Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, Buddy Miller, and the Milk
Carton Kids kicked off their 11-stop “Lampedusa: Concerts for Refugees” tour
with a tremendous, intimate performance Thursday night at the Boulder Theater.
Seated together on stage, the artists swapped stories, played one another’s songs,
and joked with the audience giving the show a balanced atmosphere of
lightheartedness while still addressing the more serious purpose of the tour:
shedding light on the continuing global refugee crisis of over 65 million
people forcibly displaced from their homes.
After spending time in Ethiopia last year with the Jesuit Refugee
Service, Emmylou Harris took it upon herself to champion this critical cause and
even named the tour after the Italian island Lampedusa off the Sicilian coast that
serves as a waypoint for refugees from North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia
wanting to enter Europe. 
Taking turns playing songs by themselves and at times together,
Emmylou Harris was as ravishing and fantastic as I’ve ever seen her, Earle
sounded terrific especially in a beautiful performance of “Pilgrim,” Buddy
Miller’s guitar playing was magnificent, and the Milk Carton kids were an
excellent complement to their storied counterparts, bringing a gorgeous
acoustic sound and sprinkling in witty banter that had the audience and fellow
artists laughing throughout the entirety of the evening. Hearing this lineup together on stage was
truly a treat and a unique experience that will likely never happen again in
quite the same manner. This short tour
through the month of October is surely one not to be missed and is a terrific opportunity
to support an organization working to address a serious and deadly humanitarian
crisis.
-Kevin
Powers
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