James Taylor Opens European Tour, Delights Madrid And Barcelona Audiences

James Taylor has started his twice-postponed European tour with shows for delighted audiences in Madrid, on Monday, and Barcelona, last night (20). He shared a video on his official website, walking around the streets of Madrid on Monday and sharing his pleasure for finally being back in Europe and about to start the extensive itinerary.

Taylor opened the show at the Auditorio National in Madrid with one of his countless, time-honored signatures, “Something In The Way She Moves,” from his self-titled Apple album of 1968. As he mentioned in the video, his All-Star Band for this outing is much more modest than on earlier dates, but no less awesome in its musicianship, with regular collaborators Michael Landau on electric guitar, Jimmy Johnson on bass, and Steve Gadd on drums.

Other highlights of the first half of the Madrid show included “Sweet Baby James” and “Up On The Roof,” while the second half featured such staples as “Carolina In My Mind,” “Mexico,” “Shower The People,” and “Your Smiling Face.” It closed with the ever-present “You’ve Got A Friend” and “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You).” At Barcelona’s Palau de la Musica Catalana last night, other favorites included “Walking Man,” “Country Road,” and “Never Die Young.” Taylor told the Barcelona audience that he composed part of “Copperline,” from 1991’s New Moon Shine album, en route between Ibiza and Formentera.

The tour continues at Bilbao’s Palacio Euskalduna tomorrow (22) before arriving in Dublin next Monday (26). It then moves on to Paris, Dusseldorf, Brussels, and Amsterdam. The UK leg of the tour begins on October 7 at the SEC Armadillo in Glasgow, followed by concerts in Leeds, two at London’s Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith, then Brighton, Birmingham, and Manchester. The tour then visits numerous other European countries until the closing night in Hamburg on November 20.

Listen to the best of James Taylor on Apple Music and Spotify.