Willie Nelson’s 4th of July Picnic at Freedom Mortgage Pavilion [RECAP]

AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL!! What a 248th Birthday Celebration July 4th was in 2024!

Honored and Blessed to Host this amazing once-in-a-lifetime event as Willie Nelson’s FAMILY AND FRIENDS came to Camadelphia NJ. it was The first time since 1973 that they decided to celebrate out of Willie’s home state of Texas!

It was a 4th of July to remember with my Brittany Rotondo & Drack Pack 93.3 WMMR Photographer Bob Watts. Thank you to everyone who came out and celebrated America’s Birthday at Willie Nelson's 4th of July Picnic!

Willie kicked off his set as always with Johnny Bush’s “Whiskey River,” then it was “Stay All Night” and “Bloody Mary Morning.” Then he breathed in the humidity and said “I’ve been gone for a while, It’s good to be back.” Doctors gave him the ok to play and there he was in a red bandanna and black T-shirt that read “Legalize”. His Martin Acoustic Trigger he put on himself with his Red White and Blue Guitar Strap that matched The American Flag Banner that all bands used behind them.

His set list was amazing doing The Genius of Brother Ray’s Ray Charles’ “Georgia on My Mind” and his own “On the Road Again” — was amazing as always. He also included Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys, Angel Flying To Close To The Ground, Good Hearted Woman, and Kris Kristofferson’s Help Me Make It Through The Night and the live debut of the title track of his 75th Album Border. He even paid tribute to SRV w/Texas Flood and did Pearl Jam’s Just Breathe.

Before Willie took the stage, it was Bob Dylan with a 75-minute set with the great drummer Jim Keltner and bought out Willie’s #1 Harmonica Player Mickey Raphael on Simple Twist Of Fate. Dylan with no cameras or lights on him just candles as he stood behind his piano. He opened with Highway 61 Revisited with Ballad Of A Thin Man also his takes on the Fleetwood’s 1959 “Mr. Blue,” and a kick-ass version of Chuck Berry’s “Little Queenie” and Dave Dudley’s “Six Days On The Road,” and the Grateful Dead’s “Stella Blue.”

Robert Plant and Alison Krauss were fabulous at Willie Nelson's 4th of July Picnic. They played 4 Zepp Songs to keep the Led Heads happy with “Rock and Roll,” and I couldn’t believe they had guitarist JD McPherson in the band! Gallows Pole,” “The Battle of Evermore,” and “When the Levee Breaks” were the other Zep Tracks done with Appalachian mountain music, Celtic folk, and swampy Louisiana R&B beautiful feel! He thanked Alison and the musicians for saving his life. She had fun introducing him as a man now on The 4th eating “hamburgers and fries” instead of “Bird’s custard and mushy peas.”

My Favorite besides Willie was Mavis Staples! We showed her a lot of Respect when I was asked to introduce her and was so honored. Mavis is turning 85 next week so I had everyone sing Happy Birthday to her!! She did a cover of The Talking Heads’ “Slippery People” and imitated Howlin’ Wolf. She also did Parliament-Funkadelic’s “Can You Get to That.”

What a Gospel Powered Voice that has been with us for 8 Decades! She belted out “I’m just another soldier in the army of love” one of the Staple Singers’ best songs! Let’s Do It Again Soon Mavis!! I even got a kiss and heartfelt Thank You for my Intro from The Legendary Mavis Staples and sat next to Robert Plant with Jim Sutcliffe of Live Nation & EJ from our sister station 102.9 WMGK!!

Also on The Show was Maren Morris. The Texas native who was the most currently mainstream act on the bill, held her own on stage with duo Bowen & Young and guitarist Celisse.

Long Live Willie!! GOD BLESS AMERICA & GOD BLESS WILLIE NELSON THE AMERICAN TREASURE!!

See more photos from Willie Nelson's 4th of July Picnic on my Facebook page.

Some people go to the shore on MDW but when My Girlfriend Brittany says "Let’s spend the night together" with The Worlds Greatest Rock And Roll Band, we could get nosebleed seats hours before the show we make the trek up The NJ Turnpike to MetLife Stadium in Rutherford NJ for Night # 2 of their Hackney Diamonds Tour!!

First up let me say it will always be The Meadowlands to me!! Mick Jagger is the Greatest Frontman to ever grace a stage and owned the New York metropolitan area playing in it over 100 times during their 60-plus career.

What an amazing surprise setlist with a few gems. Taking the stage after openers Lawrence at 9:30p “Start Me Up” and “Get Off of My Cloud,” back-to-back staples then going into the great Sticky Fingers track “Bitch” for the first time since 2022, only the second time since 2019. Then, the band played their new song Hackney Diamonds single “Angry” and it was tight with Steve Jordan holding it down for Charlie and Mick announced that “Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker),” from the 1973 LP Goats Head Soup, won the evening’s fan vote. Very appropriate close to NYC with the line ”The police in New York City/ They chased a boy right through the park/ And in a case of mistaken identity/ They put a bullet through his heart.”) I also thought Miss You with Central Park reference would be played but it was not !?

The Stones then played the beautiful Sticky Fingers ballad “Wild Horses,” which actually won Thursday’s fan vote at MetLife but Jagger said the fans really enjoyed it so he did it again for us. Jagger also had fun with the crowd during the band introductions, mentioning that Connecticut, where KEEF has lived for many years, claims to have better pizza than New York. The crowd booed lol. Keef stepped up to the mic for his 2 song set and surprised us all when he debuted the Hackney Diamonds Keef song “Tell Me Straight.”

The Stones so far have only performed three or four cuts from the album a night and have only played seven of the tracks ever live, this Met Life Show # 2 marks only the second time they have debuted a Hackney Diamonds song this tour. They must get the warhorses in back-to-back renditions of “Sympathy for the Devil” and “Honky Tonk Women,” another Stones song that mentions NYC, They gave us another tour debut by playing the Let It Bleed standout “Midnight Rambler.” The song, which was last played in 2022, highlights Jagger showing off his harmonica skills with Keef on his Les Paul Jr. and the band segueing into a bit of Robert Johnson’s “Come On in My Kitchen." The Encore included the gospelized “Sweet Sounds Of Heaven” from Hackney Diamonds and Satisfaction!!

The band is firing on all cylinders with Woody pumping out the riffs on his Gibson Sunburst and some Backup Vocals and Chuck Leavell counting everyone in Jagger’s new onstage playmate is the powerhouse background vocalist Chanel Haynes who is amazing on her delivery on Gimmie Shelter! You can’t go wrong studying Tina !!

Don’t miss The Bad Boys Of Rock and Roll when they arrive in Philadelphia on 6/11/24 At Lincoln Financial Field! I will catch you there broadcasting live. Thanx for another great night that we are so lucky to have this band in our lifetime. We will never ever see a band like this again. Long Live The Rolling Stones!!! Thank You to My Rotumbles for this magical night!