'Man, I'll never forget that': King George and Willie christen Moody Center with Texas magic

The moment we were all waiting for came just before 11 p.m. on Friday at the Moody Center.

"You know what, Willie's sung with everybody except me," George Strait announced to a sold-out crowd on the first of a two-night stand celebrating the new University of Texas arena's debut this month. Fans had enjoyed Willie Nelson's hourlong set earlier, and Strait had followed with hit after hit when he took the stage just past 9:30 p.m.

Strait's words were the setup for Willie to come back onstage, teaming the two living legends of Texas music for a run through of "Sing One With Willie," a song they wrote and recorded together for Strait's 2019 album "Honky Tonk Time Machine." 

"I've heard him with Merle, Waylon and Cash," Strait sings in the opening stanzas, "But I'm thinking, 'Damn, why not me?'" And then, of course, Willie chimes in: "I think that it's great, to finally sing one with Strait, and our fans will all love it, I know."

Indeed they did, as a thundering ovation made clear. They wanted more — so Willie stayed onstage for a run through Townes Van Zandt's classic "Pancho & Lefty," one of those tunes Willie sang with Haggard for a chart-topping hit in the 1980s.

And of course, George reminded us, Friday was Willie's 89th birthday. So before Nelson left the stage, the entire audience joined Strait and the band in singing "Happy Birthday" to him. Willie waved and walked back offstage, leaving Strait to sum up what we all felt: "Man, I'll never forget that."

Strait followed with his signature tune "Amarillo By Morning," which kept the crowd standing and singing, and he played for almost another hour, stopping just a few minutes shy of midnight. That was fitting, in a way: Nelson was born just before midnight on April 29, 1933, and his birthday was recorded on his birth certificate as April 30. So he usually celebrates both days, which means Saturday night's second show at the Moody should give another arena full of fans the same magic experience.

Strait had performed more than any other artist at the Erwin Center, the UT arena that's about to close after a 45-year run, so it was fitting for him to help christen the Moody. Though he "retired" from touring in 2014, he's remained open to special-occasion live performances, and he said near the end of Friday's show that he hopes to have more nights at the Moody in his future.

He remains one of the best showmen in popular music, thanks in part to his 11-piece Ace in the Hole band and a center-of-the-arena stage setup. Strait uses it brilliantly by placing microphones on all four corners so he can stroll from one to the next and give fans on all sides a few songs of him singing directly to them.

And, of course, there's the songs. Nearly two and a half hours of them, from the opening "Here For a Good Time" to "I Can Still Make Cheyenne" to "Easy Come, Easy Go" to "Give It Away" to "The Fireman" and dozens more. A nice touch for the local crowd was the inclusion of "Wrapped," a No. 2 hit from 2007 written by Austin songwriter Bruce Robison. And Strait rocked the house during the encore with a blazing cover of Tom Petty's "You Wreck Me" that allowed several of his band members to stretch out with solos.

The night began with a 20-minute set from San Marcos troubadour Randy Rogers and his five-piece band, who churned out five pleasing country-pop tunes. "I'm a little bit in shock, to be honest," Rogers said between songs. "What an honor to be in this new building with two giants."

Fifteen minutes later, Rogers' drummer, Les Lawless, was back up onstage sitting in on percussion with Nelson, whose four-piece backing crew included longtime harmonica player Mickey Raphael and drummer Billy English. Regular bassist Kevin Smith was absent because of a recent COVID-19 bout, so Willie flew in Sheryl Crow bassist Robert Kearns from Nashville. He'd been in town last month for a South by Southwest gig with Crow at Antone's; he wore the blues club's shirt onstage Friday.

Willie's own T-shirt choice was worth noting: It read, "I stand with Ukraine." He performed seated at center stage and ran through an hourlong set that included much of his standard repertoire plus a couple of intriguing departures. "Whiskey River" and "Still Is Still Moving to Me" opened the set as usual, while the gospel medley of "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" and "I'll Fly Away" closed it, chased by a hearty encore of "It's Hard to Be Humble."

Other standouts included a medley of his early hits "Funny How Time Slips Away," "Crazy" and "Night Life," and a couple of Hank Williams tunes, "Hey Good Lookin'" and "Move It on Over." Nelson nodded to his new album "A Beautiful Time," which came out Friday, by playing its opening track, the Chris Stapleton/Rodney Crowell-penned "I'll Love You Till the Day I Die."

More:Willie Nelson keeps on rolling at 89 with new album 'A Beautiful Time'

Nelson's position in the middle of the bill stood out for its adventurousness. Both Strait and Rogers play what's essentially pop music in country form, with richly melodic tunes that go down smooth. Willie, meanwhile, spikes the punch with a healthy serving of jazz, frequently steering his trusty old guitar Trigger down fascinating avenues that are less predictable and almost always rewarding.

The beauty of that push-pull on this bill was never more apparent than when George and Willie were onstage together later for "Sing One With Willie." Between George's opening verses and Willie's vocal turn at the end, Nelson let loose with a glorious solo that brought a big smile to Strait's face and a boisterous cheer from the crowd. It was, perhaps, the first timeless-classic moment in Moody Center history.

The venue, meanwhile, is still working out some kinks since opening with last week's John Mayer concerts. An escalator that was broken last week was working Friday, but a glaring oversight with signage for the portals from the concourse into the arena is still an issue. The portal numbers don't directly correspond with the seat-section numbers, and the digital-only tickets do not specify which portal to use for each section. The makeshift, for now, was 8-by-11 pieces of paper with section-numbers printed out, taped below each portal entrance.

And entry into the arena went less smoothly on Friday than it had for Mayer last week. We waited in line about 20 minutes to get in at the east gate, where just three of five doors were in use. The lines at the west gate appeared to be even longer. Having enough ticket-takers and security-checkers to use all available entry doors would be well-advised for future shows — especially since the line at the east gate stretched two blocks down a sidewalk that's directly alongside the Interstate 35 service road.

Parking was a challenge too, as expected given a glut of events in the immediate area including David Sedaris at Bass Concert Hall, a UT baseball game at Disch-Falk Field and a My Morning Jacket concert at Waterloo Park. At the MMJ show, frontman Jim James paid tribute to Nelson: "We can't NOT play a song for Willie on his birthday," he said after the band played "Funny How Time Slips Away."