Still a captivating stage presence after almost seven decades as a singer-songwriter, Judy Collins’s Lobero show on September 27 was perhaps a bit uneven — she is 87, after all — but her enduringly clear soprano is still gorgeous and quite stellar, especially in the lower registers, if a little wobbly at the very top end.
She began the evening with her first Grammy Award winner (best folk recording) from 1969, the enduring “Both Sides Now,” accompanied by her longtime touring pianist Russell Walden. They both sounded stellar and were clearly beloved by the crowd, which included Collins’s sister Holly, who moved here from Santa Fe, she told us.
“I love this space, and I love it full of all of you,” said Collins, as she led us through an evening of older favorites including “Sons Of,” “Cactus Tree,” “New Moon Over the Hudson,” and “Houses,” as well as a few newer songs from her 2022 Spellbound album, such as “The Blizzard” and “When I Was a Girl in Colorado.”
She also did a beautiful take on “Amazing Grace,” which many in the audience joined in for, and her rendition of Sondheim’s “Send in the Clowns” gave me chills. So did seeing her hand out roses at the end of the show to her young-at-heart fans as she sang the classic “Where Have All the Flowers Gone.” I really wished my mom could have been with me, as I know she would have rushed to get her roses from Judy.
