Was Last Night the Final Curtain on the Paolo Soleri?
If so, the concert venue certainly went out in a blaze of rockin’ Texan glory. Lyle Lovett and his 15 piece band opened just before sunset and played nearly three hours straight for the amphitheater’s jam-packed audience. Mr. Lovett remained on stage during the entire show!
Even the weather paid respects to Lovett and the Soleri—the forecasted thunderstorms remained at bay for the entire evening and as the concert drew to a close, even the clouds were gone and the stars came out. It had been another beautiful Santa Fe evening to sit outdoors and listen to some incredible music.
One of the highlights of Lovett’s performance, other than his dreamy rendition of my personal favorite, If I had a Boat, was his mention that when he played in Phoenix the night before, Paolo Soleri himself came by during his sound check to talk about the concert likely being the last at the Soleri venue.
The crowd chanted “Save Paolo Soleri!”, and Lovett and his talented band played their hearts out. If this was the final performance in our beloved venue, Mr. Lovett contributed a wonderful swan song.
View from the Plaza 
October 1, 2010 at 5:32 pm
Gary, one more small world story. My husband had drinks with Paolo Soleri just this past week in Phoenix. Soleri is 91 but my husband said he was still talking about issues as diverse as the big bang theory to nano technology and how the world is ever changing so Soleri even at 91, is still a big thinker.
September 30, 2010 at 8:02 am
Thanks for this fascinating post. I live in North Dakota and will be visiting La Fonda in November as part of the PubWest conference of book publishers. The hotel sent me an email called “the Season for Change,” which initially I found a bit annoying (I don’t recall wanting to get on their mailing list), but I noticed your “View from the Plaza” blog and clicked it, eventually ending up here with your story about Lyle playing at the Soleri. I had no idea how cool Lyle Lovett was until I read this. I had no idea he’d written a song called “North Dakota.” And I hadn’t heard the name Paolo Soleri since my days in architecture school 25 years ago, when he was already a mystical figure. So… thank you for putting this out there… I’m going to buy a Lyle Lovett album! And I now am even more looking forward to visiting Sante Fe and the La Fonda hotel. The world works in wonderful and mysterious ways. Thanks.