Monday, Dec. 8, 2003 | 9:24 a.m.
With the National Finals Rodeo in town, Las Vegas has once again turned into Nashville, Nevada, attracting hordes not only of national headliners, but of barroom hopefuls as well.
It's safe to say, however, that one individual whose bus rolled into town to play the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay on Friday night requires no introductions when he travels.
Willie Nelson isn't just country music royalty. He's become the genre's unofficial grandfather-king.
Not so long ago, Nelson shared that honor with such peers as Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings. But the ranks of the old-time cowboy players are dwindling -- most recently with Cash's September death -- leaving the 70-year-old Nelson as traditional country music's most beloved figure.
That much was apparent even before Friday's show. Thrilled at the chance to see a living legend in such an intimate venue, fans sold out the event weeks ago. Some arrived hours early to carve out primo viewing posts inside the theater.
It's safe to say they all went home smiling after Nelson treated his supporters to an enjoyable 37-song set lasting nearly two hours.
Cradling his beat-up acoustic guitar, Trigger, and decked out in dark jeans and a blue T-shirt, the grizzled singer connected with his audience from the start. Nelson smiled, waved and occasionally addressed the crowd.
"Well thank y'all," he repeated humbly between songs, as if genuinely surprised by the enthusiastic response in the room.
Nelson also had fun with his headwear, switching from a black cowboy hat to his familiar red bandana to a red-white-and-blue bandana and, finally, to a baseball cap, tossing each discarded piece to the throng below.
Nelson's music spans generations, from "Crazy," the romantic classic he penned for Patsy Cline in 1961, to "Beer for My Horses," a gunslinging tale he performed with Toby Keith on that modern-day star's 2002 album, "Unleashed."
Appropriately, the crowd varied widely in age as well. Gray-haired gentlemen in 10-gallon hats stood next to 30-somethings who looked as though they would be far more comfortable at a computer than anywhere near a horse.
Despite a rare seated arrangement downstairs, the crowd of 1,100 had plenty of room to stomp its feet, clap its hands and, in one case, square-dance in a tight circle.
"Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys" drew the most yelps, particularly when Nelson reversed the lyric and sang, "Mamas don't let your cowboys grow up to be babies."
But there was plenty more to hoot and holler about, from merry sing-alongs ("On the Road Again" and "City of New Orleans") to sublime ballads ("Always on My Mind" and "Georgia on My Mind").
Nelson's voice retains its warm, natural twang, though a murky sound mix made it tough to pick out his recognize-them-anywhere vocals on such early tunes as "Stay a Little Longer" and "Good Hearted Woman."
His six-piece backing band, which includes younger sister Bobbie on piano and the riveting Mickey Raphael on harmonica, produced a glorious back-porch mood, but Nelson's lyrics only occasionally rang out convincingly above the din.
About a third of the way into the show, however, the issue resolved itself as Nelson's microphone turned up in time for the playful "If You've Got the Money I've Got the Time" and then the elegant "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain."
From there, the highlights came in waves: the good ol' ruckus of "Whiskey River;" the storytelling of "Pancho and Lefty; and more than a few scorching guitar solos by Nelson -- underrated as an instrumentalist -- including one particularly hot stretch in "Still Is Still Moving to Me."
Nelson performed back-to-back numbers by buddy Kris Kristofferson, songs the two men used to play with Cash in country supergroup the Highwaymen.
And the Texas native paid tribute to one of his own heroes, Hank Williams, with the rapid-fire trio of "Jambalaya (On the Bayou)," "Hey Good Lookin' " and "Move it on Over."
Rather than heading offstage and then back on for an encore, Nelson stayed put, adding one, then another, and then two more songs when it looked as if he were done for the night.
During one of those late numbers, "I Gotta Get Drunk," Nelson sang: "There's a lot of doctors that tell me / I better start slowin' it down / But there's more old drunks than there are old doctors / So I think I'll have another round."
We'll drink to that, Willie. And hope that you have plenty more rounds in store for Las Vegas in the years to come.
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