Brandi Carlile goes all out in return to the Gorge with Indigo Girls and more

Concert review

Absence makes the heart want to go even harder. That's the saying, right?

Forgive me, my brain is still defrosting from the midnight chill that settled over the Gorge Amphitheatre - and into the bones of the thousands of fans who filled the place - by the time Brandi Carlile and her Echoes Through the Canyon cast wrapped up Friday's kickoff show early Saturday morning.

Somewhere in between when Carlile's troupe and her hero-openers Indigo Girls morphed into one giant super band and when Sara Bareilles popped out for a surprise duet, Carlile joked that she was so cold she could no longer feel her fingers and she was simply trusting them to play her songs correctly.

Fortunately, Carlile and her numbed extremities hit all the right notes when, after a two-year hiatus, the homegrown folk rocker's soulful, women-centering concert series came back with a bang during the first of three shows this weekend.

After a Memorial Day weekend meltdown at the Gorge caused some EDM fans to wait upward of 11 hours in line to enter the campground and venue, getting in was a breeze Friday, as evidenced by the packed hillside when I'm With Her hit the stage.

Indicative of the collaborative, egoless spirit that's been an Echoes Through the Canyon hallmark since its 2019 inception, both the headlining host and roots rock pillars Indigo Girls joined the virtuosic trio (whom Carlile called "the neurosurgeons of roots music and bluegrass") for their signature "Wild and Clear and Blue." The collabs kept coming, with Carlile (beaming like a giddy high schooler) hanging out onstage and singing for seemingly half of Indigo Girls' rousing set, joyfully bobbing along with the band and crowd on "Get Out the Map."

Carlile wasn't the only Seattleite on stage, as A-list guitar mercenary Jeff Fielder is a member of Indigo Girls' touring band. Fielder, one half of a husband-and-wife duo with singer-songwriter Tekla Waterfield back home, peeled off a steamy dobro solo on an opening "Chickenman," among other highlights in an hourlong set that became one big singalong. For all the gems - including an absolutely obliterating "Laramie," a dirge and a fight song written for the late Matthew Shepard and dedicated "to all the trans kids" - Indigo Girls saved a boot-stomping "Go" and "Least Complicated" for their cameo during Carlile's 2 ½-hour set.

A few release week Seattle pop-ups notwithstanding, Friday night marked the first full-fledged opportunity Carlile's had to strut her new stuff off last fall's "Returning to Myself" in front of a home state crowd. And she didn't waste any time delving into material from the most distinct album of her career.

About an hour past sunset, Carlile emerged onstage a lonesome silhouette, appropriately launching with the title track - a folky table setter that captures the current chapter of her career, coming off several years of intensive collaborations with Joni Mitchell, Elton John and others. She followed it up with a graceful "Human" - a gently lush chamber folk rocker, splashed with a touch of ‘80s balladry on Friday - as she twirled and glided across her home-away-from-home stage in a sparkling blazer.

It might have been the first time those "Returning to Myself" songs permeated that chilly canyon air, one night after early-bird campers endured dangerously high winds. But the new ones already wear like your favorite time-softened sweatshirt - the one that through a bit of detergent-defying magic always smells a little like campfire.

After a jumping "Swing for the Fences" from last year's team-up album with John, "A War With Time" sounded almost as rich as it does on the Bon Iver-assisted recording. A spellbound "A Woman Oversees" was even better, with Carlile's melismatic bends and quivering vibrato weaving around the heaven-sent harmonies of SistaStrings, which lent a stabilizing presence.

"Man, I want this moment to last forever," Carlile quipped afterward.

Who could blame her?

Later, a solo Carlile, who turns 45 on Monday, beautifully blended "You Without Me" into "The Mother" - two songs written from very different stages of parenthood - linking her past and present. The happy tears barely had time to dry before Maren Morris came out for a forceful rendition of "The Story," restarted after a hiccup from her Highwomen mate. So it goes over a weekend of freewheeling sit-ins and surprises that Echoes has blossomed into.

It's no secret that the Gorge played an important role in Carlile's story, from formative Lilith Fair experiences to playing in the parking lots and side stages before getting a crack at the main stage. As Echoes Through the Canyon resumes after 2023's fairy-dusted show with Mitchell - easily one of the most significant local concerts of the last decade - what's equally fun to watch is howCarlile'snow writing herself into the 40-year history of the landmark venue that stands as Washington music's crown jewel.

Brandi Carlile set list

1. Returning to Myself" (with I'm With Her)

2. "Human"

3. "Mainstream Kid"

4. "Swing for the Fences"

5. "A War With Time"

6. "A Woman Oversees"

7. "Right on Time"

8. "Pride and Joy" / "Fake Plastic Trees" (Radiohead cover)

9. "I Can't Make You Love Me" (Bonnie Raitt cover)

10. "Life on the Run"

11. "Hiding My Heart" (fan request)

12. "Josephine" (fan request)

13. "Turpentine" (fan request)

14. "You Without Me"

15. "The Mother"

16. "The Story" (with Maren Morris)

17. "You and Me on the Rock"

18. "Church & State" (with Amy Ray)

19. "Go" (Indigo Girls cover with Indigo Girls)

20. "Least Complicated" (Indigo Girls cover with Indigo Girls)

21. "Cannonball" (with Indigo Girls)

22. "Salt Then Sour Then Sweet" (with Sara Bareilles)

23. "The Joke"

24. "Hold Out Your Hand"

25. "Crowded Table" (with The Highwomen)

26. "A Long Goodbye

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