TheBakersfieldCalifornian.com

It can't be easy being the drummer behind Willie Nelson.

As a guy who's played a drum kit at dozens of local venues over the past 30 years, I can attest to this personally.

Pick a Willie Nelson song, any song in "straight-ahead" 4/4 time. Add a live stage, an adoring crowd -- and, of course, Willie -- and the guy in the back keeping time with a snare drum may find there are five beats or even six in a measure that used to have only four.

But that's Willie.

Remember, we're not just talking about a country singer here. We're also talking about a crooner of classic American standards, a perennially under-appreciated guitarist with European gypsy jazz and flamenco influences and a 79-year-old American icon who long ago decided to do things his way.

Loose. Fun. And a little bit different every time.

All of that and more became apparent to a healthy and happy crowd at Bright House Networks Amphitheatre in Bakersfield on Friday night.

With few exceptions, the faces of concert-goers told the story. They loved Willie in all of his roles, including the master songwriter and storyteller, the aging outlaw and the kindly hippie grandfather whose face simply radiates joy and down-home wisdom.

There are few performers in the pantheon of popular music who receive a standing ovation at their concerts -- before the first note is even strummed.

Willie Nelson is one of them.

Friday night's concert started off with a fun and lively set by local Americana band The Wichitas -- whose selections included Nick Lowe's "I Knew the Bride (When She Used to Rock 'n' Roll)."

Then Willie walked out toward the front of the outdoor stage.

And that was it.

Everyone in the tiered amphitheater was on their feet in seconds to welcome the Texas legend to the proud home of Buck and Merle.

Roy Rogers' horse and Willie Nelson's beat-up old guitar were each given the same name, Trigger -- and both became trusted friends.

Once that unique instrument was in place, it was full speed ahead, with Willie kicking off one song after another after another, with his Family band valiantly trying to keep up.

The now-gray-haired red-headed stranger opens every concert with "Whiskey River," and this night was no different.

Next came "Still is Still Moving to Me," "Whiskey for my Men, Beer for my Horses" and Tom T. Hall's rollicking "Shoeshine Man."

Willie rarely seemed to take a breath, much less stop and chat with the audience.

He soon followed up with the classic "Good-Hearted Woman," which he penned in 1969 with his late friend Waylon Jennings.

If I harbored a sliver of disappointment -- though doing so might inspire a tar-and-feathers party by a group of loyal fans -- it would lie in the fact that Willie had just a bare-bones band to back him on stage. There was a bass player, Nelson's sister Bobbie on piano, the wonderful Mickey Raphael on mouth harp, and a drummer and percussionist.

But the drummer played only a snare drum -- no kick drum, ride cymbals or hi-hat. There also was no steel guitar or electric lead guitar.

Maybe my background as a drummer makes me less than impartial, but some tunes lacked punch.

One concert-goer, who has seen Willie four times, called it "Willie Lite." I would say it was closer to Willie Unplugged, but even that seems misleading as the group of musicians, with the maestro out front, were able to muster serious energy and finesse to the tunes when called for.

And in the end, it was Willie, after all.

His rendition of Ray Charles' "Georgia On My Mind" could almost make you cry. And his medley of "(Ain't It) Funny How Time Slips Away," "Crazy" and "Night life" could pull a veil of sentimental nostalgia over the eyes of even the most jaded realist.

For me, I gauge the success of a concert experience by whether I would choose to buy a ticket next time around.

In the case of this country icon, I would definitely say yes.

In a Texas minute.

Steven Mayer is a Californian staff writer and a longtime local drummer. These are his opinions, not necessarily The Californian's.