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Review: Victoria, you’ve got a friend in James Taylor

What: James Taylor and His All-Star Band When: Friday night Where: Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre Rating: 4 (out of 5) — A smooth-talking, sweet-singing James Taylor was the host with the most at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre on Friday night — funny,
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James Taylor performs at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre on Friday night.

What: James Taylor and His All-Star Band

When: Friday night

Where: Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre

Rating: 4 (out of 5)

A smooth-talking, sweet-singing James Taylor was the host with the most at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre on Friday night — funny, forthright, and fabulous.

Taylor, 68, played tour guide during his first Victoria show since 2008, taking 5,771 fans on a trip through the easygoing 1970s.

And he played his trump card — nostalgia — perfectly. Many of his jokes, of which there were plenty, were aimed at those old enough to remember the same “hippie bulls---” Taylor said he wrote about in the hit Country Road.

He also lamented not being able to remember anything about his dealings with the Beatles, who signed him to their Apple Records label in 1968.

“Old jokes are best,” Taylor quipped, with a comic timing that has been honed to a sharp point over decades of touring. “Told time and time again, over and over.”

A lengthy standing ovation followed a spot-on Fire and Rain, which was well deserved (the audience also roared its approval following You’ve Got a Friend and Carolina in My Mind, which featured some nice guitar work from the singer).

Taylor was in perfect voice, backed by a spectacular-sounding 10-piece band. And though the set ran for well over two hours and went 25 songs deep, pacing was never a problem.

Anyone who knows Taylor is already hip to his mellowness, but he wasn’t sleepy. He simply settled into a third-gear groove, and never let go.

Taylor has succeeded during his decades as an artist by delivering a succession of well-written hits, proving not only his prowess as a singer but also his worth as a songwriter.

This was clearly evident Friday night: Taylor touched upon various stages of his life through song, mirroring the arc of his fans’ lives in the process.

Nostalgia never felt so good, even when it occasionally cut deep emotionally. “Since we’re only here for a while,” he sang on Secret O’ Life, “might as well show some style.”

Taylor’s set showcased songs from all phases of his career, including his newest album, Before This World, and he shone brightly, albeit modestly, during each turn. He also tackled material from Carole King, Buddy Holly, Eddie Floyd, Chuck Berry and Marvin Gaye, which put some full-band wind beneath his wings when Taylor and a quietly strummed guitar wasn’t cutting it.

Taylor is not the most thrilling performer, in terms of movements on stage, but that wasn’t a concern for his fans, who seemed happy to sit as the singer and his band took the long way around some of the material. Near the close of the concert, Taylor and Co. went into funk mode, a move that gave Steve Gadd, a drumming icon, a chance to flex his percussion muscles, and he did so with a touch of finesse.

Taylor, for his part, was the picture of class, even during the intermission. He remained on stage between sets to chat, take pictures and sign autographs. Many there were chuffed to be up close and personal with a performer who truly gets better with age.

Hard to blame them for feeling the love. He is Sweet Baby James, after all.

mdevlin@timescolonist.com