Graham Parker and the Latest Clowns ~ 2007 April 20 ~ Narrows Center for the Arts, Fall River, MA
Band Personnel: Graham Parker (lead vocals, Gibson acoustic guitar, Fender electric guitar, harmonica, kazoo); Mike Gent (drums, guitar, backing vocals); Brett Rosenberg (guitar, backing vocals); Ed Valauskas (bass, backing vocals); Scott Janovitz (keyboards, backing vocals)
GP also played harmonica on "I Discovered America" and "Syphilis and Religion" and kazoo on "Stick to the Plan"
Set List (with guitars noted)
[Gibson acoustic]: I Discovered America - Hard Side of the Rain - [Fender electric]: England's Latest Clown - Get Started. Start a Fire - You Can't Take Love for Granted - [Gibson acoustic]: They Murdered the Clown - Suspension Bridge - Other Side of the Reservoir - [Fender electric]: Weeping Statues - Durban Poison - Break Them Down - White Honey (with Mike on guitar) - You Can't Be Too Strong (with Ed/Scott) - [Gibson acoustic]: Waiting for the UFOs - [Fender electric]: Nobody Hurts You - Syphilis & Religion ... encore ... [Gibson acoustic]: All Being Well (with Brett) - [Fender electric]: Wake Up (Next To You) ... second encore ... [Gibson acoustic]: Glass Jaw - Stick to the Plan
Review
My first show of the tour was the closest for me; Fall River is less than an hour from Cape Cod. Outside the venue the line stretched around the corner in the warm spring weather. At exactly 7:00 we traipsed up the stairs, but it turned out the guys were still sound-checking so were told to wait out in the art gallery until they were done. It was hard not to peak around the corner to spy on them. They were practicing "Break Them Down."
Once inside, I had quite a contingent from online Parkerville at my table -- the fans whose GP.net screen names are Infamous Capgirl, Kilyuradeo, and MidnightToYou. It's kinda funny shaking hands in line -- "hi, I'm NicePace." The Narrows is on the top floor of an old mill building, has a big stage and good lighting, and two rows of tables up front with church pews behind. It's a nonprofit venue run entirely by volunteers. You can bring in your own food and drink and they have brownies and coffee for sale. The sound is very good. It is my favorite place to see Graham Parker or any other performer.
The opener was Mike Gent, who played a hot solo set of nine songs including the title song from the latest Figgs album, "Follow Jean Through the Sea," and the Kinks' "Village Green." He told a story of auditioning with Ray Davies to play in his band. He flunked the audition when he played "Village Green" in the "wrong" key. (Mike, stick to Graham.) Mike showed his bossy side when he requested a Budweiser from the audience.
A few minutes after Mike finished his set, from out the back came Graham Parker and the Latest Clowns and blasted right into three songs from the new record (Don't Tell Columbus): "I Discovered America" (with harmonica) - "Hard Side of the Rain" - and "England's Latest Clown." They all sounded great, especially "Hard Side of the Rain," which sounded even better stripped of that bit of country twang that it has on the record. All three of these songs sounded new, exciting, and fresh after hearing the equally fabulous, but different solo versions of them quite a few times.
GP had his working guitars with him, the two instruments he always plays in the solo shows, the electric Fender with the well-worn neck and the acoustic Gibson with the pretty pickguard. I realized when I saw this that Graham was going to be serious about his guitar playing this time out. In 2005 when he toured with the Figgs he brought two different guitars that were pretty to look at, but he only used them for a little rhythm playing, leaving the serious guitar chores that time out to Mike Gent and Brett Rosenberg.
During the next song, "Get Started," Graham played some serious lead guitar, showing he really meant it when he brought those working guitars. He continued to play his share of lead throughout the show, striking rock star poses and generally doing a superb job of convincing the audience that he's a "real guitarist." He really looked like he was enjoying himself up there.
Before the show I had given GP a copy of an article about him from the Cape Cod Times, and he must have found the time to read it, because he referred to something that it quoted him as saying, that he "trusts Mike entirely." GP denied it, however, saying "I don't have that kind of largesse."
An essential song choice for GP & the Latest Clowns was a sizzling "They Murdered the Clown." This was followed by keyboardist Scott Janovitz's spooky intro to the brilliant "Suspension Bridge" from the new album, a song with striking imagery and a universal message. The guys followed this with the other 'structure song' from the new album, "Other Side of the Reservoir," which I thought was the weakest song of the show; although not as long as the recorded version, the song was a little too long to really sustain the show's momentum. Fortunately the band recovered quickly with the next song, a blistering "Weeping Statues" followed by "Durban Poison" and "Break Them Down," two of GP's Western-imperialism songs.
After "Break Them Down" the band vacated the stage and Mike got up from the drums and picked up a guitar, and GP and he played "White Honey," encouraging the audience to sing along on the "Honey, whatcha doin' whatcha doin'" part. As a sing-along it really didn't work, but who cares, the song sounded great, especially that cool "bass" riff played by GP. Next it was Mike's turn to leave the stage and bass player Ed Valauskas and keyboard guy Scott returned to accompany GP on "You Can't Be Too Strong," always a crowd favorite (I would have preferred "Disney's America," but I don't get to pick). The entire band came back for "Waiting for the UFOs," "Nobody Hurts You" (great!), and my personal favorite of GP's Western-imperialism songs, "Syphilis & Religion." Having different members of the band sit out some numbers was an interesting way to vary the sound according to the song being played, and also gave each supporting band member a turn in the spotlight.
To enthusiastic applause from the not quite sold-out audience, GP & the Clowns went off stage and when they returned, it was Brett's turn to be the sole accompanist, as GP and Brett performed a song that was the highlight of the evening: the achingly beautiful "All Being Well" from the new album. The rest of the Clowns returned for "Wake Up (Next To You)" and if you like the Motown riff on that song, imagine how fab it sounds being played on two guitars and a bass at once. Graham introduced the Clowns, and said "you should have seen them spilling out of their Mini-Cooper earlier." Off stage again, more thunderous applause, back for the second encore. Scott started the song with a familiar riff on the keyboard -- could it be? -- "Glass Jaw" from that criminally underrated pinnacle of GP's early '80s work, The Real Macaw. Final song was the kazoo song, "Stick to the Plan," complete with a real audience singalong this time.
More Chairman
Interested in my other Graham Parker reviews? Here is a page with a handy list of links to all pages on this website with Geep content.