By Paul Robicheau

The celebrated producer and guitar master led his trio through an intimate set of atmospheric textures, gospel harmonies and mesmerizing pedal steel.

Daniel Lanois at City Winery. Photo: Paul Robicheau

Daniel Lanois cast an unpretentious vibe as he walked onstage with his trio at City Winery, sporting a scruffy, greying beard and dressed in black from his cowboy hat down, as though he’d just wandered in from a Texas roadhouse.

“How’s everyone doing?” Lanois said to Thursday’s less-than-half-filled room of around 100 people. The Boston date had been announced late, after he’d sold two-thirds of the seats for a Nov. 15 show at the spacious Groton Hill Music Hall.

The turnout certainly didn’t match the magnitude of Lanois’ work as a musician and—most famously—a producer for such landmark albums as U2’s The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby, Peter Gabriel’s So, Emmylou Harris’ Wrecking Ball and Bob Dylan’s Time Out of Mind.

After a few songs, the Canadian guitarist/vocalist couldn’t help himself, noting that he’d just talked with Bono about U2 preparing to play to 100,000 people in San Paulo, Brazil. “Wait ’til I tell ’em about the Winery,” Lanois wryly piped.

Jermaine Holmes, Daniel Lanois, and Jim Wilson at City Winery. Photo: Paul Robicheau

Oddly enough, during the slow-thumping opener, “I Love You,” Hollywood kissing scenes flashed so quickly on the screens at City Winery that the sequence could have been part of U2’s Zoo TV tour. Yet as films refracted oblique images and colors during the bluesy Arcadian bop “Under the Stormy Skies” and the smoldering “Fire,” the focus shifted to the atmospheric sonic textures that have become Lanois’ signature.

The guitarist’s tone was unmistakable as he fingerpicked spare, dirty notes on his Telecaster while finger-slapping periodic harmonics, then added glassy ripples to “Still Water,” which was washed in wordless harmonies from his two bandmates.

Their vocals lent a distinctive element, despite the members’ disparate backgrounds. Drummer Jermaine Holmes was a soul singer grounded in church music, while bassist Jim Wilson played guitar for hard-rock groups (including Rollins Band). They put aside their instruments mid-set to join Lanois at center stage for gospel harmonies on “Silverado,” with Holmes prompting an audience clap-along.

Daniel Lanois plays pedal steel at City Winery (c) 2026 photo Paul Robicheau

Before that, a more riveting change-up came when Lanois moved to pedal steel. While an assistant’s portable video camera magnified his fingers onscreen, Lanois freely plucked and brushed the strings with a dynamic touch, his other hand working the slide. The resulting ghostly howls formed a reverberating extension of his usual guitar tonalities.

Lanois later lightened up with two songs from his wonderful 1990 solo debut, Acadie: the folky foot-tapper “Jolie Louise” (partly sung in French) and his best-known track, “The Maker.” The latter unspooled at a slower, church-like pace, his brittle fingerpicking accompanied by a psychedelic black-and-white film projection of water. He ripped more guitar in a cover of the Jamaican song “Raise the Alarm” before closing out the set back on pedal steel with a levitating “Sonho Dourado.”

Nearly two hours had passed since the Lanois trio first ambled onstage. The musicians took their time buttressing the soundtrack of his style in sparse strokes through 16 casually delivered tunes that rarely overextended their mesmerizing charm.

It was a reminder of what a guitar master Lanois remains beyond his production credits, as well as a rare opportunity to catch him in such an intimate setting. Fans who weren’t there (and perhaps some who were) would be wise to catch this trio at Groton Hill’s concert hall, a grand sonic setting that should provide its own wondrous sense of atmosphere.

Paul Robicheau served more than 20 years as contributing editor for music at the Improper Bostonian, in addition to writing and photography for The Boston Globe, Rolling Stone, and many other publications. He was also the founding arts editor of Boston Metro.