Last night’s show was a stunner. The house was packed, and Jonathan and Tommy were in top form. They played a lot of old hits, and debuted some great new material, including a chant-along proto-punk rant about cellphones that should probably satisfy the needs of those people that constantly shout requests for She Cracked. Tonight’s contest winner is Will. Here is his entry:
I’ve seen Jonathan Richman only once before, in early 2001. It was the day after my 20th birthday and as a treat my friend offered to drive me from Norman, OK to Rubber Gloves in Denton, TX to see him perform. I was in my first year of college and had only recently began to broaden my musical horizons (with the aid of the still functionin Napster and Audio Galaxy) so I had either not yet heard of or had not paid any attention to the name Jonathan Richman. I decided to go since a free show was a free show. The opening act was Eric Bachmann performing songs from his still fresh project Crooked Fingers. Richman came on shortly afterward, shaking the hand of Penn Jillette who somehow appeared in the audience. He played for a good hour and a half on the bare stage, what I would soon learn were classics from his days with the Modern Lovers, love ballads in spanish, songs that were inflatable water park sinisterly child-like. This was the first time I heard his music and I wish that I could have the pleasure of discovering the music of every great artist so intimately. To experience Jonathan again would be great, but to experience him again in such a raw and almost unrehearsed state would be a fitting sequel.
This one we liked because of the imagery of Penn and Jonathan being buddies, the opportunity to reiterate that these shows can be raw and unrehearsed, and despite the fact that chuckling at the Audio Galaxy reference made us feel old. Congrats, Will. Show time is 8pm, don’t be late!
Photo of Jonathan thanking the crowd after last night’s show by wizardmountain.
