The 69-year-old Kris Kristofferson walked onto the stage of a packed Point Depot with nobody and nothing but his gee-tar. Although advertised, there was no support on the night, but the songwriter's songwriter didn't need any. Whether it's the Oxford degree, years of sharing a stage with Johnny Cash or just good ol’ raw and brilliant talent, he alone kept every person's unabated attention for over two hours. His guitar and harmonica playing was a bit ropy (or perhaps extremely good for an OAP?), but he’d just laugh and it really didn’t matter, his talent and charisma simply shone through every word and resonated in every chord.
He quoted Yeats, sang a song about Sinéad O'Connor and would reply to requests with a soft 'we'll get back to that one baby'. And he did; all the classics were played, ‘Me & Bobby McGee’, ‘Darby's Castle’, ‘For The Good Times’, etc. He’d smile like a bashful kid when people sang along or applauded with recognition to even his biggest hits. He also did some recently penned songs like ‘In the News’ and ‘The Circle’, which denote his feelings on the bombing of the Middle East with as much passion, clarity and relevance as any protest song written in the ’70s.
Always the socially conscientious leftie, he went on to introduce ‘Nobody Wins’ by saying he hoped it wouldn’t be the song of the millennium as it is indicative of what happens during US presidential elections. There are few lyricists capable of being so precise, so witty and so relevant without ever being condescending or pretentious, and there are few 70-year-olds that make women scream like they did as he sang ‘Help Me Make It Through The Night’. Kristofferson remains an insightful commentator and exciting poet, and a truly magic performer to see play live.