Graham Parker and the Figgs ~ 2012 April 29 ~ Fairfield Theater Company, Fairfield, CT
Band personnel: Graham Parker (vocals, guitar); Mike Gent (guitar, backing vocals); Scott Janovitz (keyboards, mandolin); Pete Hayes (drums); Pete Donnelly (bass, backing vocals)
Set List
Figgs:
On the Grounds of Stately Homes (Mike) - Chased (Pete) - Brain Be Gone (Pete) - Jupiter Row (Mike) - Always Time (Pete) - a Mike song I didn't recognize - The Only One (Pete, from his solo record) - Avec U (Pete Hayes) - She Can't Say No (Pete) - No Time is the Wrong Time to Groove (Mike).
GP:
(Graham played the Gibson electric for the entire concert) It's My Party - Turn It Into Hate - No Holding Back - If It Ever Stops Rainin' - Dislocated Life - Black Lincoln Continental - Impenetrable - (with Pete Hayes) When You Do That To Me - (with Scott) You Can't Be Too Strong - (with Pete Donnelly) Blue Highways - (with Mike) Under the Mask of Happiness - (with all Figgs) Tough on Clothese - You Hit the Spot - Get Started. Start a Fire - Bad Chardonnay - Fools' Gold ... encore ... Sha-La-La-La-Lee (fragment, a cappela) - All or Nothing {Small Faces} - Do Me Like You Said You Would {The Figgs} - Get Over It and Move On - Luxury {Rolling Stones, with Pete D. on lead vocal} - Soul Shoes
Review
There were persuasive reasons for me to skip this show. Rte. 95 Exit 21 in CT is 3 hours from Cape Cod. The tickets were almost twice as expensive as for other shows on this tour. Since the tickets had been on sale for a while, I assumed all the good seats would be gone. But then the Bull Run show was fantastic, and the Figgs themselves told me they'd be opening the Fairfield show (as they apparently did for every show during this tour), and for me that is an incentive. So I looked on the FTC website and what do you know, a seat in the second row over on the Mike Gent side was available.
So, where else would I be on a Sunday night in April, but in affluent southwest Connecticut attending a Graham Parker concert.
It was a long drive but everything went smoothly; no getting lost, and I pulled right into a parking space in the FTC's small lot. Apparently everyone who arrives once the small lot is filled needs to pay $5 for a spot in the Metro North train station, right across the street from the theater.
This is the venue where GP and the Figgs were filmed a couple of years ago for release on DVD. It's a smallish theater, with about ten rows of steeply tiered seats, and about three or four rows of seats on either side of the stage. Very good visibility from every seat. It's dark in there, but fortunately boosting the ISO on my Canon enabled me to get some decent pictures.
This time around, since I have listened to The Day Gravity Stopped, I was familiar enough with their new material to be able to keep a set list for the Figgs. Their ten-song set included four songs each from the new record by Mike Gent and from Pete Donnelly. Pete Hayes got a turn, singing his truly delightful new song, "Avec U," during which Mike played the drums and Pete the guitar. Also featured was a catchy number from Pete Donnelly's new solo record (When You Come Home), "The Only One."
The set list for the GP set was mostly the same as at the Bull Run show, with a couple of good changes. They dropped both the oldest and most recent song in the previous set list. Gone were the mid-1970s demo "Hole in the World" and "You're Not Where You Think You Are" from GP's 2010 album. They added in the brilliantly funny "Tough on Clothes," which proved the Figgs can groove with the best of them. In the encore set they added a super dance number, "Get Over It and Move On" (only one or two audience members actually got up and danced ... we need more standing venues). They again performed the Figgs' "Do Me Like You Said You Would," with Mike instructing the women and the men in the audience to take turns with the sing-along. They added a cover of the Rolling Stones' "Luxury," on which Pete Donnelly sang the lead vocal. Not only did GP pay his backing musicians the great compliment of including one of their songs in his set, but he paid them another fine compliment by giving them the lead vocal on another song. This concert is not just Graham Parker with backing musicians; Graham Parker and the Figgs really are a band.
The five musicians looked dapper in essentially the same stage clothes as the other night, the only change I noticed being that Mike was wearing a dark shirt instead of a light shirt. He performed bare headed for the Figgs' set, donning the stylish cap for GP's set.
Apparently the cupcake rant (described in the review of the Bull Run show) has been a fixture on this tour. Five songs into the show, right after "Dislocated Life" (featuring really lovely mandolin by Scott), GP started in on the horror of cupcakes, admonishing those in the audience who might be thinking of starting a cupcake business ... "don't do it!" And onto stage bounded Mike Moore, the tech guy who's been on the tour, with a platter of cupcakes for Graham. Not just any cupcakes! But the worst, most horrible cupcakes you can imagine; the cupcakes of your nightmares. The type with bright pink or orange frosting, with multicolored "jimmies" ("sprinkles" for you non-New Englanders) on top; with jarring non-complimentary colors; the type that could hardly be classified as food. Graham, when he saw the cupcakes, declared: "You bastard!" But he laughed loudly, as did the rest of the band at this prank, and throughout the rest of the show threatened the audience with cupcakes if they didn't behave themselves.
The song "Impenetrable" is a real rave-up in this show, with GP and Mike trading lead riffs and even doubling up on lead guitar for a part of the song. GP played far more lead riffs in these two shows than in past shows. GP played the electric Gibson for the entire show, not using the Fender at all.
There was a slight change during the ConFIGGurations segment. While Geep was commenting on the big bad drum sounds of 1980s recordings, Pete Donnelly brought a snare drum out onto the stage to Graham's left. Pete Hayes got up and played this drum during the song, sharing the front of the stage with Graham.
During the encore set, while introducing the Small Faces song, Graham sang a few bars of another Small Faces song, "Sha-La-La-La-Lee." That sounded nice and I would like to hear him cover that song, too. I have not always liked all of Geep's choices in cover songs, but I enjoyed this Small Faces cover greatly.
It's too bad the tour was so short, because I got the feeling from the musicians that they felt they were just hitting their stride, but that's the way it's been with GP's band tours over the past few years.
Click for 2012 Concert Page with links to all 2012 concerts ... Click for Main Concert Page with links to all years