Broadsheet: I Was a Child Protestant

Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self. - Cyril Connolly

Wednesday, February 23, 2005

I Was a Child Protestant

Thanks to a recommendation from this guy, Mark and I were lucky enough to see this guy play here last night.

Terrific music, great lyrics, and a superb guitarist. He played a lot of stuff from his new CD, but if you're not too familiar with him (we were not), I would recommend picking up a copy of this CD first. That's not a criticism of his new CD - not in the least, but in listening to him last night, some of the stuff he wrote in the mid-late 80's was really, really good. Almost Dylanesque in the lyrics. And a lot of other artists (Bonnie Raitt, Cher, Tina Turner) have recorded his stuff as well. Give a listen to the clips on Amazon, but some of the highlights from last night were:

Don't Try To Please me
Locked Up in Heaven
Nobody Knows
Living for the Corporation
Sail, Sail On
Paradise Is here
Luck of the Draw (recorded by Bonnie Raitt)
Helpless Heart
Smile
The Homes of Donegal
Beyond The Reach Of Love (this one just makes your heart hurt)

and perhaps my favorite.....The Lakes Of Pontchartrain

There were a couple of distractions last night. First, it was clear that this tour has been draining. He was very tired and admitted as much, and I think it affected his singing early in the evening, but he found his voice quickly enough and everything was great. His audience banter was a little subdued, although his honesty, warmth, wisdom and emotion were clearly evident. I think this was also do to his being tired. Mark and I both agreed that the take away line for the evening was "I was a child Protestant".

The other take home message that is clearly evident in his music is one he stated repeatedly in trying to explain his lyrics. "If you feel something, just say it. Get it out. The sky isn’t going to fall, and it’s going to be better than if you sit on it and let it fester."

The other distraction occured one third of the way into "Smile", ostensibly the last song of the evening before an encore song or two. A woman suddenly stood up in the audience and called out for a doctor because a man had collapsed on the floor. Paul calmly stopped the song, had the house lights brought up so that the man could be attended to, and sat on the edge of the stage quietly watching people try to revive the man. 911 was called, and in literally a matter of minutes, he was wheeled out on a stretcher, and although he was conscious by then, he was very grey looking and pale indeed.

Paul asked the audience if they wanted him to continue, and he wrapped up the show in great fashion with a terrific encore.

If Mark has any specifics in the review to add - I'll happily post them here. I'm very glad we had a chance to see him in concert. Thanks, Steve!

posted by Broadsheet @ 10:25 AM

1 Editorial Opinions:

At February 23, 2005, Anonymous said…

My further perspective on the evening:

The surf trumped the turf, dinin'-wise.