For anyone who assumed that Lyle Lovett’s first live album might be a Grand Ole Opry–style recital of his country material, he cuts right in with “Penguins”: a piece of fortified funk worthy of James Brown. Lovett's home-state audience whoops it up, because this is the type of party Texans can appreciate. It's a real dance party—none of your Grandpa’s antique waltzes. Even if you didn’t know these songs were recorded live in Austin and San Antonio in 1995, you’d be able to tell from the way the audience reacts to “That’s Right (You’re Not from Texas).” The celebratory setting is a perfect match for sweat-infused blues tunes like “M-O-N-E-Y,” “Wild Women Don’t Get the Blues," and “What Do You Do?,” but equally impressive is the way Lovett quiets the audience with his ballads. The open spaces of “North Dakota” conjure cinematic visions of that state. Listening to the piano and congas float through the start of the song, you could have recorded the sound of a pin dropping at the feet of the silenced audience.