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Nick Morgan and crew
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Concert
Review by Nick Morgan |
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| NICK
LOWE
The Barbican, London - Monday March 14th
2005 - by Nick Morgan |
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As
far as I can remember my first intimate moment
with Nick Lowe
went like this. I was browsing through the vinyl
45’s in the Stiff Records Shop in Convent
Garden one Tuesday lunchtime (yes youngsters,
this is how we used to download our fave tunes
in the olden days) when Wreckless Eric burst through
a door pursued by Nick Lowe and a tear-gas spray.
Once round the shop and they departed through
the front door, shortly followed by me, tears
in my eyes, no vinyl in my hand. |
| Well
that’s my 1978 story and I’m sticking
to it. So it goes … |
Since
then our relationship has been mediated through
vinyl, tape and CDs, and a couple of memorable London
gigs over the past six years when Lowe, King of
Cool that he is, has blown away audiences with a
tighter than tight band supporting his brilliant
voice and songwriting skills. But tonight intimacy
is restored at the Barbican as the Nickster is solo
(unplugged, as they say, despite all the plugs)
for about two thirds of his set, before he is joined
on stage by outstanding grand slam pianist and long-time
collaborator Geraint Watkins. And despite his alleged
nervousness (“all I want to do is bolt for
the door with a fag and my hand and a large Scotch
at the bar”) this is not a man who’s
cracking up, in fact he is obviously occupying a
comfort zone larger than the size of a tennis court.
I would be surprised if somewhere in your music
collection you don’t have some of the following:
a Nick Lowe album (Impossible Bird would be best,
but anything would do) or single (I know Serge’s
favourite is ‘What’s so funny ‘bout
peace love and understanding?’ but personally
I can’t help liking ‘I love the sound
of breaking glass’); a band featuring Nick
Lowe (Brinsley Schwarz, Rockpile, Little Village);
a Nick Lowe produced album or single – by
Graham Parker and the Rumour, Elvis Costello, The
Mavericks, Dr Feelgood, Wreckless Eric, John Hiatt
or the Pretenders (‘Stop your sobbing’)
etc.; or a recording of a Nick Lowe song, and if
I mention Johnny Cash singing ‘The Beast in
me’ on the first volume of The American Recordings
(some say he only married Carlene Carter in order
to get her dad to sing this song) then that’s
probably enough isn’t it ? Actually if you
don’t qualify in any of the above categories
then dump the questionnaire and move on bro’,
as we relationship marketeers sometimes say. |
| It
has to be said that the Barbican is not a cool space
for a cool Brentford boy like Lowe in his white
shirt and pleated Italian trousers, but he fills
it with his lazy acoustic guitar thumb-picking and
strumming technique, and his deeply soulful voice,
which got stronger in depth and range as the night
went on. He knows how to sing and how to use a microphone,
but occasionally the magnificent Barbican sound-system
gets the better of him (did we really hear the gnashing
of his false teeth on the beautiful ‘Shelley
my love’?). |
|
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| The
set was made up largely of classics from the Lowe
songbook, with an emphasis on his last three albums,
– ‘You inspire me’, ‘Soulful
wind’ ‘Lately I’ve let things
slide’, ‘I knew the bride (when she
used to rock and roll), ‘I live on a battlefield’,
‘Indian Queen’s, ‘Cruel to be
kind’ – and a few covers, John Hiatt’s
‘She don’t love nobody’ and Watkin’s
pretty song ‘Only a rose’. But he also
road tested a few new compositions intended for
a new album (“my manager keeps on telling
me that its four years since the last one”)
including Bingo (not well received), ‘The
other side of the coin’, and the hugely misogynistic
‘Trained her to love me’ (believe me
its rare to have a whole audience gasping and wincing
at the audacity of a performers lyrics as they did
when he spat his way through this one). “There’s
one for all you girls,” grinned Nick as he
finished. |
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Perhaps
not surprisingly the audience were somewhat Barbican-restrained
but (full hall – all seats sold) they were
clearly having a wonderful time (including one of
the world’s leading experts on intellectual
property law, who I bumped into in the gents. Ah
– the unifying power of rock and roll) relishing
the wit and wryness of Lowe’s lyrics, the
remarkable rhythm that he drives through the evening,
his infectious passion for his music and general
good humour, and his occasional classic rock star
poses (yes, I suppose I must mention the quiff at
this point). So even though some booed when he ended
with only a short encore (last song, naturally,
‘The Beast in me’) everyone left with
a smiling face... |
| That
is, until some French bloke (captured with unerring
accuracy by my cub photographer) tried to pinch
a souvenir from the merchandising store …..
- Nick Morgan (photos by Kate except CD cover)
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the index of all reviews:
Nick's Concert Reviews
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