Levon Helm
Wildwood Park for the Performing Arts, June 22
When Levon Helm, the favorite son of Turkey Scratch, Ark., and the drummer for the Band, rolled into Wildwood Park on Saturday, the question wasn’t who would want to see him (everyone of a certain age in this state) it was, just who in Arkansas ponies up $125 and $200 for tickets to a show? Turns out, it’s who you’d expect: mostly well-heeled, mostly older, mostly white folks. (Grousing overheard at the reception: “Bunch of old hippies here.”) Coevals of Levon’s, in other words. Turns out you’ve got to earn in this life if you’re going to hear your heroes sing about hardship.
No telling how many people in the room paid face value, and how many ponied up for the privilege, but the 625-seat theater looked about 50 heads shy of a capacity crowd. Before the show, they were treated to a brief, cheeky biography of Levon (first-name basis here, only) as told, “This Is Your Life”-style, by his friends and admirers. Not least among those was Gov. Mike Beebe, who was a teenager when he first saw Levon drum. “He’s a prince, and we’re all very proud of him, and we’re glad he came back,” the guv said.