<<P.S. Bob, now that I've mentioned my man Richard Thompson, did you see him in May?
And, if so, what did you think?>>
This was really a memorable night, Debra. The Handlebar, a 400-seat club, was just
re-opening downtown. I went by myself and was afraid that tickets would not be
available, but no prob. So I plunked my money down and snagged a seat right in the
middle of the fifth row.
A lot of the details and mental notes are gone now, but I was pleasantly surprised by
Richard's warmth and desire to interaction with the audience. It can sometimes be
poison to allow/encourage audience members to yell things at you, but he is AMAZINGLY
quick on his feet. One of my fave exchanges went something like:
Guy in audience: Warren Zevon!!
Thompson: (total deadpan)Yes, I think we SHOULD declare war on Zevon. They're becoming
much too aggressive in Europe and gaining too much territory.
Guy: Werewolves of London!
Thompson: Actually, no, the werewolves are fairly extinct in London, but in the nordic
and slavic regions they are slightly more populous.
And this was just stage banter...the music was the show!! He played lots of songs from
Mock Tudor, and his mastery of the guitar was incredible! I've never seen anyone work
the ENTIRE fretboard with such ease and clarity. "Crawl Back Under My Stone" was a
real highlight, he just tore it up.
He also did a scathing monologue against Kenny G and the dumbing down of popular music
& culture, and did a song called "I Agree With Pat Metheny" that was a riot. I guess
you've heard it, it starts:
"I agree with Pat Metheny,
Kenny's talent's much too teeny"
Later when he was looking for requests, someone yelled out "Kenny G" and Thompson said
"Right, this one's called 'Morning in Autumn' and noodled around on the guitar for a
bit, even pretending to sustain a note for a couple of minutes...quite the entertainer!
He also wished Bob Dylan a happy birthday, and his second encore was a Dylan medley
that was instrumentally brilliant. I couldn't tell you all the Dylan songs he did,
there were 4 or 5 in all.
No Joni songs though...I was awfully tempted to yell out for Woodstock or Black Crow
but in the end was content to sit back and enjoy him doing whatever he wanted.
I hope he comes back through, I'll see him whenever he does.
Next up, Red House Painters in Atlanta June 24.
Bob
NP: 0+->, "Friend, Lover, Sister, Mother/Wife"
