Nelson concert endures> Country singer takes fans on whirlwind marathon

Early in Tuesday night’s show, Willie Nelson performed his version of the standard “All of Me.” That proved to be a fairly accurate foreshadowing of what was to come for the 2,652 in attendance at the Bangor Auditorium, as “The Red-Headed Stranger” played for them most of his hits, more than a few of his misses, and even some songs by his friends and influences.

Nelson, an avid golfer whose tour bus was spotted Monday at Bangor Muni, also likes to run, and he took the Bangor crowd on a marathon Tuesday, performing for 2 hours and 20 minutes. In fact, he outlasted about a quarter of the audience, as concert-goers began drifting out about 90 minutes into the show (They must have been after the abridged version of Willie live).

Nelson and his six-member band, The Willie Nelson Family, took the stage after a tedious 35-minute intermission, to the strains of

“Whiskey River.” His outfit of black jeans, black T-shirt and a tan cowboy hat reflected the stage show itself: nothing fancy, with nothing to distract from the music.

Name a hit, and Nelson played it: “Blue Eyes Cryin’ in the Rain,” “Georgia on My Mind,” “On the Road Again,” “Always on My Mind,” “To All the Girls I’ve Loved Before.” He even performed his friends’ hits, including Merle Haggard’s “Working Man Blues” and Kris Kristofferson’s “Help Me Make it Through the Night” and “Me and Bobby McGee.”

As is shown on his new album, “Night and Day,” Nelson remains, at 65, a dazzling guitar player, and that was evident during his frequent solos. But he shared the spotlight with his band members, especially his sister, Bobbie, on piano and Mickey Raphael on harmonica. Jody Payne not only handled guitar duties with Nelson, but admirably filled in the Waylon Jennings vocal part of such duets as “Mamas, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys” and “Good Hearted Woman.”

After an hour and 45 minutes, longer than most performers play, Nelson appeared to be wrapping things up. After a standing ovation, he launched right into his encore. “We used to go offstage and then come back,” he explained. “But then one night we came back, and the audience was gone.”

During the 35-minute encore, Nelson served up a little bit of everything: a couple of Hank Williams tunes, a healthy selection from his neglected “Teatro” album and a pair of instrumentals, among others, before closing the evening with “Just Because.”

But with Nelson concentrating on the music, there was little vocal interaction with his fans from the stage. The first woman to hand him a bouquet of flowers received the bandanna off his head in return. At one point, he held up a Maine T-shirt he had been given, to cheers and applause.

Part of this problem was structural. Security personnel blocked off the aisles of the floor seating, preventing most people from bringing gifts to the wizened road warrior until very late in the encore. Also people standing, except for those on the extreme sides of the auditorium, were asked to return to their seats, which optimized sight lines but cut down on dancing.

Surely these actions were requested by Nelson’s staff, but it did limit the spontaneity of the event, and it’s that not knowing what’s going to happen next which is an integral part of any concert experience. But most in attendance seemed content to receive more music and give up that sense of community that drives a truly memorable show.

So perhaps Nelson didn’t give Mainers “All of Me.” But many were quite happy with the bounty they did receive.

Opening the show was Diesel Doug and the Long-Haul Truckers. During their half-hour set, the five-piece Portland band played a spirited set for a largely unappreciative crowd, including songs from their two CDs and a cover of Billy Joe Shaver’s “Fast Train to Georgia,” which Nelson also performed later.