KEY POINTS:
It's hard to think of a warmer, more generous and unaffected performer than this singer-songwriter, the flamehaired empress of the slide guitar with a high-wattage voice that exudes longing and promise in equal parts.
On her third visit here, Raitt was at the end of a tour that started 20 months ago to promote her 2005 album Souls Alike and, though she made it clear she was hanging out for home, she still set the house alight with a 100-minute set that surveyed the territory she prowls so well - that triangle bounded by Delta blues, soul and kickass rock 'n' roll.
The Auckland audience was probably less hungry to hear the newer songs than Raitt was to play them. Artists reinvent themselves, but stars don't always realise that it is their reputation more than their recent record that pulls the crowds.
Raitt has lost none of her power in concert but it's safe to say the songs these days ain't what they used to be.
It seems a shame we don't follow Australia's lead and insist touring acts have a local opener. Putting wind beneath the wings of Kiwi musos would seem a fair way for an international star to repay local fans' loyalty.
As it was, Raitt's keyboards whizz, the New Orleans-soaked Englishman Jon Cleary, was the curtain-raiser, with the unobtrusive drummer Ricky Fataar and the lissome bassist James Hutchinson in attendance.
Supremely talented though Cleary is, it seemed a misjudgment to open with 45 minutes of a man who would figure so strongly in the main event.
Raitt's set, though, was a ripper. With Cleary contributing to what sometimes seemed like a double act and guitarist George Marinelli (sometimes on mandolin) adding stylish ornamentations, she unleashed just enough of her back catalogue to keep us satisfied.
This was a seriously road-tested set, never so polished as to lose spontaneity ("You don't mind if we have a band meeting, do ya?" Raitt quipped at one point) and full of light and shade. Raitt's welcome back any time.
Review
* Who: Bonnie Raitt.
* Where: Aotea Centre.
* Reviewer: Peter Calder.
