Willie Nile ~ 2012 January 27 ~ Club Passim, Cambridge, MA
Band personnel: Willie Nile, lead vocals and guitar; Johnny Pisano, bass and backing vocals; Peter Hoffman, lead guitar
Set List
Singin' Bell - The Innocent Ones - Rich and Broken - My Little Girl - Sideways Beautiful - Holy War - American Ride - The Crossing - Across the River - Run - House of a Thousand Guitars - When One Stands - Sing Me a Song - People Who Died ... encore ... One Guitar
Scroll down past the videos for review; photo gallery to the right.
Videos
"My Little Girl":
"Sing Me a Song":
Review
Concert Going Partner and I parked at the Braintree T station and took the Red Line to Harvard Square. The T stops a two minute walk from this venue. Such an easy trip, compared to so many of the other places where we've been for music. We made the short walk from the transit station to the venue in a light rain and settled in at table 10 at the front of the stage. The venue serves excellent vegetarian food and we each ordered something interesting along with a lime rickey.
There was an opening act, a singer/songwriter with a guitar named Michael Fracasso. He has lived in Austin, TX for a number of years but hasn't lost his northern accent. He opened with a country-tinged song but it was somewhat misleading since the rest of his set was straightforward singer/songwriter stuff. He had a good variety of songs, paced well, and was personable and entertaining. He played for about 45 minutes.
After a short break on came Willie Nile, Johnny Pisano, and Peter Hoffman. Willie immediately told the crowd that he was suffering from a right shoulder injury but that the show was not going to suffer ... just him. He proceeded to wince his way through a fifteen-song set. Luckily his guitar playing didn't seem to be affected, although it was hard for him to sling the guitar over his shoulder and he struggled to get out of his jacket at one point. When he sat at the piano for part of the set, he said he wasn't sure how it would work. He made it work by hovering over his right hand so that he wouldn't have to move his right arm as far as usual up and down the keyboard.
Numerous times during the night he invoked the spirit of James Brown with declarations of "I Feel Good!" At one point he said that Johnny can do a mean James Brown vocal and had Johnny step up to the mike to do a James Brown imitation (ow!!). It was just one note but it was great!
Willie told some very interesting stories along with playing his wonderful music. He introduced "Rich and Broken" by saying it's written in the style of Ray Davies (Kinks) and that it is about whatever celebrity is in the tabloids that week. An audience member suggested Demi Moore, and Willie said that fame is not particularly good for people ("it didn't do anything for Michael Jackson"). Another interesting story involved a trip to Liverpool while he was touring in England, where he and his other band members were given a tour of John Lennon's and Paul McCartney's childhood homes. Each home employs a host who shows visitors around the homes and tells stories of John's and Paul's childhood, including the first time Paul visited John shortly after they had met. Many of the stories told by these hosts explain some of the cryptic lyrics in Beatles songs. Willie dedicated "My Little Girl" to the individuals who fulfill these roles at the two homes.
Willie played a number of songs from The Innocent Ones which has finally been officially released in America (as of November). He also played a couple of songs from the next album, to be called American Ride. Although I have heard a few of these songs before, it was very exciting to hear Willie say he will shortly be going into the studio to do some recording on the album, and that he expects that it will be released this year. He played three songs from American Ride. One was the extremely powerful "Holy War," a song directed toward terrorists. The second was the lovely "The Crossing," a song about a life's passages, whether it be the crossing of the Atlantic to get to a new country, or a personal journey of any sort; this song is played on the piano. The third was the title song, a song that takes the listener on a heartfelt journey around America, in three minutes.
A real musical highlight was "When One Stands," when the three musicians went into a long and wonderful jam, and Willie claimed that they all had Jamaican roots. Much more than an "obligatory reggae song," this tune is a declaration of the power that people have to join together and help one another.
The main set ended with the Jim Carroll song, "People Who Died." For the encore ("One Guitar"), Hirsh Gardner, who has produced some of Willie's music, came up on stage and joined in on vocals and cheerleading.
After the show Willie and his bandmates mingled with the concert goers. Many fans gathered around Willie to empathize with his shoulder pain (sounds like a rotator cuff problem to me). Willie and Johnny are headed to Portland, Maine, for tomorrow's show, but Peter says he will not make the show, so tomorrow we will be seeing the Willie Nile Duo.
More Willie
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