Spring 2008 European tour recap

With Tommy by Diamond Geyser (Shepherd's Bush Empire, London)

This was a mini-tour but reports are that Jonathan Richman and Tommy Larkins were in fine form!


"In Che Mondo Viviamo, Cell Phone Song, Egyptian Reggae" video from baldo (Nouveau Casino- Paris)

Patrick wrote a lovely review of the 7 May 2008 show (au Nouveau Casino) in Paris. If you haven't read it yet, look here.


Jonathan Richman au Nouveau Casino by baldo

More videos from Italy and France:

My Baby Love Love Loves Me- Poste à Galène (Marseille)

Ice Cream Man- Casa 139 (Milan)

Cosi Veloce- Casa 139 (Milan)

il cellulare- Casa 139 (Milan)

Dancing in the Lesbian Bar- Le Nouveau Casino (Paris)


Jonathan Richman at the Shepherd's Bush Empire by Henry Bloomfield

Babararacucudada at Serendipity on seeing Jonathan Richman in London (Shepherd's Bush Empire): "What can I say about the evening? Wonderful. Just wonderful. I left the gig with a huge smile on my face, swathed in good vibes and wanting to just give the whole world a cuddle despite a rather uncompromising conclusion to the show."


photo: Mick West

The show has Babararacucudada reminiscing about seeing Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers in 1984 at Elephant Fayre: "I remember the gig quite well. I was sharing a flat with a mate called Meaks at the time. He was with me and his girlfriend, Mary, was there too. Jonathan was on the afternoon. He turned up with a couple of backing musicians: there was a stand up bass player and a lady backing singer. That was it. No drums or other backing. If any percussion was needed then he either stamped on the stage or tapped the body of his guitar to provide it. What followed was unknown, to me ~ then, songs all delivered in the simplest Rock n Roll style that you could imagine. Wonderful. If ever a time or a venue was right for his song That Summer Feeling then that was it. I was utterly transformed and carried away to a better place. Meaks hated it. Mary, who had never heard of him before that day, became an instant fan. There in a nutshell you have him and the effect that he has on people." [read more]


Breaking Down the Barrier by Diamond Geyser

Jamie Janakov of Playlouder was at Shepherd's Bush Empire too and was similarly moved to Proustian reverie: "I have vague memories of throwing my rattle out the pram repeatedly when being played a live tape of his performances when I was younger. What is this inane shite? I thought, as I vomited Rusks onto my Care Bears bib. I hope I never descend into such a fragile state of mind that I enjoy this comedic garbage, I mused, glaring at my father doing the ironing while I tried in vain to suck my feet."


"Not So Much to Be Loved, As to Love" video from diamondgeyser (Shepherd's Bush Empire)

Jamie concedes that now is better than before: "But it’s funny how things change. What I hadn’t expected from this larger-than-life Massachusettsian mariachi and his no-doubt long-suffering percussionist was a show I wanted to go on, and on, and on. "(read more)


Dancing in a Lesbian Bar by Diamond Geyser

David Sinclair from Times Online was there as well: "Now he has become a technological refusenik, rejecting all contact with the internet. The unreleased Cell Phone Song, which he performed (twice) at the Empire, made his antipathy to this ubiquitous gadget equally clear."


Cell Phone Outrage by Diamond Geyser

David continues: "Other new songs, such as The Lovers are Here and They're Full of Sweat, took a wry look at the pain and passions of the younger generation. Sometimes you want someone to play the part of the old codger,' Richman explained. 'I can do that.' In fact he looked remarkably sprightly and sang his songs - some of them in French and Italian - with a purity of expression and lightness of touch that belied the passing years." (read more)


Jonathan Richman at the Shepherd's Bush Empire by Henry Bloomfield

louche at Basil Exposition saw Jonathan and Tommy in Dublin (Whelan's) the next night, 10 May: "Very unusually for me, I had absolutely no experience of his music or act before stepping into the venue: I was there at the command of a friend in London who’d seen him the night before and said I had to 'beg, borrow or steal a ticket' (direct quote). I am now a fan." (read more)


"Egyptian Reggae" video from vintage1965 (Whelans)

Ian at Thrill Pier was at Whelan's too: "With just a classical guitar in hand and a shit hot drummer backing him he had me, and most of the rest of the crowd in the palm of his hand from the off. Playing material mostly drawn from his latest album I couldn't give a damn that the only song I knew the whole night was "Pablo Picasso". He's just so incredibly charming and unendlessly charismatic, and there's a constant twinkle in his eye. People were giggling like kids in the back of a classroom at seemingly random points throughout the set and it was only midway through it did I realise that it was because he'd caught their eye and was giving them a funny look. And boy can he dance." (read more)


Jonathan, What's Happening? by Diamond Geyser

Below is a picture from Belfast- Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival (11 May)


Jonathan Richman by Gareth Mooney

Back at Shepherd's Bush Empire in London with The Word Magazine, Mark Ellen calls David Hepworth to tell him about his and Robyn Hitchcock's backstage encounter with Jonathan Richman (about 20 minutes into podcast)

New Great Outdoors Podcast

Relevant bit of Word Magazine podcast (temporarily peeled):


More videos from Shepherd's Bush Empire (London):

Pablo Picasso

Dancing in the Lesbian Bar

Cell Phone Song I

Cell Phone Song II


Shepherd's Bush Empire by Babararacucudada

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Spring 2008 schedule reposted for archives:

FRANCE & ITALY

Fri 02 May Toulouse (Theatre Garonne) with Suzanne Piesker
Sat 03 May Marseille (Le Poste à Galène) with Suzanne Piesker
Mon 5 May Rome (Stazione Birra) with Suzanne Piesker
Tue 6 May Milan (La Casa 139) with Suzanne Piesker
Wed 07 May PARIS (Le Nouveau Casino) with Suzanne Piesker

ENGLAND

Fri 09 May London England (Shepherd's Bush Empire

IRELAND

Sat 10 May Dublin (Whelans)
Sun 11 May Belfast (Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival)
Mon 12 May Galway (Roisin Dubh)

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Of Mere Being: Vic Chesnutt

The palm at the end of the mind,
Beyond the last thought, rises
In the bronze distance.

A gold-feathered bird
Sings in the palm, without human meaning,
Without human feeling, a foreign song.

You know then that it is not the reason
That makes us happy or unhappy.
The bird sings. Its feathers shine.

The palm stands on the edge of space.
The wind moves slowly in the branches.
The bird's fire-fangled feathers dangle down.

-- Wallace Stevens "Of Mere Being"

We saw Jonathan Richman and Tommy Larkins at the 40 Watt Club in Athens, Georgia, on a Saturday night (1 March). It was the beginning of their tour with Vic Chesnutt, and was billed as an "early show" which made for some anxiety since we couldn't get there "early" and besides which I was sick as a puppy and couldn't stand up. But not to worry, as it turned out they were late and started at the regular time anyway. I actually had a moment to spend at the X-Ray Cafe next door getting a therapeutic hug and encouragement from muse Paul Thomas, after which I was ready to brave the night. We walked in the door right behind Vic Chesnutt, who breezily rolled on through.

The reviews already posted on Jojoblog of the later shows more or less sum up the current tour. An evening with Jonathan and Tommy is always a fun evening that inevitably ends too soon. The crowd was hooked into the show as one from the opening chord and an exceptionally good time was had by all, except for by (perhaps) the people talking on their cell phones.


photo: Mike White deadlydesigns.com

The brilliant modern poet-songwriter Vic Chesnutt opened by flying up onto the high stage (helped by burly stagehands). He drifted into his songs in between chatting amiably and wandering into strange turns where his mind turned things over examining them from different angles. A touch of laryngitis didn't stop him from being his twinkly self.


photo: Mike White deadlydesigns.com

I love Vic Chesnutt and I don't understand why the show reviews so far don't mention more about him. Perhaps he's a bit too sardonic or spontaneous to anticipate what he'll do next so he's hard to fit to a groove. Perhaps he's too cerebral, or earthy, or salty, and therefore a tad uncomfortable for folks just wanting to have a night out, unchallenged. Allen Ginsberg called him an idiot, but not for the unfettered artistry of his vision. He's a perfect ground and foil to Jonathan's lofty heights and energy. They're like the angel and devil that sit on a body's shoulders, both sipping the same stream-strength of consciousness, partaking of the same fragile humanity, outside the main and happy out there.


photo: Mike White deadlydesigns.com

Vic Chesnutt's Morally Challenged live at 40 Watt (played on the omnichord):

Morally Challenged

"Should I do one I just wrote the other day? I don't know if it's good or not...

"I'm really an idiot for doing this...

"I'm an idiot. I should not do this. It might really be embarrassing. In fact I know it is. Why would I do this...

"Ok, I'll do it. It's really not good. Why am I doing this?"

After the show I asked Vic what he was going to call the new song. He smiled and looked away into the distance. "I don't know........

"I think....... I'll call it........uh......uhm........hmmmmnnn.

"'Robert Wyatt'," he said gently into the night. I looked at him, trying to repeat the words, not understanding.

"Robert Wyatt," he repeated patiently, turning to me with a smile.

"Oh! Is that a poet?"

"He's a songwriter."

Listen to more live Vic Chesnutt from the 40 Watt in Athens (and the next night in Atlanta at The Earl) at Southern Shelter



Vic Chesnutt's newest official release is the powerful North Star Deserter, recorded with Thee Silver Mt Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band, Guy Picciotto of Fugazi, and more.


Vic Chesnutt's "Debriefing" from North Star Deserter, live in Munich 7 November 2007, featuring Vic Chesnutt's mighty howl

Vic Chesnutt website

Also of interest: Vic Chesnutt joined friends Cowboy Junkies to record Trinity Revisited (article in Harp Magazine)

More about Vic Chesnutt

More photos of Jonathan Richman and Vic Chesnutt taken by Mike White at the 40 Watt on deadlydesigns.com

from musicdirect: tracklist for Because Her Beauty is Raw and Wild

musicdirect is showing Because Her Beauty is Raw and Wild on vinyl as follows:

Jonathan Richman Because Her Beauty Is Raw And Wild (LP + 7" Single With Bonus Track)

Jonathan Richman is one of modern music's most original artists, and quite possibly the friendliest, most sincere live performer on the face of the earth. This is his fifth release on Vapor, and his first new album in three years. Features eleven new tracks, plus a new version of "Old World" and a Leonard Cohen cover, "Here It Is". Vinyl version of Because Her Beauty Is Raw And Wild features Bonus Track on a 7-inch Single.

Jonathan Richman Because Her Beauty Is Raw And Wild Track Listing

1. Because Her Beauty Is Raw And Wild
2. No One Was Like Vermeer
3. Time Has Been Going By So Fast
4. Es Como El Pan
5. Our Drab Ways
6. The Lovers Are Here And They’re Full Of Sweat
7. Le Printemps Des Amoreux Est Venue
8. When We Refuse To Suffer
9. This Romance Will Be Different For Me
10. Old World
11. Our Party Will Be On The Beach Tonight
12. When We Refuse To Suffer
13. Here It Is
14. As My Mother Lay Lying

thanks, Jerry!