Fun concert at Bimbo's last night. First, I ran into a neighbor and
her
date, who, it turns out, are Long-Time Fans. They gave me a bunch of
album recommendations and regaled us with tales of past concerts. When
I mentioned that my first Richard Thompson album was The Old Kit
Bag,
I was informed that it was O.K., but that others were far better.
(Considering it's one of my favorite albums of the last couple years,
I
guess I'd better start doing my homework!)Then the concert itself started with "Sumer is Icumen In" and just kept on rolling. 2 1/2 hours, nonstop. All I can say is, when I'm in my 50s or whatever age he is, I can only hope to have half that much energy. He and his bandmates also seemed to be having a lot of fun. Even the soundboard engineer was having a good time. Every time I looked in the corner, there he was, singing along to every song. (I thought it was normally a professional requirement that soundboard engineers sit there looking totally bored, but no, not this one.)
Much has been made of the cover of "Oops! I Did It Again", and it is indeed a good song the way he performs it. I also really enjoyed his version of Prince's "Kiss" (though didn't Tom Jones cover this territory already?). He also threw in Squeeze's "Tempted". But the songs I hadn't heard before were just as enjoyable, like "Blackleg Miner", "So Ben Mi Ca Bon Tempo", and "Trafalgar Square."
My one complaint is about one of his bandmates, who did much of the singing. She has a great voice, and her version of "Cry Me A River" rocked. But other times, I found her voice a little too... mannered. There was something a bit forced there. Also, she tended to make these very elaborate and distracting gestures with her hands.
Still, overall, a terrific show.
The between-song patter was hysterical too. Best moments:
- Richard Thompson's explanation of honky-tonk, which apparently started in 1958 and ended in 1959. "They ran out of lyrics. There was 'barstool', and 'jukebox'..." "Truck!" someone shouted from the audience. "No, no. That's country!" "Women!" "No. You see, that's country too!"
- "Oh, you've heard of Trafalgar Square, have you? You're a cosmopolitan bunch. Not just content to stay at home in San Francisco, you go places." "Like Oakland!" yelled someone in the audience.
- A discussion of a not-very-good soccer team in Scotland.
"People
are under the impression that the town's name is 'St.
John's-Nill!'"
- The intro to a song which was originally a poem by W.B. Yeats. Thompson's British accent caused the first initial to sound suspiciously close to the nickname of a certain president. Much hissing ensued.
- The very large gentleman who went up to the stage and handed Thompson a dozen white roses. He seemed taken aback, but then accepted them graciously, handed two to his bandmates, and tossed a couple more into the audience.
- "They sure could rock back in the 16th century, couldn't they? Of course, all the songs were rather dark. 'It's my pustule and I'll cry if I want to!'"
