keyboard (“It’s Gonna Be”) to acoustic guitar (Johnny Cash’s “Cry, Cry, Cry”) and playing with a crack fivepiece band highlighted by guitarist Smokey Hormel, who contributed the vocal low end on Neil Young’s “The Losing End,” Jones took the Sunday sun down slow and easy. “It’s nighttime now, but we’re going to do a song about the sunrise,” she announced before breaking into “Sunrise” and “Chasing Pirates.” Her best move she saved for last. Facing sound bleed halfway through closer “Lonestar,” Texas’ darling (“my home state, baby!”) asked for help drowning out the Eagles and got her wish exactly: a once-hypnotized crowd in full support of a true showstopper.

This article appears in October 15 • 2010.

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