Graham Parker ~ 2008 October 25 ~ Narrows Center for the Arts, Fall River, MA
Graham Parker accompanying himself with Fender electric guitar, Gibson acoustic guitar, harmonica, and kazoo
Setlist (with guitars indicated)
Review
It's unusual for there not to be an opening act at the Narrows, in my experience. (I've seen Graham each of the six times he's played there.) I'll do the style report first because for the first time ever Graham actually looked different from the way he usually looks. He was dressed all in gray with an attractive bolo tie and black Nike sneakers (nothing unusual there), but he is sporting a "Van Dyke" beard (not a goatee -- a goatee lacks the mustache part). It made him seem a little tough looking, in a rakish sort of a way. It was a somewhat scruffy Van Dyke and perhaps if he ran a beard trimmer over it it would look less unkempt. It made him look a bit the snarly punk rocker for which he is sometimes mistaken. I liked it.
Enough of that, boys and girls. On to the music. Geep performed a 24-song set that, with the exception of two less interesting covers, included a superb and very varied selection of songs ranging from GP's first to his most recent album. As he often does, he opened with the witty and wonderful "High Horse." He did allude to the upcoming election, but resisted the temptation to say very much about it, and also resisted the temptation to play more than a handful of politically tinged songs. (He ignored a request for "Short Memories," as well as one for "Last Couple on the Dance Floor.") One very timely politically tinged song was "Ambiguous" ... with lyrics like "she's gonna vote for the man with the nicest tie."
He played quite a bit of real rock tonight ... "Release Me," "Tornado Alley," "Stick To Me, "Get Started." Also some nice ballads. No a capella tonight. It was a great show, a little longer than some recently, and he sang and played very well. "You've Got To Be Kidding" sounded especially good; a couple of times lately the tricky barre chords on that song haven't sounded quite perfect. At a recent show I caught him looking at his guitar in disgust after that song, the way an infielder might look at his glove after he makes an error. But not tonight; tonight he nailed it.
Without a doubt the musical highlight of the night was "Stick to the Plan," the song that was such a hit with audiences a couple of years back. Knowing that he had recently played it, I looked around for the kazoo on stage before the show began and I was very disappointed not to see it. But the sneaky b-st-rd had it hidden, in his foot pedal case. He pulled it out and gave the old story about playing the kazoo for the first time on stage, but that it sounded awful because he was humming in the wrong end. "Stick to the Plan" sounded great, the song is just as significant as ever, and singing along with it was the most fun I've had at a concert in a long time.
The venue was either sold out or close to it, and the crowd was loud and enthusiastic, responding well to Graham's urging that we sing along loudly since "we're on the radio." The audience included at least three second generation Parkerillas of preteen and teen ages, all of whom seemed to enjoy the show. Speaking of which, Merch Boy (GP's son Jimmy) was there, selling GP merch as well as magazine subscriptions for his school.
Geep was in good spirits, despite complaining that the drive there was bloody awful, making him think while he was driving that there has to be a better way to make a living. He said he spent the morning watching Jimmy playing soccer (he didn't say football) in the pouring rain, and had to change his socks twice during the drive here. (I know how he feels. But this one is my hometown gig, and Graham, thank you for once again coming to the Narrows.)
The encore consisted of three songs. First was a spontaneous "Temporary Beauty" ("I should have practiced, I suppose" ... then after it was over, off the mike but easily lip-readable: "that was good.") Second was another political song, "Don't Let It Break You Down," with some revised lyrics, something like this: "Your liberties get hijacked / your sons sent overseas to get killed / the kids are all addicted / to a ritalin pill." The final song was "Local Girls," with GP again urging us to sing LOUD for the radio.
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