It was another night of very enjoyable music at the Beachland Ballroom last Wednesday, as Nick Lowe delivered a well received solo set featuring work from all stages of his illustrious career.
He brought out a sold out audience filled with mostly older fans, with more than a few local musicians and song writers in the crowd. Including encores he did 23 songs without taking a break, all but one an original. The set included recent songs (“People Change” and “Long Limbed Girl” from his 2007 release At My Age); gems from the classic Rockpile album Seconds of Pleasure (“Heart” and “When I Write the Book”); his own pop hits (“Cruel to be Kind” and “I Knew the Bride When She use to Rock and Roll”); hits he wrote for others (a beautiful haunting version of “What’s So Funny About Peace, Love, and Understanding” that closed the show); and fan favorites like “All Men Lie.” He even previewed an unrecorded new song “I Read A Lot” that was warmly received. The only nonoriginal was a rocking version of Eddie Cochran’s “Seven Nights to Rock” which was the last encore. All of it was wonderful, and the audience enjoyed every moment.
The themes and styles of Nick Lowe’s music flow between two extremes, the music of Buddy Holly, the Everly Brothers and very early Beatles, and the ironic and sad humor and insight of classic twentieth century British poets and authors. In between songs he told a few great stories along the way in the same style, like A.E. Houseman if he had a sense of humor.
It was another seating on the floor show at the Beachland. I love it when the chairs come out there. I have seen it really rock there, but when the chairs come out it attracts an older, wiser audience that is really there for the music, and sits silently and enjoys each moment. And the crowd was void of the “We love you, Nick” and “Cleveland loves you, thanks for coming” self centered idiots that attended the recent Shelby Lynne and Roul Malo shows at the Beachland.
As always there are a lot of great shows coming up at the Beachland including Matthew Sweet this Saturday, October 25; Glass Harp doing a benefit for Roots of American Music on Saturday, November 1; Bluesman Bill “Sauce Boss” Wharton on Friday, December 12; Grace Potter and the Nocturnals on Saturday, December 13; and a rescheduled Leon Russell show on Friday, January 16. Check out their seven days a week live music calendar at www.beachlandballroom.com.
A tip of the Red Stripe bottle to Cindy Barber and her staff at the Beachland for another great night of music. Keep up the good work!
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