David Lindley with Mark T. Small ~ 2015 May 15 ~ The Spire Center ~ Plymouth, MA
David Lindley accompanying himself on lap steel guitar, Turkish oud, and what I think is a bouzouki (corrections welcome). Show opened by Mark T. Small on guitar and vocals.
Set List (song title corrections welcome)
Mercury Blues - Where To Put Their Feet - Well Well Well - Pretty Polly - Indifference of Heaven {Zevon} - Mutineer {Zevon} - Meat Grinder Blues - instrumental on the Turkish oud - If You See Me Coming - The Cuckoo
Review
David Lindley is a multi-instrumentalist of great renown. He has played with quite a few famous people, as well as having a long and high-quality series of solo releases over the past several decades. For me, since I am a huge fan of the late Warren Zevon, I greatly appreciate what Mr. Dave is doing to keep Zevon's song catalog in the public eye. Not the well-known L.A. Suite songs of the early Warren, the songs like "French Inhaler" and "Desperadoes Under the Eaves"; no, anyone can cover those songs (and many have); Lindley instead reaches into Zevon's late-career brilliance, performing two songs from the criminally under-appreciated Mutineer.
In addition to those two songs by Zevon, Lindley's song choices ranged from the traditional folk ("Pretty Polly," rewritten to have a happy ending for the girl); his own material ("Crazy About a Mercury," in which one new stanza talks about poisonous mercury in tunafish); and international music (an instrumental performed on the Turkish oud).
In between songs Lindley entertains with introductions to the songs, commentary on the instruments and on the music, comments on environmental issues of today, and even with funny stories. Tonight he talked about Warren Zevon's enjoyment of shooting off his personal firearm, at which he was very skilled (according to Dave), sometimes even shooting insect life inside his apartment.
Mr. Dave is not just a virtuoso level player on a wide variety of stringed instruments, but he's a bit of a wild man. The crazy clothes have been his trademark for decades. Polyester, '70s era shirts and mismatched pants, baby. The long sideburns have turned gray, but Dave's tuneful, sly-sounding vocals are as good as ever.
The show was opened by a half-hour set from the incredible Mark T. Small, a virtuoso player in his own right. He opened with two blues numbers, accompanied by a wide-grinning guitar-playing expression. After the blues tunes he began with a bit of education, telling historical anecdotes about the rest of the songs he played, which were drawn largely from the folk realm. He played one fiddle tune and one piano tune (all on the guitar), and the sound of those other instruments came out clearly on his guitar. He also sang beautifully, and had his foot miked to keep time with the music. He has an elegant look, with his straight platinum blonde hair brushing his shoulders. He is a great educator as well as a great performer.
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