Westminster commemorates Black April

• May 1, 2023

Westminster leaders and community members commemorated Black April on Sunday, marking the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975, after years of war.

Millions of Vietnamese refugees fled the country, mostly in in boats, to escape the advance of the communist regime following the fall of South Vietnam. Many found their way to Orange County.

Vietnamese Americans in Little Saigon, now home to the largest Vietnamese population outside of Vietnam, spent the day Sunday in reflection at Westminster’s Sid Goldstein Freedom Park.

Related: OC lawmakers commemorate Black April with congressional resolution

The event, a somber occasion, featured a wreath ceremony and performances, including the singing of national anthems and a remembrance song for fallen and unknown soldiers.

Organizers planned for about 200 people to attend Sunday’s event. Westminster was the first city to recognize Black April Memorial Week, it says on its website.

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​ Orange County Register 

Dodgers complete sweep of Cardinals with resourceful offense

• May 1, 2023

LOS ANGELES — Their baby boom having passed, the Dodgers’ welcomed a new arrival — momentum.

Using eight walks, three stolen bases and situational hitting instead of home runs to fuel the offense, they completed a three-game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals with a 6-3 victory Sunday afternoon.

The three-game winning streak matches their longest this season. But it is their second in the past eight games, moving them three games over .500 (16-13) — also matching a season-high — for the first time since they started the season 5-2.

“I just feel like we’re playing better baseball together instead of one facet good, one facet not. It’s just nice to see it all come together for a few games,” said Freddie Freeman who had one of the Dodgers’ walks and one of the stolen bases.

“We would like to have put this together a lot quicker than we did but we have been playing better baseball the last few days. Obviously losing Will (Smith) for awhile with his concussion, everyone felt like having babies at the same time – it’s just nice to get everybody back together again and obviously play some good baseball.”

A lineup fortified by the returns of Max Muncy and Smith this weekend (even as J.D. Martinez went on the Injured List) proved more resourceful than explosive with the bottom half of the lengthened lineup doing much of the MacGyvering Sunday.

Jason Heyward torched a double to right-center field leading off the second. Ground outs to the right side by James Outman and Miguel Vargas got him over and got him in.

In the fourth, Heyward and Outman led off with back-to-back walks. Again, two ground outs moved them over and brought Heyward home. Chris Taylor’s two-out double down the left-field line drove in a second run.

“I felt like we manufactured all the runs today. Get ‘em over, get ‘em in. That was nice,” Freeman said. “You can’t always win games by hitting home runs.”

Indeed, Taylor’s double was the Dodgers’ only run-scoring hit of the day. They won despite going 1 for 15 with runners in scoring position. Instead, four runs were driven in by outs and another scored on a wild pitch.

“It was a clinic in team offense,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.

Dodgers starter Noah Syndergaard put on a different kind of clinic. The right-hander who once had a fastball that exploded on hitters is now reduced to walking carefully through a minefield every start.

Nothing exploded on him Sunday. But he gave up seven balls with exit velocity exceeding 100 mph while getting just two swings-and-misses through the first five innings. He left after 5⅓ having given up eight hits while striking out no one.

“It doesn’t really matter to me,” Syndergaard said. “I’m more focused on just getting outs.”

He left with the 5-3 lead — and wound up getting his first win as a Dodger — thanks to another spare-parts rally by the Dodgers’ offense in the fifth.

Smith’s leadoff double — a popup down the right field line that first baseman Brendan Donovan gloved but dropped — was the only hit of the two-run inning. Muncy and Heyward followed with back-to-back walks to load the bases.

One run scored on a wild pitch by Cardinals reliever Drew VerHagen and another when the Cardinals couldn’t turn a double play on David Peralta’s ground ball.

The Dodgers’ bullpen took over in the sixth inning and Roberts used five relievers to protect the lead the rest of the way. After Tommy Edman led off the sixth inning with a double off Syndergaard and scored on Lars Nootbaar’s RBI single, the Cardinals didn’t get another runner past first base against the Dodgers’ bullpen.

The Dodgers entered the weekend with a 5.18 bullpen ERA but the relievers allowed just one run in 9 2/3 innings against the Cardinals.

“We’re starting to feel it a little bit,” Roberts said of the Dodgers building momentum. “I think this series with the bullpen – when you can get a lead and finish a game, that certainly adds to the momentum. I think offensively, getting some guys back on our roster, it just looks better. And guys are starting to get a little bit more comfortable.”

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​ Orange County Register 

Warriors, Steph Curry beat Kings, advance to face Lakers

• May 1, 2023

SACRAMENTO — Stephen Curry, with his clear mouthguard hanging out the corner of his lips, yelled “Light the beam!” after a stoppage of play in the fourth quarter, referring to Sacramento Kings fans’ victory chant.

Two days after the Kings handed it to the Warriors at Chase Center to force a game 7, Curry powered the Warriors to a series-clinching win the Kings’ floor and set an NBA record in the process.

Curry poured in 50 points, the most scored in a game 7 in NBA history, to go with his eight rebounds and six assists as he powered the Warriors to 120-100 victory.

The win set the table for a Western Conference semifinals series against the Lakers starting Tuesday night in San Francisco.

The Kings had outplayed the Warriors for most of the first half, taking a two-point lead into the break, and were looking to win their first playoff series since 2004.

But Curry and the crew had other plans.

The Warriors went on an inspired third-quarter run before sealing the win for good in the fourth.

At one point in the fourth, Curry turned and high-fived Andre Igudoala after he knocked down a shot-clock beating 3 in front of the Warriors’ bench that put his team up 22.

The Warriors seemed to be stuck in cruise control in the first half. Curry carried the team with his 20 points as Jordan Poole and Klay Thompson struggled to get going. But it was clear that he would need help in the final 24 minutes if the Warriors wanted to pull this thing off.

The Warriors went on a tear in the third, with Curry and Kevon Looney playing a big part in that. They outrebounded Sacramento 23-9, including 13-3 on the offensive glass. They took 10 more shots and made three more treys en route to a 34-23 third-quarter surge.

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Looney pulled down seven offensive boards in the third quarter alone and finished the day with 21 total rebounds, including 10 on the offensive glass, becoming just the ninth player in NBA history to grab double-digit offensive rebounds in a Game 7. He also had 11 points, making this his fourth career playoff double-double.

Thompson, unfazed by his bad first half where he went 1-for-10 from the field, celebrated a made 3-pointer at the end of the third by making goggles with his hands as he sat on the floor after getting knocked over by a Kings player. Thompson converted it to a four-point play, making his solo free throw, to give the Warriors a 10-point heading into the fourth quarter.

The cowbells stopped rattling at Sacramento midway through the fourth.

​ Orange County Register 

Hundreds of OC teens participate in Global Youth Service Day

• April 30, 2023

Teens hung out Saturday night talking over a meal.

Actually it was about 300 teens and they were gathered to pack 50,000 meals; doing their part during a Global Youth Service Day organized by JustServe.

Students from two dozen Orange County schools participated, packing meals that will be distributed through local food pantries in partnership with the Family Assistance Ministry.

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​ Orange County Register 

Angels’ José Suarez bounces back with 5 scoreless innings, victory

• April 30, 2023

MILWAUKEE — The Angels gave José Suarez another chance and he rewarded them for their confidence.

The struggling left-hander pitched five scoreless innings in the Angels’ 3-0 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday, a much-needed turnaround after he posted a 10.26 ERA in his first four starts.

“I am very happy because I found myself,” Suarez said through an interpreter. “I feel I’m back. I was working on it and I feel I got it.”

Even though it seemed Suarez’s last outing, when he gave up seven runs, might have been the final straw, manager Phil Nevin instead stuck with the 25-year-old. Nevin said they would evaluate him on a “start to start” basis.

So far, so good.

“Credit to him,” Nevin said. “It’s hard to take your lumps like that for several starts, and I know he hears everything. (Pitching coach Matt Wise) did a heck of a job with him this week. I was down there watching him. He made some adjustments with some things. I’m proud of him. He pitched his butt off today.”

One of the adjustments was with his slider, which he threw harder this time. His slider was effective last year at around 82 mph, but this season he’d been throwing it about 84 mph, and he lost some movement. On Sunday, he was throwing it 87-88 mph, and it worked better.

“I think it’s going to be a key because I executed it,” Suarez said.

Mostly, though, Suarez relied heavily on the changeup that is normally his best offspeed pitch. He induced seven whiffs on 12 swings at his changeup, including one to strike out Blake Perkins, stranding two runners in the second inning.

“I thought his changeup was great,” catcher Matt Thaiss said. “It led to a lot of key outs today. When he has conviction in that pitch along with his fastball he’s one of our best guys. It was great to see.”

In the fourth, Suarez gave up a leadoff double to Brian Anderson but he stranded him. Anderson was at third with one out when Suarez picked up a key strikeout of Luke Voit, who looked at one of his harder sliders.

The Brewers whiffed at 13 of Suarez’s pitches and took another 20 for called strikes. The called strikes and whiffs accounted for 43% of his 77 pitches, which was the highest percentage of his career.

Suarez struck out six, including three in an eye-opening first inning, and he walked three. He allowed multiple baserunners in just one inning.

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Although Suarez retired the final six hitters he faced in the fourth and fifth innings, Nevin was taking no chances. He had right-hander Chris Devenski warming up throughout the fifth, and he brought him in to start the sixth.

Suarez faced just one hitter for a third time.

Nevin had a fresh bullpen, with an off day on Monday, so was quick to yank Suarez after five, and the bullpen got the job done.

Devenski, making his first appearance with the Angels, worked a perfect sixth. Chase Silseth faced the minimum in the seventh. Matt Moore and Carlos Estévez worked the final two innings, with Estévez picking up his sixth save in six tries this season.

The pitching staff didn’t have much room for error because the only runs the Angels managed came on a Jake Lamb homer in the second, a Shohei Ohtani homer in the third and a Luis Rengifo RBI single in the seventh.

Ohtani’s seventh homer of the season was a towering shot that peaked at 162 feet above the field, the highest ball he’s hit this season. It had a hang time of 6.98 seconds, the longest for any Angels homer since at least 2015, when tracking began.

“We haven’t seen many like that,” Nevin said. “It’s special. We see something new with him each day.”

​ Orange County Register 

Dodgers plan to promote Gavin Stone for start on Wednesday

• April 30, 2023

LOS ANGELES — President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman has said the Dodgers went into this season having made the decision to “carve out” opportunities at the big-league level for some of their top prospects.

Another carve-out is coming. Top pitching prospect Gavin Stone will be promoted from Triple-A this week to make his major-league debut in a start against the Philadelphia Phillies Wednesday afternoon.

The Dodgers gave Stone the news on Saturday. But Dave Roberts would not confirm the upcoming move, saying only that the Dodgers were “possibly” considering an adjustment to the starting rotation this week.

“I can’t speak to it, but possibly. Possibly,” he said.

“It would just be more of — we do decide to do anything — to give guys a blow. But right now, we’re going to stay the course. …  As of now.”

Starting Stone on Wednesday would push Dustin May back to Friday’s series opener in San Diego. May is 1-4 with a 3.88 ERA in 10 career appearances against the Padres, holding them to a .208 batting average.

Perhaps more important, moving May back would give him six days’ rest following his start against the Cardinals in which he threw a career-high 104 pitches. Clayton Kershaw lines up to pitch Saturday in San Diego and Noah Syndergaard on Sunday, both on six days’ rest as well.

The Dodgers play the Padres again the following weekend (May 12-14) with an off day before the series starts. If Stone sticks around for a second start, the Dodgers could potentially start May, Kershaw and Syndergaard against the Padres on six days’ rest again.

The 24-year-old Stone has begun the season 2-2 with a 4.74 ERA in six starts for Triple-A Oklahoma City. But that includes a rough start in the season opener (six runs in 2⅔ innings) and 10 runs allowed in his first 11⅔ innings of the season. Over his past three starts, Stone has allowed three runs on eight hits while striking out 17 in 13 innings.

BEHIND THE MASK

Will Smith made his first start at catcher since returning from a concussion that sidelined him for two weeks. Smith’s first two starts were at DH.

Roberts said Smith has passed all the possible tests to make sure he has recovered — except one.

“Not that I want it — but I think that first one to the face mask,” Roberts said. “You can pass all the tests, which he’s done, feel good, all that stuff, have clarity — and you can’t kind of prepare to get him to come back by hitting him on the mask with a baseball bat, right? So I think that once he gets that first one, then I think everyone will exhale.”related_articles location=”left” show_article_date=”false” article_type=”automatic-primary-section”]

ROLE MODEL

During Saturday’s game against the Cardinals, Roberts pulled rookie infielder Michael Busch alongside him on the top step of the dugout to watch 10-time Gold Glove third baseman Nolan Arenado.

“At that moment I wanted him to appreciate Nolan Arenado and how he’s into every pitch, pre-pitch, the glove position,” Roberts said. “He’s not fleet of foot but he’s one of the best defenders — not only third basemen — in all of baseball. So he (Busch) has a front-row seat to watch one of the best of all time, in my opinion, defensively.

“I think that as a young player, as a veteran player, you’re always kind of caught watching your own teammates. But I think that to be able to widen your scope a little bit to watch other superstar players, it might land better. … It’s an opportunity to learn and get a PhD in how to defend, how to prepare.”

Busch was primarily a first baseman in college. The Dodgers moved him to second base in the minor leagues but also had him start playing third base this season.

UP NEXT

Phillies (RHP Taijuan Walker, 2-1, 4.97 ERA) at Dodgers (RHP Tony Gonsolin, 0-0, 0.00 ERA), Monday, 7:10 p.m., SportsNet LA, 570 AM

​ Orange County Register 

Stagecoach 2023: 5 fun non-music activities to do at the festival

• April 30, 2023

The Stagecoach Country Music Festival brings out some of the genre’s best performers each year, but like many large scale music events, including its sister Coachella Valley Arts and Music Festival, it’s not always just about the music.

There’s plenty to do in between the performances.

The promoters understand that they must cultivate a culture to produce a cohesive experience for attendees with varying and often overlapping interests. At Stagecoach, that involves an umbrella of activations and activities that include Western fashion, barbecue and all the meat you can fit on your plate, and inviting some TV stars from one of the most prominent modern-day Westerns to join the party.

Even if traditional country music isn’t reason enough to get you to buy that festival ticket, there’s a lot more at Stagecoach to explore and multiple ways to get your “Yee-Haw!” on.

Here are five activities we checked out at the festival this year.

Compton Cowboys

It wouldn’t be a country fest without cowboys and horseback riding. Festivalgoers can catch a blend of Hip-Hop and country cultures at the demonstrations done by Compton Cowboys at the Yee-Haw tent. The troupe of Black horseback riders hails from their small ranch in one of the last semi-rural areas of Compton.

Attendees can check out the seven horses in their pen, meet co-founder Randy Savvy and seven other riders or buy drinks or merchandise at their booths.

Speakeasies and a Sober Retreat

Having a cold beer or cocktail at Stagecoach is not unusual, especially with the intense heat, but a couple of spaces offer an elevated experience and, for the first time, a sober option.

There was a place for sober folks to gather and socialize at the 1 Million Strong Wellness Retreat. The space included a decorative lounge with a blow-up guitar and a few art pieces displayed throughout. The retreat staff conversed with fans at the tent and offered them mocktails that included a Strawberry Sundance made with lemon, strawberry and mint and a Grapefruit Fresca made with pressed ruby grapefruit juice, lime and soda.

Two speakeasies from Coachella stayed an extra weekend in their secret locations. Sonny’s by Attaboy, the ’80s-themed Miami Vice bar that blends the aesthetics of warm beaches and a disco hall, offers an oasis vacation vibe in an air-conditioned room that feels extra relaxing, especially in the heavy heat. Tropical drinks include alcoholic slushies, an espresso martini made with coffee liqueur and a tequila, mezcal and watermelon juice drink called the Spicy Flamingo.

Another hidden bar included Please Don’t Tell (PDT), just outside the Craft Beer Barn. PDT usually has a theme and this year, the bar was transformed into an exact replica of the hidden bar New York namesake. The space invokes a rustic and old-school feel with plenty of taxidermy deer and other animals. Drinks include a Mezcal Mule and Garden Tonic, a gin drink mixed with lemon juice, cucumber, celery and tonic.

The third speakeasy was a Sushi Speakeasy hidden in plain sight (hint look for a red door around the Malibu tents). The pop-up was produced by Chef Phillip Frankland Lee’s Sushi by Scratch Restaurants and boasted a 16-course Omakase and Sake pairing. And it costs $375 per person.

“Yellowstone” Dutton Ranch

The Paramount TV show “Yellowstone” had a big presence at Stagecoach, which brought in a replica of the “Yellowstone” Dutton Ranch. The space allowed visitors to relax on wooden furniture and pose by a makeshift chimney with the iconic “Y” emblem in the background. Guests can also play yard games and check out exclusive merchandise related to the show.

Throughout the weekend, the activation fans could see celebrities from the show, which included Eric Nelson, LaMonica Garrett, Amanda Jaros and performances by Luke Grimes, Lainey Wilson and Ryan Bingham on the Mane and Palomino stages.

Fashion Fun

Festival fashion at Stagecoach usually consists of American flag attire, denim shorts and overalls, cowboy hats and boots. If you didn’t come prepared, there was plenty to buy on-site. Nashville singer-songwriter Nikki Lane has a whole set of shops curated for all the Western fashion essentials, including her High Class Hillbilly shop, loaded with vintage boots, hats, and leather goods. The rest of the marketplace inside the Yee-Haw tent had similar items, as well as bikinis and other Western décor. There’s also the smaller Horseshoe Stage for people to enjoy live music while they shop and a bar serving cold drinks.

Another fashion brand, Shein, brought the Shein Saloon activation that included a beauty bar and a drink bar and the space offered free hats, custom bandanas and hosted Cowboy Karaoke with special guest appearances by Elle King and Priscilla Block.

Shade, Swag and Off-roading

For some reason, Stagecoach weekend tends to coincide with a massive heatwave every year, so getting a break from the sun is recommended if you plan on sticking around until the headliners. One of the largest tents at the festival is the outer space and disco-themed Toyota Music Den. The are provides plenty of shade and several accessories, such as Sequoia custom wrap rings, bucket hats, commemorative bandanas and posters. Fans can also sign up for the Toyota Ride & Drive and actually take trucks and SUVs on the off-road course with Motorsports Hall of Fame inductee Ivan “Ironman” Stewart and his pro-driving team.

 More Stagecoach Country Music Festival news

Stagecoach 2023: See photos of performers and fans from Day 2

Stagecoach 2023: Kane Brown, Bryan Adams and Nelly close out Day 2

Stagecoach 2023: Guy Fieri, Jon Pardi toss barbecued turkey legs to hungry fans 

Stagecoach 2023: Trixie Mattel slays Late Night in Palomino performance 

Stagecoach 2023: See photos of performers and fans from Day 1

Stagecoach 2023: Luke Bryan keeps fans singing, Jon Pardi gets a surprise on stage during Day 1

Stagecoach 2023: Country music fans, performers brave the heat and cut loose during Day 1

Stagecoach 2023: How to livestream the country music festival from home

Stagecoach 2023: Brooks & Dunn return to the desert and they’re ready to party 

Stagecoach 2023: Everything you need to know about the country music fest 

Stagecoach 2023: Guy Fieri’s barbecue, sushi and lots of drinks on the menu 

​ Orange County Register 

Willie Nelson’s Hollywood Bowl 90th birthday celebration is star-studded event

• April 30, 2023

Three hours into an all-star celebration of Willie Nelson’s 90th birthday at the Hollywood Bowl, the birthday boy had yet to be seen. He was hanging out backstage as friends such as Lyle Lovett, Miranda Lambert, Chris Stapleton and Beck sang classic songs from his vast catalog.

But then, a little after 10 p.m., as Neil Young sang “Are There Anymore Real Cowboys?” with his sometimes bandmate Stephen Stills on guitar, out from the wings walked Willie, the man of the hour, and the fans that packed the Bowl on Saturday for the first of two birthday shows erupted into cheers and applause.

“I’d like to thank all the artists that came out to help us celebrate whatever we’re celebrating,” Nelson said as he settled into a chair at the center of the stage, his sons Micah and Lukas Nelson, who’d performed earlier in the evening, with guitars on either side of him.

And then it was on with the show, country star George Strait came out to play a pair of songs with Nelson, then Snoop Dogg for one, and finally the entire lineup for the finale of the first night of Long Story Short: An All-Star Celebration of Willie Nelson’s 90th.

The show returns to the Hollywood Bowl Sunday, April 30, with a mostly different group of guest artists to celebrate Nelson’s second 90th birthday. Born on April 29, 1933, his birth certificate wasn’t completed and dated until April 30, 1933, so Nelson has always celebrated both.

The night opened at 7 p.m. sharp with the young country artist Billy Strings, with whom Nelson recently collaborated on Strings’ single “California Sober,” out to do “Whiskey River” and “Play a Little Longer,” and the party was underway with 40 songs and more than 30 guest artists over the next three-and-a-half hours.

Many of the performers shared a memory or two about Willie or the song they’d chosen before singing. Singer-songwriter Edie Brickell said Nelson’s music was the soundtrack to weekend housecleaning when she was a girl and that her father loved “Whiskey River” so much that it was played at his funeral.

“Willie is like a spirit guide,” she said before playing “Remember Me (When the Candlelights are Gleaming).” “He helped us work, he helped us play, he helped us grieve.”

Lyle Lovett chose Nelson’s “Hello Walls” because it seemed “the perfect song” from the moment he heard it as a boy in Houston. Margo Price noted she’d grown up on a farm and praised Nelson for his tireless work on behalf of farmers over the years before she and Nathaniel Rateliff sang the saucy, swinging “I Can Get Off on You,” which Nelson wrote with his close friend Waylon Jennings.

Performers came and went quickly, most only there for a single song, choosing either tunes written by Nelson or associated with him through his own covers and performances of them.

Norah Jones, who’s performed with Nelson’s band often over the years, played a pair including the piano instrumental “Down Yonder” in tribute to Nelson’s late sister Bobbie Nelson, who was the piano player in his band for nearly 50 years until her death at 91 in 2022.

In a show like this, it all feels special, one star after another coming out to pay tribute to a legend. But the appearance of Kris Kristofferson midway through Roseanne Cash‘s performance of Kristofferson’s “Loving Her Was Easier (Than Anything I’ll Ever Do Again)” felt like the first big emotional moment of the show. At 86, Kristofferson is no longer the robust figure of his younger days, but with Cash gently leading him, their duet was touching and beautiful.

Nelson’s long appreciation for all genres of music showed up in the disparate styles of each new artist on stage. Lukas Nelson sounded eerily like his father on a lovely version of “Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground.” Texas blues singer and guitarist Gary Clark Jr. delivered a blast of energy with “Texas Flood,” a song most associated with fellow Texan Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Laidback singer-songwriter Jack Johnson got the crowd both laughing and singing along to “Willie Got Me Stoned and Took All My Money,” a song he said he wrote after unsuccessfully trying to keep up with Nelson at two of his favorite pursuits, smoking pot and playing poker.

The reggae grooves of Ziggy Marley singing “Still Is Moving to Me” blended somehow into the big-voiced pop of singer Tom Jones doing “Opportunity To Cry,” which in turn led to the hard country of Jamey Johnson on “Live Forever” and the slow blues of Bobby Weir of the Grateful Dead doing “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain.”

The bigger names – it’s all relative in a show like this – came in the back half of the set. The Chicks, who were introduced by actress Jennifer Garner to sing a rousing take on “Bloody Mary Morning.” (Garner, along with actors Owen Wilson, Ethan Hawke, and Helen Mirren, served as occasional emcees for the show.)

The Lumineers’ Wesley Schultz and Jeremiah Fraites did a beautiful version of Leon Russell’s “A Song For You” during which the crowd went as quiet as it was all night. Moments later, Nathaniel Rateliff and Miranda Lambert had loud fan choruses throughout their performances of “City of New Orleans” and “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys.”

As Nelson’s arrival on stage neared, Chris Stapleton, who the following night would be the headliner at the Stagecoach festival in Indio, arrived to sing a pair of songs, including a gorgeously moving version of “You Were Always on My Mind,” one of Nelson’s greatest covers.

Young and Stills cranked up the volume and energy just before 10 p.m. with “Long May You Run” and “For What It’s Worth,” the latter of which had fans on their feet to dance and sing, before Nelson finally appeared.

His set offered eight songs to close the night. George Strait, who’s been around so long you can forget how great he is, sang “Sing One With Willie,” his 2019 duet with Nelson, in which Strait amusingly bemoans how he’s never had that pleasure. He stuck around for another tune, the great “Pancho & Lefty,” which Nelson originally sang with the late Merle Haggard.

Snoop Dogg, who unlike Jack Johnson can definitely keep up with Nelson on at least one of his favorite pursuits, arrived to do “Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die,” the warmth of their friendship clear in the grins and laughter they shared throughout the number.

After the full lineup filed back on stage, Nelson led them through “Will the Circle Be Unbroken?” and “I’ll Fly Away,” and then led the full Bowl in singing “Happy Birthday” to himself – it’s Willie’s party, he can sing it any way he wants.

“It’s Hard to Be Humble,” a Mac Davis song Nelson covered on a recent record, closed out the night, with a bit of kind of tongue-in-cheek humor and a sly smile from Nelson.

“Oh Lord, it’s hard to be humble, when you’re perfect in every way,” he sang as the audience cheered. “I can’t wait to look in the mirror, ’cause I get better lookin’ each day.”

With that, and a wave to the crowd, he was gone, if only ’til the next night.

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​ Orange County Register