I feel particularly privileged to be able to say I got to see Alejandro Escovedo this past Friday at the Tarrytown Music Hall once again. He was the warmup act for Shelby Lynne, though to be fair he played much longer than opening acts ordinarily do.
The man tours a lot and he seems to be getting at least some of recognition that he has earned. Certainly many musicians hold him in high esteem. Hell, when he plays New Jersey they have to put up barricades to keep Springsteen from hopping on stage with him.
Two years ago he performed along with David Pulkingham on guitar, and it was outstanding. Alejandro's a charming guy with a seemingly unending accumulation of anecdotes, a first class songwriter, and it easily was one of the best shows I've ever seen at Tarrytown. Pulkingham has a lot of musical chops, but what was really amazing how they complemented each other on stage.
As good as these shows have been, I still want to see him with his full band though.
This time around it was Alejandro with Susan Voelz, who is probably best known for her work with Poi Dog Pondering. She is a violinist, and she was awesome to say the least. They've collaborated together for years apparently, and this was a combination that really worked. At some points in the show I started thinking Velvet Underground, with the intensity of her violin reminding me a bit of the John Cale/Heroin/Electric Viola period. They did songs like Down in The Bowery, Sally was a Cop, Sister Lost Soul, and Five Hearts Breaking. He told us that Sister Lost Soul was not really about Jeffrey Lee Pierce of the Gun Club, but was actually about his ex-wife who was now deceased.
At the end of the set, he asked for the house lights to be turned on. He & Susan strode to the front of the stage and performed Rosalie without mikes. Beautiful song, and an amazing story of enduring love behind the song.
He is such an amazing songwriter. As I sat watching the show, I was thinking that maybe 75 years from now people would still be singing these songs. In the same way The Band and Bob Dylan looked back in time to what we would call traditional music. But the funny thing is that his songs seemed to be based in real life and about real people. Years later maybe all the specifics will long be forgotten and disassociated from the music, but the power and emotional resonance will still remain.
Two standing ovations for an opening act is no small feat. Probably a few tears were shed in the audience. I felt a little bad for Shelby Lynne. She was alright, but I guess I'm not really into country that much. She has a big voice and I enjoyed a lot of her songs. She seemed like a pretty gutsy person. She played guitar and had two guitarists supporting her who were extremely fine musicians. She ran the set democratically, allowing the two guys to air out their instruments, and it was fun to see them intricately and effortlessly trading licks. The guy playing slide guitar was especially interesting, and on one song he played either the mandolin or ukulele. Overall, she was well received, but I think the crowd was a little more interested in Alejandro's set. He actually came out later with Susan Voelz and did a duet with Shelby Lynne, singing All I Have to Do is Dream, by the Everly Brothers. Sweet.
It seems that Alejandro is always on tour, so if he is in your vicinity you should go out see one of our country's most accomplished songwriters live while you can. My only regret is that I wished he had better swag for sale at his gigs. And yeah, I'm still waiting for the DVD.
No comments:
Post a Comment