Concert Review: Bonnie Raitt

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“Thanks so much for going deep with me,” Bonnie Raitt said offhandedly to the audience after performing a tour de force version of “I Can’t Make You Love Me,” her first encore Thursday night at Ruth Eckerd Hall. The crowd of 2,083 cheered, somewhat meekly, through the lumps in their throats.

It was a special evening. A concert that transcended entertainment. A concert that made you think, made you smile, made you move, but most of all made you feel.

Raitt, 59, looking fit in a purple top and hugging jeans, surrendered herself to the emotional tenor the songs. She brought plenty of swagger to the hard-shuffling blues “Never Make Your Move Too Soon,” to past hits like “Thing Called Love” and “Let’s Give Them Something to Talk About” and, especially, to an acoustic take on “Love Me Like a Man,” where she snarled the line “I want a man to rock me like my … backbone was his own.”

But Raitt’s most memorable moments came during the sadder numbers. Especially poignant was “Nick of Time,” which she dedicated to her brother Steve, who died of cancer in April. Performing at the keyboard, her meditation on aging put a spell on the baby boomer audience with lyrics like “Life gets mighty precious when there’s less of it to waste.” During an acoustic portion midway through the set, Raitt and company performed Richard Thompson’s lovely ballad “Dimming of the Day” and one of her mainstays, John Prine’s “Angel From Montgomery,” which she began a cappella, another stirring highlight.

Raitt is often lauded for her stellar work on electric bottleneck guitar – and that was very much in evidence last night – but it’s her singing that’s the biggest marvel. Her voice has an innate bluesiness, and she doesn’t have to force the issue by overselling a phrase. So when she stirs in a little whiskey-ish rasp or draws out a line or bends a note, it adds a tingle of thrill to the tune, but always naturally. Raitt is a true song interpreter who immerses herself into narrative arc, the meaning and, especially, the feeling of each selection.

And what a band she had. Drummer Ricky Fataar, guitarist George Marinelli and bassist Hutch Hutchinson have collectively logged dozens of years backing Raitt. They’re simpatico was superb at Ruth Eckerd Hall. But it was the newest member, keyboardist Ricky Peterson, who dished up the wow moments. His delicate organ licks added color to “Nick of Time;” his slow, jazzy electric piano solo on “I Can’t Make You Love Me” gave the song a moving denouement. And to cap it off, Peterson ably squared off in a duet with Raitt on “Good Man, Good Woman.”

Through the 1970s and ’80s, Bonnie Raitt experienced, often endured, a topsy-turvy career, then became a full-fledged star beginning with 1989’s Grammy-sweeping Nick of Time album. Her celebrity has died down considerably in the 2000s, and that seems to suit her better. Last night, she had no new album to flog; she was relaxed, ever gracious, and delighted to be communing with a full house of dedicated fans. I’ve seen Raitt in humble duet concerts at Jannus Landing, seen her play a larger venue like the Sun Dome, in the free-for-all atmosphere of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, but the best I’ve ever seen her was last night at Ruth Eckerd Hall. And that’s saying something.

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