Evidently, Willie Nelson really can’t wait to get on the road again.

Less than a year after bringing his Outlaw Music Festival to Alpine Valley — and less than a month after turning 91 — the country legend was back on a Milwaukee stage Saturday night at the BMO Pavilion. It was Milwaukee’s first big outdoor concert of the year.

It was clear he wasn’t playing out of habit or ego. Of the many Willie Nelson concerts I’ve seen in town over the past decade, Saturday’s was among his most engaging.

Sure, the set was short at just 62 minutes, as has been the case for a while now, and the setlist was heavy on familiar standards. Age perhaps has prompted him to sit for the entire show, and Nelson let the newest member of his Family band, Waylon Payne, take lead vocals for three songs: Merle Haggard’s “Workin’ Man Blues,” and Kris Kristofferson’s “Help Me Make It Through the Night” and “Me and Bobby McGee.”

But even then, Nelson never coasted, singing most of the words to “Me and Bobby McGee.” He was especially animated for “Workin’ Man Blues,” peppering the performance with grooving guitar licks on his trusty and battered acoustic guitar Trigger and ending the jam with a kick of his right leg and a proud thumbs up from Payne.

It was through Trigger that Nelson’s passion shined most Saturday night.

There’s long been a roughness to his strumming that can be off-putting for the unprepared, but that’s part of the charm of a Willie Nelson show. And there remain plenty of diamonds in that rough.

He contradicted the sentiment of “Still Is Still Moving to Me” with swift and nimble Spanish guitar-style runs, and channeled Chuck Berry with ’50s rock swagger on Hank Williams’ “Move It on Over.” With tender, contemplative melodies he teed up his longest running tour mate Mickey Raphael, who offered a response via soulful harmonica solo for “Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground.” (The band was rounded out by Paul English on drums, and Kevin Smith on bass Saturday.)

And with understated but undeniably smirking bravado, Nelson’s guitar dazzle for “I Never Cared for You” was the equivalent of dancing on a vanquished foe’s grave.

While his guitar runs would often soar, Nelson as a vocalist remains engagingly down to earth, the direct, conversational tone of his voice seasoned ever so slightly with a sprinkle of soul or a splash of sass.

That approach served Saturday’s punchlines much better than a heavy wink and nudge, drawing hollers with his cool evisceration of “Mr. Purified Country” by asking “is your head so far up that you can’t pull it out” on “Write Your Own Songs,” and drawing laughs singing about looking good in his jeans on Mac Davis’ “It’s Hard to Be Humble.”

Nelson’s gentle vocal delivery also enhanced his fleeting moments of rambunctiousness, like the growl of his voice in the repeated utterance of “Mamma” for a boisterous singalong of Ed and Patsy Bruce’s “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys.”

And it’s a safe bet that Nelson’s rendition of “Always on My Mind” Saturday will be burned into many Milwaukee fans’ memories: the humble confessions of his neglect, the lonesome guitar lines conveying the depth of his regrets.

That song, and the 20 others Nelson touched on Saturday, were received with an immense level of gratitude fitting for a goodbye. But Nelson also made it clear, through intact talent and his own appreciation, that he’s not ready to bow out just yet. So long as he’s still able to tour, there’s no doubt Nelson would be happy to see Milwaukee again after he turns 92.

5 takeaways from Willie Nelson’s Milwaukee concert, including opener Ryan Larkins

• It was a perfect night for the season’s first major outdoor concert in Milwaukee, with clear skies and a cool breeze coming off the lake.
• When the show ended, in between blowing kisses, Nelson tossed a cowboy hat into the crowd like a frisbee and threw out a few red bandanas, including one he pulled off his head.
• Two other fans also special recognition from Nelson during “Always on My Mind.” He noticed the women standing right in front of him near the song’s end, giving them a wave as he sang before he made them the subjects of his song, pointing to them and smiling as he sang. When the song ended, the women gave each other a huge hug.
• The moment Willie Nelson launched into “Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die,” the smell of marijuana wafted through my section of the pavilion. Nelson no doubt would be proud.
• Opener Ryan Larkins confessed to being nervous on the BMO Pavilion stage Saturday playing for one of the largest crowds of his career opening for his favorite artist. But it was the only evidence of nerves across a 25-minute set marked by Larkins’ humility and smooth baritone (close your eyes when he talked and you could almost imagine Austin Butler was channeling Elvis). Larkins honored his predecessors in multiple ways, like with a bluster-free cover of “I Love This Bar” in honor of the late Toby Keith, and with original “King of Country Music” that name-drops loads of legends and honors country music craftsmanship. It’s Larkins’ first song to hit country radio, but don’t let that aw-shucks charm fool you — he’s already scored a hit as a songwriter, Cody Johnson’s “The Painter,” which he saved for last, not so much to boast of his bona fides but to honor the song’s inspiration, his wife of 15 years.

Willie Nelson’s BMO Pavilion setlist

1. “Whiskey River”
2. “Stay a Little Longer”
3. “Still Is Still Moving to Me”
4. “Bloody Mary Morning”
5. “I Never Cared for You”
6. “Workin’ Man Blues”
7. “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys”
8. “Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground”
9. “On the Road Again”
10. “Always On My Mind”
11. “Good Hearted Woman”
12. “Help Me Make It Through the Night”
13. “Move It On Over”
14. “Georgia (On My Mind)”
15. “I Been to Georgia on a Fast Train”
16. “Me and Bobby McGee”
17. “Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die”
18. “Write Your Own Songs”
19. “Will the Circle Be Unbroken”/”I’ll Fly Away”
20. “It’s Hard to Be Humble”

Contact Piet at (414) 223-5162 or plevy@journalsentinel.com. Follow him on X at @pietlevy or Facebook at facebook.com/PietLevyMJS.