FARGO - How old is Don Williams?
So old that when he jokes about coming out of four years of retirement last year, he listened to cassette tapes (remember those?) to help him through his songs.
So old that instead of gobbling up alcohol and pills on stage like a young star, he's drinking coffee and sucking throat lozenges.
So old that his audience actually held lighters, not cellphone simulators (simu-lighters?), during his hit "Amanda."
There are lots of "old" jokes you can make about the country singer, but as he proved Wednesday night at the Fargo Theatre, he still delivers the goods.
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Granted, those goods are the kind of mellow Nashville nuggets that age as well as Williams' trademark tri-corner cowboy hat.
For a 72-year-old that's been on the road for about 50 years, "the Gentle Giant's" voice sounds just as smooth as it does on original recordings.
There were few surprises in the set, which can be divided into three groups. There are nostalgic tunes (like his opener "Good Ol' Boys like Me" and "In the Family"), never-ending love songs ("I Believe in You" and "'Til the Rivers All Run Dry") and songs about getting over what you thought was never-ending love ("She Never Knew Me" and "Some Broken Hearts Never Mend").
Williams still pulls them all off. He had the sold-out crowd (even with additional seats added) of 865 clapping and singing along.
When he quit singing and the music dropped out during "You're My Best Friend," the crowd sounded like a church. Even more so on the reverent follow-up, "Lord I Hope This Day Is Good."
And while he was seated, dressed in jeans and cowboy boots, his back-up band wore slacks and button-up shirts and looked more like your stepdad's praise band. One guitarist even wore a sweater-vest. Square, indeed, but musically solid.
In fact, they seemed a little too tight at first. The animatronic band at Chucky Cheese showed more life than Williams' stage show until they shook things up with three songs that never even charted ("Her Perfect Memory," "How Did You Do It?" and "From Now On") seven songs into the set. The group found a new groove and came out of their shells, or sweater vest.
The packed house wasn't there to see a great stage show. They went to hear the hits, and they got them, in a condensed, casino-like 80-minute set.
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"I don't have the gift for gab," Williams said in his deep, bass-baritone voice. But when he started asking about the flooding, he reminded me of another bearded, deep voice - Fargo Mayor Denny Walaker.
And Williams got the last laughs. When someone shouted for "Tulsa Time," Williams asked in his Eeyore-like voice, "Can I do it when I'm ready to do it?"
Maybe not Mr. Excitement, but just like Walaker, Williams does his job right.
Readers can reach Forum reporter John Lamb at (701) 241-5533
