Graham Parker and The Figgs ~ 2005 June 9 ~ Narrows Center for the Arts, Fall River, MA
Band Personnel: Graham Parker, lead vocal, Washburn acoustic guitar; Mike Gent, backing vocals, guitar, drums; Pete Hayes, drums; Pete Donnelly, bass, backing vocals, Brett Rosenberg, backing vocals, guitar
Set List (with guitars noted)
(no guitar): Don't Get Excited - Soul Shoes - Stick To Me - Don't Let It Break You Down - (Washburn): She Swallows It - Vanity Press - Nothing's Gonna Pull Us Apart - If It Ever Stops Rainin' - Worthy of Your Love - (no guitar): Brand New Book - Bad Chardonnay - (Washburn): Dislocated Life - Get Started, Start a Fire - Local Girls - Nothing on the Radio - Saturday Night is Dead ... encore ... Evil [Mike Gent on drums] - The Raid ... second encore ... Hold Back the Night
Review
This is the third time I've seen Graham Parker at this superb venue. It's the third floor of an old converted mill building with donated church pews for seats, with a few tables in the front close to the stage. This is a nonprofit center for the arts where the staff are volunteers and treat both audience and performer right. One can feel good about attending a concert in a place like this. Nobody makes money off these concerts except the performer.
Waiting outside, we were able to listen to the sound check from the open windows above. After the sound check GP came out of the door and walked off to an unknown destination. Maybe he wanted to check out the nearby battleship that can be seen from the windows of the Narrows. After a few minutes he returned, was ushered into the building past the politely waiting fans, and told the Narrows volunteer that the folks in the line were all his guests. It might not have been true, exactly (we still had to buy tickets), but once the music started, GP made us all feel like very special guests indeed.
Once upstairs and seated at a table in front of the stage, my Concert Going Partner and I ate the sandwiches we had brought and chatted with other concert goers, including one who is also from our home town of Bourne (on Cape Cod). (Hi Bob!) The Figgs came on and played 9 songs. I thought their set was better than the night before's. To my ear, they played a better mix of uptempo and midtempo songs. Also, the sound at the Narrows was a lot better than the sound at the Middle East. Mike Gent commented that they weren't going to play quite as loud -- he seemed to think the sound was echoey in the Narrows, but trust me, Mike, you sounded way better in the echoey Narrows than in the noisy Middle East. I particularly liked one song featuring a riff reminiscent of the Kinks' "You Really Got Me" . Pete the bass player sang a few more leads than in the previous night's set. They're a good-looking and well appointed band of young men, especially Pete the drummer in his raspberry colored shirt, and (I discovered later when he stood for one song) pink sneakers. Their enthusiasm for playing with GP was splendid; during a few songs (particularly on "Local Girls") the entire band were singing along, even those who weren't on mike.
There was a very short break before Graham came on, and he was better than the night before. The Middle East was a good show. This one was a great show. It was the kind of show after which you go home with a grin from ear to ear. Graham, although I've never seen him be anything but upbeat on stage, seemed to really be into it more this night. He wore the same Ian Dury t-shirt, with gray trousers this time, and a different colored wrist band, with not-very-dark dark glasses. The balloons on the t-shirt have the words "Ian Dury - Sex - Drugs - Rock 'n' Roll" and the shirt dates from about 1977, according to what Graham told me after the show.
This time he played a black Washburn guitar exclusively and left the pretty red and orange one on its stand. He didn't use a harmonica either night.
He was chewing gum, and at one point asked if anyone in the audience had any gum he could have. He said, "with other performers the audience is throwing their underwear on stage, with me it's chewing gum." A typical Graham Parker remark, poking gentle fun at himself to get a laugh. A fan tossed a stick of gum onto the stage. (I hope she got a thank-you later.) He almost immediately unwrapped it and started to chew, so it seems he really does need it to wet his whistle in the hot weather.
And it was hot in there, too. It was a hot night and there's no air conditioning in the Narrows. It was a hot, sweaty night just perfect for rock 'n' roll. The only thing missing was a cloud of cigarette smoke.
They played "If It Ever Stops Rainin'," which (the astute reader will remember from the Middle East show review) is a particular favorite of mine. As I was singing along ("I'll put my arms around you, under the blue, blue sky") Pete the bass player looked down at me and started to laugh; after the show he explained that he enjoyed seeing the ecstatic look on my face. So Pete, when we meet again, just call me "Blue, Blue Sky."
In the middle of "Get Started, Start a Fire" Graham said "this next part makes no sense at all." Then sang the lyrics: "she lit a cigarette in an airport where you get your fingers taken off for smoking."
My Concert Going Partner gives approval to Graham's easy singalongs. There is the one-note hum of "Don't Let It Break You Down"; the 'ba ba ba' etc. of "Bad Chardonnay"; the "nothing on the radio" repeatedly over and over in the song of that title.
The 19-song set list was largely the same as the night before except for the addition of "Evil" from the new album, a fun number because it featured Mike Gent on drums and Pete the drummer standing at a microphone for his line "Forget about it." Another different song was "The Raid," which Graham introduced by saying "this song is called 'where you were when the raid came' -- that's 'the raid,' not 'the rains,' if you are writing this down. It's a drug song, get it?" I felt more than a little conspicuous at this point because, well, um, I was sitting about five feet in front of Graham and I was scribbling in my notebook after every song. (How else could I get the set list right? This is a public service I assign myself, so other fans will know what he played.)
After the show Concert Going Partner and I purchased a Figgs CD and spent a few minutes hanging around the venue talking to various Figgs when GP himself appeared and engaged us in conversation for a few minutes; we were flattered that he remembered us from the two previous shows he's done at the Narrows. As is always the case when GP plays the Narrows, he seemed to enjoy spending a few minutes after the show mingling with the fans. The Narrows is usually a folk club, and it has the sort of a vibe that makes it an easy thing for GP to informally meet with the fans after the show.
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