Thursday, June 6, 2013

Recording: Jonathan Richman

Artist: Jonathan Richman

Songs: Old World + Because Her Beauty is Raw And Wild

Recorded at The Great Hall, June 5, 2013.

Jonathan Richman - Old World

Jonathan Richman - Because Her Beauty is Raw And Wild

Full review to follow. Sort of like those Vermeer paintings that you just gotta see in person, it's hard to fully grok a show like this from a recording or a picture or a description. Keeping things quiet and intimate (but insisting that the show was a party, not a concert), Richman took his songs down some wayward paths — often starting or ending off-mic, singing to the crowd from the lip of the stage; ad-libbing lyrics as he saw fit, and letting his body language be even more expressive than the words; throwing in a solos on a whim, or calling out for Tommy Larkins to take one on drums. With no safety net and no game plan you might get recommendations for the best translations of The Three Musketeers or stories about bad smells as signs of the good life. A testament to joy and creativity, where the artist seemed as amused and surprised by the goings-on as the audience. (Do note: he's playing The Great Hall again tonight, June 6, 2013. Why not go and see it?)

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