Jackson Browne Jackson Browne plays the first chords of the opening song at the Opera House Monday night. His solo performance delighted the 600-plus fans at the benefit concert. (Photo Robin Beck)

It was a big time in little Boothbay Harbor Monday night.

Jackson Browne was no pretender, he was the real deal, and over 600 fans recognized it. They brought him back onstage for three encores in the highly charged christening of the historic Opera House, where the floorboards once again pulsed with rhythm and the walls reverberated with rousing cheers.

In an auspicious inauguration of the grand old building as a cultural center, the famous singer-songwriter, noted for his lyrics about "everyman," praised the efforts of local everymen in re-opening the hall to the arts.

"The Opera House is being built on love, sweat and tears and community," said Browne, encouraging organizers. "This is a nice place to play. You should be able to get people to come up here and play." The socially-minded troubadour repeatedly thanked people for coming and for supporting the Opera House and what it represents.

Browne, 55, well known since the 1970s for his thoughtful lyrics and exquisite guitar playing, performed a benefit solo concert, sharing the stage with a keyboard and twelve acoustic guitars from his collection.

"I may not use them all, but they're okay with that," he mused. His sense of humor brought laughs, and his admission that the concert followed "no set plan" brought calls for specific songs from the eager audience.

Requests for some songs surprised Browne, who appreciated the fans' knowledge of his work.

"Wow, that's an obscure one," he remarked more than once, joking that one song was so obscure even he didn't know it.

Browne set a relaxed and congenial tone in the Opera House hall which offered an intimate atmosphere with its cozy, rustic appearance.

During the nearly three-hour concert, moving between guitar and keyboard, he first related background and then sang original songs including "For A Dancer," "Rosie," "Looking East," "In the Shape of A Heart," "Two of Me, Two of You," "The Pretender," "The Cat," "Ready or Not," "Running on Empty," and "The Patriot."

He also paid tribute to his dear friend, songwriter Warren Zevon who passed away in September, singing Zevon's hit, "Poor, Poor Pitiful Me."

As rainbows danced in the wings from the spotlights hitting his guitar, Browne sang his quintessential songs of love, loss, loneliness, searching, struggle, and dreams. His voice was passionate, his lyrics complex, poetic, aching, and sometimes funny.

He immersed himself and concert-goers in musical stories, both intensely personal and yet universal. Blinded by the lights, he conversed with his unseen audience and brought folks into his life, describing friends and his Los Angeles roots. To his 30-year-old son and to his girlfriend, who had flown from California for the concert, he dedicated special songs.

He also touched on political themes of war and intrigue with songs he called "protest-prayers."

His performance throughout the evening drew enthusiastic cheers, hearty applause, foot stomping and standing ovations.

"He was great. He's an icon," said local musician Ron Arsenault after the show. "He brought back a lot of memories."

The evening was special, too, for former Opera House owner John Abbe who said, "This has brought the Opera House full circle. I can't wait until next summer."

Extra tickets made available on Saturday had sold out in 20 minutes.

On Monday fans started lining up outside in mid-afternoon as a large black bus parked outside and crews unloaded equipment.

Audience members, from teen-agers to octogenarians, came mostly from the Boothbay Region but also from southern Maine and Boston, and included visitors from Germany and England. One woman had reportedly won a ticket to the show by dressing up as a ballerina.

Peter and Hildy Johnson, long-time Jackson Browne fans, brought their two children; Brud Pierce, in the front row, brought his spoons.

After the concert, and the obliging encores, Browne met with some 50 Gold Circle ticket-holders upstairs in the lounge. The personable performer made it a point to speak and have his picture taken with everyone there.

Advisory board member and local resident Richard Ford, a writer who is a friend of Jackson Browne, having long admired his songwriting talent, had invited him to Boothbay Harbor.

Browne provided the concert at no charge; about $30,000 raised from ticket, T-shirt and CD sales benefits the Opera House and its restoration.

Ford introduced Browne Monday night and welcomed the audience as participants in the "revitalization being accomplished by the citizens and craftsmen of the region."

The grassroots impetus for the show, however, did not preclude its being professionally managed and expertly run.

The show was produced by a team of locals, Gary Guzzo of Atomic Studios who took care of the technical aspects and Scott Larson of Newagen Inn, Lawnmere Inn and True North Events, who coordinated ticket sales, catering, volunteers, chair rental, and other needs.

Guzzo, experienced in concert production, did the staging, coordinating with Browne's technical crew their needs for sound and lighting equipment; then he had to design a system and obtain equipment that would work in the Opera House.

"The room sounded better than I thought it would," said Guzzo, echoing praise expressed from all corners about the hall's impressive acoustics.

"I have been in love with that building, and my involvement has been to save the building," added Guzzo. "It was nice to bring something of that caliber here. It's what the area needs, it will help with business downtown. It established a nice precedent... and the number of seats shows [the Opera House] is a very viable facility for this kind of concert."

Guzzo says he will likely act as an independent producer for future shows at the Opera House, and he and board members seek input about what folks want to see there.

"We had a lot of fun," said Scott Larson who donated most of his staff in preparation for the event and coordinated 36 volunteers who helped that evening.

"We had no trouble getting volunteers, and they made it happen," he said. "Nobody took any money to work that night; it was all gratis. That is one of the reasons I moved here - the sense of community... This was a very successful start to what we hope will be a long and historic venue."

"I heard people say they saw friends they hadn't seen in ten years," said board member Kristina Ford, wife of Richard Ford. "That's the kind of community center we want."

"It was a tremendous event," said Boothbay Harbor Police Chief Steve Clark, who had staff and young Explorers on hand helping with parking and traffic control.

"For a kickoff event, it shows how it can be done very well; it was so well managed," added Clark. "To have Jackson Browne come to Boothbay Harbor is amazing... I think we're going to see some great events there. It's great for the whole region; it bodes well for the future."