Graham Parker ~ 2009 January 9 ~ Joe's Pub, New York, NY
Graham Parker accompanying himself with Fender electric guitar, Gibson acoustic guitar, and harmonica
Setlist (with guitars indicated)
[Gibson acoustic]: If It Ever Stops Rainin' - Anything for a Laugh - Between You and Me - Character Assassination - Pollinate - Thunder & Rain - Hotel Chambermaid - Oh Girl {Chi-Lites} - [Fender electric]: Love Gets You Twisted - Temporary Beauty - Blue Highways - White Honey - Long Stem Rose - Discovering Japan - [Gibson]: God's Big Chess Game - Heat Treatment ... encore ... Nation of Shopkeepers
Review
I traveled via car, Metro North train, and foot to reach Manhattan, where I spent the afternoon with my friend Mary (Infamous Capgirl) visiting a weird modern art museum, and then off to hear Graham Parker at Joe's Pub in the heart of Greenwich Village. The doors opened at 6:00 promptly and my group took a pair of tiny tables just to the left of the stage. One of us (not me) was celebrating a birthday so there was a festive atmosphere, even beyond what you normally get at a GP gig.
If you were magically transported into Joe's Pub you'd probably be able to tell it's located in a city where real estate is very expensive, because they make use of every possible square inch. Little square tables up against the stage seat four, crowdedly. Behind the row of tables is a space just barely wide enough to get to your seat, then more crowded seating, then behind this a raised area with a bar and standing room. To get to the restrooms or the coat check patrons have to go through the kitchen. Good thing Parkeristas are a friendly bunch. It was also extremely dark. I had to hold the menu in the light of the candle to read it.
The grossly overworked but perky waitstaff took our orders, getting a high percentage of them right. There was a camera moving through the crowd and interviews being done for a documentary on Graham. This is the same movie making team that Graham mentioned at a Turning Point gig a couple of years ago; it's interesting that they're still working on the project. I was thrilled to see my friend Maureen (the birthday celebrant and one of the world's most devoted Geepsters) being interviewed by the film team.
Just on schedule at 7:30 Geep came onto stage, carrying his Gibson acoustic. He wore a great vintage shirt that I've seen on him maybe once before. It's blue, with big squares, and across the big squares are floating circles of different colors. It reminded me of the abstract art exhibit I'd viewed that afternoon at the New Museum of Contemporary Art. He even commented on it, saying it dated from the 1980s. (As if we couldn't have guessed.) As stage dress goes, it rocks.
The stage is about three feet off the floor and surprisingly large, considering how tiny the rest of the club is. There's a piano on stage (not used by Graham). The stage is shaped like a triangle with the point of the triangle facing the audience, so that the tables along each side are all quite close to the performer. The sound was very good, helped by acoustic padding along the walls around the stage.
We knew this was going to be a somewhat abbreviated show since Joe's had three different shows squeezed onto the schedule, and GP wasted no time opening with a killer, "If It Ever Stops Rainin'," which is on my short list of favorite GP songs. So I was pretty happy already. To my knowledge he's never opened with that particular song, and it's a great song to start with.
Fortunately the limited timeframe didn't force him to abandon his witty banter. For example, he claimed to be famous in some circles and described an incident when someone saw him in a grocery store and asked if he was Gram Parsons. Another fan mistook him for Richard Thompson and thanked him for recording "Vincent Black Lightning."
He made some unexpected song choices. One was "Oh Girl" by the Chi-Lites. This is the song that begins: "Oh girl, I'd be in trouble if you left me now." It was an excellent cover song, very suited for Graham's singing style, and he really nailed it. I like this one better than the Stevie Wonder covers he's been doing the past couple of years.
He dragged a previously un-performed song off of Acid Bubblegum ("the album also known as Blink and Miss It," said Graham), that being "Character Assassination." It took me a minute or two to figure out what it was. It's always great to hear Graham treat one of his obscure songs. This one is a classic GP Bile Song. At the end of it he said "and now for something more cheerful," and did "Pollinate."
He did "Long Stem Rose," but a revised version. It wasn't exactly reggae-ized, but it had a funky beat that you wouldn't expect that muscled up the song in a way I liked.
When he did "Temporary Beauty," he took the opportunity to insult the people who had requested it, because they were sitting right in front of the stage and eating while he performed.
"Has anyone heard of Tex Skerball?" asked Graham. He said that Tex is a talented hillbilly songwriter ("older than me" said Graham) who couldn't make it to the gig, but Geep was going to do one of his songs. I must confess my jaw dropped. I never expected Tex to see the light of day. Graham performed "God's Big Chess Game" and it was actually not too bad. (For those who don't know, Tex Skerball is a hillbilly persona of GP's appearing on Youtube. Go look him up.)
Tex's number was followed by a fab "Heat Treatment" after which GP went off stage, ducking behind a curtain that led off the stage. No hiding behind the music stand this time. After 20 seconds or so of audience noise, Geep came back on for a one-song encore, the easy singalong "Nation of Shopkeepers." A good song on record, "Nation" is a song that goes beyond the recording and becomes much more when performed live because of its interactive nature and the obvious fun that GP has singing "scat" over the "dip dip doo doo doo"s.
The only disappointment for me, and a little itty bitty one, was that although he had the kazoo in his foot pedal case, he didn't play "Stick to the Plan." He played seventeen songs altogether, five or six fewer than in a show without time restraints, but he packed so much in it was very satisfying.
All in all it was a great show. The most important thing of all in the evening was being with my friends.
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