Norah Jones returns to Denton for confident, casual Oaktopia festival set

The city of Denton fairly vibrated with pride Friday as one of its most famous former residents, Grammy-winning superstar Norah Jones, returned to her old college stomping grounds for a headlining performance at the fourth annual installment of the eclectic Oaktopia festival.

On a warm, faintly breezy evening, a few thousand fans clustered together before a stage emblazoned with the logo of Jones’s former collegiate home, the University of North Texas. The singer-songwriter amusingly recounted her days spent on campus: “These guys [in her band] were asking me about the best place to eat, and I said, ‘I don’t know — I made peanut butter sandwiches in Bruce Hall.’ ”

Though Jones only spent two years at UNT before a fateful move east in the early aughts, toward a deal with Blue Note Records and eventually global ubiquity thanks to her debut album, Come Away With Me, there is still tremendous affection for the North Texas-raised musician who, much like the region to which she returned this week, is not the same as before.

In the roughly two decades since Jones last called this area home, she has run the gamut of music-industry experiences: Armloads of Grammys, quirky side projects and high-profile collaborations dot her discography, which, with the Oct. 7 release of her latest LP, Day Breaks, is returning to the crisp yet casual jazz of her first record.

Over the course of Friday’s freewheeling, 50-minute set, Jones moved from piano to guitar and back again, rifling through her catalog and others to offer up an ideal survey of how she has endured despite all of the turbulence afflicting her industry.

Opening with a sweet, smoky reading of Hank Williams’ Cold Cold Heart (a nod to her 2002 debut) and shifting to Out on the Road, a cut from her 2012 album, Little Broken Hearts, she captured in the space of two songs the breadth of her artistic appetites.

Backed by a seamless quartet, Jones seemed eager to connect with the adoring audience — “That one definitely feels like Texas,” she observed, as the chords of Lonestar faded behind her — a riot of eager faces illuminated by glow sticks and, farther back, hula hoops adorned with Christmas lights, streaking in the night sky as vape clouds mingled with children squealing and casual chatter. All of it felt like a cozy reconnecting, the sensation of someone returning to a formative place, older and wiser, but no less grateful.

Elsewhere at Oaktopia’s second day, an astonishingly deft curatorial instinct was on display across the two main outdoor stages. (Oaktopia concludes Saturday.)

Austin’s White Denim thrashed its way through a gripping set, featuring Crowley-raised Jordan Richardson keeping time on the drums. Nikki Lane, a no-nonsense troubadour hailing from Nashville, showcased her spunky wares, enlisting a never-ending parade of guests, including her boyfriend, Dallas musician Jonathan Tyler, and critically acclaimed singer-songwriter Robert Ellis to help out.

The sloppy, profane but electrifying Wavves likely scandalized more than a few of the young families in attendance — something about which lead singer Nathan Williams seemed hilariously unrepentant — and capped its raucous set by exiting the stage to strains of Whitney Houston belting I Will Always Love You.

Indie-rock act Dr. Dog got the sunset slot, and its sweetly jangled and rough-hewn melodies proved the perfect complement to a gorgeous early-fall twilight descending upon Denton’s town square.

Cat Power’s solo set was, in its way, arresting, but proved mightily challenging in a festival setting. Chan Marshall rendered songs like the Rolling Stones’ (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction and her own (such as The Greatest or 3, 6, 9) in studiously narcotic fashion, shifting between electric guitar and piano.

It was quiet defiance, a gorgeous showcase in a setting not necessarily receptive to it.

Beirut, the evening’s penultimate act, found the right blend of mellow and merriment, leading a gleeful audience through what lead singer Zach Condon said was the band’s last show of 2016.

This story was originally published September 24, 2016 at 12:57 PM with the headline "Norah Jones returns to Denton for confident, casual Oaktopia festival set."