(Lifted from Plan B mag...)
He's not wearing a guitar strap.
How could he? It would destroy the fluidity of his dancing; dropping to his knees, twirling his acoustic, resting a foot on a handily-positioned paint pot; a flamenco flourish here, a strutted samba there; high kicking, low kicking; dropping his guitar altogether and pointing straight to his heart; urging us onwards with his eyes and broad smile, eyebrows arched; the very picture of projected happiness; never lost for a description of New York in the springtime, switching from French to Italian through arguments in Tel Aviv and Damascas with deceptive ease; clacking together electrified blocks and adjusting the soundboard to allow drummer Tommy Larkins even more clarity; shouting across to the side to close the back door.
This is my kind of heaven: two low-key shows from the man whose witty, poignant and minimalist vision of rock'n'roll has helped inform almost everything that I have loved about music ever since he started strumming his guitar, over three decades ago. Jonathan is in love with an ideal of rock'n'roll that ceased to exist the moment the Colonels took over from the street corner balladeers. Me too.
This is pure. This is precious.
The two nights blur into one: Jonathan leads the audience in a rendition of 'Happy Birthday'. Jonathan asks us plaintively "Will we return to our drab and stagnant ways?" while people laugh anyway. Jonathan blesses us under the sign of the cross after a gorgeous extended version of 'My Baby Loves Me Now' from the new album. Jonathan causes fans to chuckle afresh at stories he first told 30 years ago ('Girlfren', 'Pablo Picasso', wherein the troubadour makes great play of refusing to rhyme "Picasso" with "asshole" because – what d'ya know – it doesn't!). Personally, I could've taken a little more of the incisive two-minute pop of 'Give Paris One More Chance' and a little less cutesy 'Lesbian Bar' banter: but there again, it's a thrill to see Jonathan dance. (He was the first person ever to dance to Ramones.) Also, this artist continues to grow and refresh anew each time he breaks into one more false ending for (the tear-jerking) 'Let Her Go', each time Tommy shoots him a sidelong glance and teases a few minutes out the snare.
Earlier, I was asked if I'm ever nervous before interviews: Yoko Ono at the Dakota is my standard reply. Add to that, Jonathan at a friendly, warm Seattle pub venue: completely unprepossessing and able to make every audience member feel he's serenading them alone. I'm unable to say hi. He's an entertainer – and the mask may not be the reality. (Although a rare glimpse into the dressing room shows Jonathan and Tommy wreathed in smiles.) I don't want to break the spell.
The fact neither night is sold out (whereas such achingly ordinary-by-comparison shows by Neko Case and Iron & Wine, at larger venues, are) is not a damning indictment of anything. It just shows how special Jonathan is, that he continues to entertain and perform for us: and for us alone.
Words by Everett True.
http://www.planbmag.com/content/view/55/40/
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And here's a neat review from the previous year... same venue, different Mag...
Copacetic Zine...
Reviews
Jonathan Richman, Tuesday, January 21, 2003 • Tractor Tavern, Seattle
Last night, before seeing our beloved Jo-Jo, we managed to watch the first half-hour of American Idol. Here were thousands upon thousands of young adults, all desperate and vying to be the next pop sensation. We watched a little of it, then put on our sneakers to walk a block over to the amazingly cool Tractor Tavern here in Ballard. What an amazingly cool little club! All their employees were as nice as could be, and very professional. I'm impressed!
After a delightful opening act of two charming Hispanic men singing traditional Mexican folk songs, the amazing, legendary Jonathan Richman took the stage with his loyal sidekick, Tommy Larkins. Now, here's a man who would never make the cut with the AI Judges. His voice, while rich and expressive, is also quirky and distinctive. His look has never been trendy, and hasn't changed a bit in the last 30 years: here is a man who always looks classic and never ages, not even with the grey goatee he's now sporting. But, you know, to me, this man personifies entertainment. He is the ultimate performer, pouring his heart into it, keeping a close eye on the crowd, making sure people are happy. Mike and I talked briefly with him once after a show in Austin, TX, and when I thanked him for putting on such a great show, he told me, "I just want to make people happy." To me, he's definitely an American idol, as cheesy and insanely corny as that sounds!
And I definitely think Jonathan made everyone happy last night! He actually played two sold-out shows here in Seattle (we tried to get in last night too, but couldn't manage). The crowd was packed with fans who could sing along to every word (and like the guy behind me, sometimes did!) Some of the fans were a little too enthusiastic, constantly shouting at Jonathan and Tommy, even during the quiet parts of their songs and stuff. Not cool! As someone shouted out from the crowd, "No talking to the bus driver!" AMEN!
Jojo charmed with a great set-list of classics like "Pablo Picasso", "Her Mystery Not of High Heels and Eyeshadow", "Rooming House on Venice Beach" and tons more. When he sang "Springtime in New York", a couple who had traveled from said city just to see him shouted out, "New York misses you!" and Jonathan, in a cute wide-eyed shocked way, replied into the mic, "It does?!" Hee! He's so cute!
He and Tommy seemed to be in great moods last night. Jonathan was really chatty, which I love, and was beaming endearing grins all night. Tommy looked like he was trying hard not to laugh most of the time. At one point in the show, Jonathan called out in his thick Bostonian accent, "How ya doing over there, Tommy?" and Tommy replied, "Great, how about you?" and they smiled at each other. It was so sweet! And Jonathan broke it down during "I Was Dancing in the Lesbian Bar", doing a pretty extended dance groove for us! He was just feelin' it last night! : D
Oh, and when he did "Let Her Go Into the Darkness" he broke it down in the middle and did this hysterical spoken bit, saying "Okay, now, don't be this guy..." and then going into a fake-speech-to-the-girlfriend thing. "'Cause you know, she's just gonna come back with this..." and then Jonathan went all high-pitched and girly, saying, "You can't control me!!!" The audience was totally cracking up! And then Jonathan said, "You know, as we speak, a conversation like that is happening right now in...Madrid!" and then Jonathan did the two voices again, but in Spanish!!! Then he goes, "And it's also probably happening...in France!" and then he starts in again in French! Holy moly, this man is multi-lingual! He also did Hebrew!!! Ab-so-lutely hysterical!
They played for about 90 minutes, and not a bad moment in the set! After receiving a roar of applause, Tommy left the stage, and JoJo closed out the set with a performance of "Walter Johnson" with the audience helping out on the "bom babom babom babom babom babom babom"'s. JoJo seemed really into it, stopping the song, saying, "Okay, here's a quick story about Walter..." and then "Okay, one more story..." and sharing these cute little anecdotes about this former baseball player from the early 1900's. Jonathan is so amazing. It just blows my mind that he's in his 50's, like my parents are, and that he's been writing and performing music longer than I've been on this planet. He has such obvious love and passion for performing, and it warms my heart to him every single time we see him. Like I told Mike after the show, Jonathan is the Walter Johnson of indie rock! Whatta charmer!
And then we came home and watched the rest of the American Idol season premiere. And I couldn't help but remember the lyrics from one of the songs JoJo sang for us earlier that night (paraphrased here, 'cause my memory's not good), "It's better to love, than to be loved." Something for these poor kids to remember when no one remembers their name a year later.related links•
http://www.copacetic-zine.com/concerts/jojoinballard.php
check out some more pics of the show at photophonic.com!
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