Graham Parker ~ 2004 February 20 ~ Narrows Center For the Arts, Fall River, MA
Graham Parker accompanying himself with Fender electric guitar, Gibson acoustic guitar, and harmonica
Opening act: Bree Sharp (vocals, guitar) accompanied by Don DiLego (guitar, backing vocals)
Set List
Watch the Moon Come Down - High Horse - Silly Thing - Between You and Me - Sugaree {Grateful Dead} - Anything For a Laugh - Mercury Poisoning - Fool's Gold - Love Gets You Twisted - I Threw It All Away {Dylan} - My Love's Strong - Here It Comes Again - Almost Thanksgiving Day - Cruel Lips - She Never Let Me Down - Oh Girl {Chi-Lites} - Get Started. Start a Fire - Soul Corruption - Nation of Shopkeepers ... encore ... Tornado Alley - In the Midnight Hour {Wilson Pickett} - You Can't Be Too Strong
Review
Located almost in the shadow of the Braga Bridge, up a steep clattery flight of stairs, on the third floor of an old mill building, one finds the nonprofit Narrows Center For the Arts. The building still houses a working factory on the second floor.
Seating in this unpretentious, relaxed venue consists of old wooden church pews with a few tables in front. Capacity is a couple of hundred. There was no alcohol served, but you can bring your own, and they offer coffee, soft drinks, and home-baked goodies for sale. I had a slice of exquisite chocolate cake. Now that's my idea of a night out. A delicious dessert and a concert by a rock 'n' roll legend. The staff were very helpful, friendly, and enthusiastic about the music. The sound was good, and all told this is a great place to see a show.
The warmup act was Bree Sharp accompanied by Don DiLego. Bree is a singer/songwriter from New York with a quick wit and appealing stage presence. She and Don sang very good harmonies. Her set was highlighted by some playfully melodramatic songs like "Cheap and Evil Girl." They both played solid acoustic guitar; except Bree forgot to plug hers in for the first song, resulting in some good-natured teasing of herself by herself. The only weak spot in her set was a lackluster Dylan cover with which she closed.
Bree was enthusiastic about opening for Graham Parker, always a good thing in a warmup performer. She said: "You always hear that Graham is angry and he's a snarly punk rocker, but I think he's cute and funny." When, after her set was over and the quick stage change-over was done, and Graham came out from the artist's room at the back of the venue to a warm welcome from the audience, I saw her point. Dressed in black trousers, sneakers, and a black shirt, with his hair cut very short, and wearing his trademark dark glasses, he looked exactly like an ordinary 50-something dude on his way to his workday. GP has always had a working man's attitude and he still does.
He proceeded to play a thoroughly satisfying 22-song set. The songs were drawn from all parts of his career, from 1976 classics to up-to-the-minute songs from his new album (Your Country), scheduled for release on March 9. He switched between an acoustic guitar, accompanying the guitar with harmonica on three or four songs, to an electric. The acoustic was a Gibson with a beautifully decorated pickguard. The electric was a Fender Telecaster that, with a very worn neck, looked like it had seen quite a few days and nights on the road. Graham was equally adept at playing both, and he let loose some mean riffs while playing the electric, especially on an adrenalin-pumping "Get Started. Start a Fire." I was very impressed with how good his singing was, and how varied depending on the song. He sang with a snarly growl or with a melodic sweetness depending on the needs of the song. The set drew more from the quieter side of GP's vast song catalog, which is to be expected in a solo show.
Besides being a topnotch songwriter and singer, GP is a well-rounded entertainer. His between songs banter and jokes were truly funny, and he had the audience in stitches. He told about when he first heard the Grateful Dead and instead of being the hip psychedelic group he was expecting, they were a "lame ass country band." Nonetheless he is covering a Dead tune on the upcoming album. He heard about the recent Massachusetts' court ruling allowing same-sex couples to marry, and out of curiosity he checked the Massachusetts quarter in his state quarters collection, and to his amazement the quarter read: "Massachusetts, the Gay State."
Musical highlights were many. There was the upbeat children's song, "High Horse," a song that draws from two Paul Simon classics, with its opening riff reminiscent of "59th Street Bridge Song" and its lyrics going way beyond "At the Zoo." "Fool's Gold" was toe-tappingly fabulous. "She Never Let Me Down" was tender and hard at the same time, as only a GP song can be. "Soul Corruption" made me shiver, thinking of its relevance to the politics of today.
But even more exciting than these fab Geep classics was the material from the upcoming album. He performed five of the new songs. They have a rootsy, country-flavored sound. One of the new songs was called "Nation of Shopkeepers." It has a nostalgic feeling of absent homeland calling, and it has an easy singalong. Graham taught us the singalong. There are no real lyrics in the audience's part, just "doo-doo-doo," but there is one little section in the audience's part where the melody takes a little unexpected jump. That part is fun to sing; and Graham seemed to be having fun teaching it to us.
After the show the Chairman mingled casually with the fans, who queued up very politely for autographs, photos, and a bit of conversation. Their politeness seemed very much in keeping with the fact that we were in a venue that stages mainly folk music. This snarly punk rocker -- or cute and funny guy -- put on quite a one-man show, not needing a band to convey the excitement of his music. And without a band it was certainly easier to listen to and focus on the excellence of his lyrics. I enjoyed hearing Graham in this semi-acoustic format and look forward to seeing him again in two days at yet another venue I haven't visited before.
More Chairman
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