I have grown up with Willie and I have always enjoyed his music. Granted, he has never been the showman but his music was always fantastic. That is up until Friday night. That had to be the worst performance of all of the years at Riverbend.

How could the promoters have been so blind as to not see that he has gotten old and can no longer sing an entire song from start to finish? If he sang the songs when they asked him to perform then I would ask for my money back because singing three or four words and then playing the guitar and then singing four to five words does not constitute an entire song. He did not sing one song completely.

I was embarrassed for him as well as the selection committee. I was not able to attend Saturday or Sunday, but I sincerely hope it gets better the rest of the week. It can't get any worse.

Bill Marsh

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While I agree with Mr. Marsh that Willie Nelson's performance at Riverbend was less than expected, we have see seven other bands that put on very entertaining shows.
Jake Owen, Dexateens, Emmit-Nershi Band, Train, New Monsoon, The Wailers and Three Dog Night were more than worth the money.

Too many people just sit and wait on the Coke Stage acts. There is always a lot of good music on the smaller stages.

Roger Southerland

* * *

I am in a little bit of disagreement with Bill Marsh over the Willie Nelson
concert. The music was fine, but it was the sound mixing that was really,
really lacking. We were out on the river and you could barely hear it, much less make out what song was being played. I had friends actually onshore, and they said the sound was weak as well.

I guess Riverbend is really trying
keep the boating community at bay during Riverbend. It used to be there were video screens and many speakers pointing out to the river, but not anymore. You used to be able to pull into Ross Landing or the "old city dock" to drop off and pick up passengers, but it is so restricted now we don't even try it. That ultimately cuts down on pin sales, concession revenues, etc.

Even the TWRA, Sheriffs Department, Coast Guard and all the other law enforcement agencies can make for an unpleasant experience with all the safety checks, anchoring restrictions, etc. Let's go back to the better days of Riverbend
and show a little consideration to the boating community.

Bob Clayton
rlclayton@comcast.net

* * *

Regarding Willie Nelson's RB performance, I want to thank the RB Selection Group for bringing Willie back to Chattanooga and RB - for the old folks. In recent years, few of the groups speak (sing) for the old crowd (in my opinion), and we oldies LOVE Riverbend too. Willie and I are the same age and even the same sign.

I love Willie for his life as well as his performances. This was my fifth time to see him in person - I even attended his 50th birthday bash out on I-40 in 1984.

So you wonderful youngsters just chill. Willie and the rest of us oldies will be out of your way soon, and you will fill our shoes. As stated previously, there were other great performances at other stages and on other nights.

Joyce Gann Fox
Red Bank

* * *

I agree with Mr. Marsh’s assessment. Friday night’s performance was very poor, and if it had been possible, I would have helped him off the stage and back to his hotel to save him some humiliation. I felt badly for him.

I have never been a really big Willie Nelson fan myself, but have always maintained a lot of respect for his talent and contributions to the music world.

I have friends who saw him perform very recently at a festival, and according to them, that performance was even worse than Friday night’s. One would hope that the people around him (family, managers, fellow musicians, booking agents, etc.) would care enough about him to pull him aside and help him with any issues he is having, be it age (he’s 76), poor health or otherwise.

Theresa Carter
Aint_right62@yahoo.com