General

Notes From: James Taylor at The Chelsea

Brian Stucki

May 11, 2026 — 3 min read

It's been two years since Will and I visited with James at the Hollywood Bowl. Since he decided to come to me this time, it called for concert number 24. I won't write up the whole thing again because the jokes and songs mostly remain the same. Also remaining the same: the joy, the emotion, and the adoration.

But a few observations to share:

I was so happy to see him start the show in his Hourglass hat. That album remains one of my favorite. I distinctly remember leaving school after second period with a friend, buying the album at Best Buy, and soaking in every note while sitting in the parking lot. What an experience. As he describes in a song from that album, it "felt like a festival, it felt like a Christmas morning" - a melody and line that still stirs me.

As the show progressed, he removed his jacket and changed to his backwards flat cap. As he did this, the audience unexpectedly...cheered? It was pretty funny, though funnier when James said, "That's what they call a costume change. I may have made this one too saucy."

I suppose it was an appropriate change as he next played Handy Man and Steamroller...both among his saucier songs.

A Storyteller

The Chelsea has a flat floor with stackable chairs and no arm rests. No thanks. I've been close to James many times and I'd much rather have the first row of the first elevated section. It ended up being a great spot to watch the show.

As I've written before, I love a good storyteller. For this show, I wanted to get some photos of him in that role. This one was my favorite:

JT will occasionally give the background for songs before playing them. Many of these origin stories I've heard many times, but others have new details. After four songs with intros, he assured us that "we're nearing the end of the educational part of the program and we'll just start playing songs soon."

A little on the audience

This theater is located in a hip and happening Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. There is an interesting juxtaposition as you walk through that place on the way to a James Taylor concert. The closer you get to the theater, you see fewer sequin dresses and more layered windbreaker jackets. My people.

Like those nature videos that show the great migration of wildebeests through the Mara River, we're all just glad to make it to the other side where we can go back to chill mode.

The downside to this demographic though is that during the show there tends to be an abnormally large percentage of people that leave their flash on while making video. What a pet peeve that is for me!

I smiled when the lighting crew got the audience back, over and over, during "Shower the People."

The Escape

Inexplicably, the show did not end with "You Can Close Your Eyes," my most favorite song. Luckily I knew this was going to be the case so I didn't have to stay until the very last moment of the very last song.

Since James was in Las Vegas, it felt like home turf for me. I took the lesser known exit from the theater, back route to the Bellagio, and was in my car and driving down the ramp just nine minutes after the last song.

And that included a few quick photos on the way.