Despite a shared debt to traditional country, folk and blues, Lyle Lovett, John Hiatt, Joe Ely and Guy Clark couldn’t be more different as songwriters. Yet one thing the members of this ad hoc quartet do have in common is that for all their acclaim, and for all their fans, none of them garners regular radio play. Legends or not, they might as well exist in an alternate universe where good looks and savvy marketing don’t supercede skill and ability
Yet, if there’s anything the foursome’s Friday night appearance at the Chicago Theatre proved, it’s that Lovett, Hiatt, Ely and Clark — three Texans and one Hoosier — are nonetheless plenty successful on their own terms. Respect alone can’t pay the bills, but talents this huge will always at least manage and, in fact, often far exceed expectations.
With no set list, they moved down the line, alphabetically, each drawing from their deep catalogs of favorite songs with nothing but an acoustic guitar and ego placed firmly in check. And really, how could it go any other way? One-upmanship was out of the question, as where do you go when the strength of the songwriting starts at the top and never lets up?
Instead, the challenge faced by the singers was one of regulating the mood rather than wowing the fans, who remained entranced throughout. Few musicians would want to follow Hiatt’s riveting “Crossing Muddy Waters,” but Lovett did it by offering the self-effacing “It Could Be All Downhill From Here.”
With the song selection a sure thing, bonus fun could be had just watching each performer react to another. Their pleasure plain to see, they smiled, laughed, looked somber and sometimes sang along, transformed before the audience’s very eyes from stars to fellow fans with just a few strums of a guitar.