Willie Nelson - Live in Amsterdam
With his leathery, whiskered features, his braided ponytails, and an  acoustic guitar so well-worn that it's got a hole in it from decades of playing,  Willie Nelson has grown so casual in his later years that it's easy to overlook  his consummate musicianship. Kicking off their European tour in Amsterdam on  June 7, 2000, Nelson and his traveling "family" of bandmates range through 30  songs and medleys with no-nonsense precision, and for the most part it's  business as usual--just good ol' country music in an intimate setting, captured  simply but efficiently with three-camera video and expert sound recording.  Nelson & family know their repertoire front and back, and although Willie's  voice seems to lack the subtle sweetness it had in the 1970s and '80s, it's  still consistently smooth and inviting, and Nelson introduces just enough  improvisational variation to keep his best-known hits fresh and timelessly  vital. They're all here, from "Whiskey River" to "On the Road Again" and every  favorite in between, and while this career-spanning concert offers flawless  performance with no particular highlights, it clearly displays the veteran  professionalism and underrated guitar licks that have kept Nelson in the  spotlight for decades. From country classics to the more introspective work of  his recent albums, Nelson rides high in the saddle, never taking his global  audience for granted.--Jeff Shannon