Al Green

We're not going to lie to you. Al Green '76 created miracles that Al Green '08 can't. The classic model slipped into falsetto with a smooth, melty ease. The current one scrapes up into it, sparingly and with effort, like his voice box is a clutch about to drop to the pavement. The old one wrote "Belle" and wore rope-belted pants with no shirt and squealed puhLEEEEEse because he'd been thinking he wanted to get next to you, baby. The '08 edition shows up in a dapper tux that smells faintly of communion wafers. We can't have everything. What matters at the Midland show Saturday, though, are the ways in which they're the same. As he has proved on recent tours and records (including this year's Lay It Down), both Greens are vital performers with top-flight bands. Both sing soul like it's meant to be sung. And both love getting you off — and have the skills to do so — even if only one admits it.