Show Date: August 4th, 2009
This is the part where I am supposed to run down all of Black Francis’ stage names and then throw in his incongruous real name. Let’s skip that part. Since this is a Black Francis show, I will refer to him as such.
I definitely have a beaten wife syndrome relationship with Black Francis solo live shows. Both of my previous experiences have been shakey affairs. At least in my opinion.
The first time, he was obviously intoxicated and left after approximately three songs when the crowd was not moshing to his exacting expectations. Only after the venue staff kissed his ass enough, or, perhaps, explained breach of contract did he return. All was forgiven when he played my favorite Frank Black song : “White Noise Maker” . He added it on the fly to the set list. Oh Black Francis, you still love us.
The second show, was one of his first re-branded Black Francis shows. Halfway through the set a woman I pegged immediately as his wife appeared to sing backup. Felt like the bait and switch was on there. I showed my back before the end of the set. But the era of good feeling has returned. We have Pixies reunion (part II) shows to look forward to, and Mr. Francis appears to actually care about his fans enough to talk to them on his message board in respectful and kind tones. I know, I am stretching. But I really do love his music. I’m a dork.
Enough, enough. Let’s see if we figuratively take a drunken jab to the face or get some musical lovey dovey.
Aladdin theater. Twice in a week! Surprisingly, show is not even close to sold out from the appearance. I skip the opening act and hang out with my good friend. We catch up, save the world, and make plans for our Pixies show later in the year.
The stage setup is sparse. A guitar, amps, and a stand holding 5 harmonicas. Later a table with a glass of wine and a beer appears. Immediately, any slim chances of special guests are cashed out. No gear. During the show, Black Francis gives away the beer to a gentlemen in the front row….after requesting a look at his ID.
By my count, Black Francis has been involved in 16 LP’s (including the Grand Duchy release) and one EP as a solo artist from 1993 to current. Prodigious. A body of work that is difficult to get your arms around due to sheer size. This is my excuse for no setlist. So there.
Black Francis takes the stage in a simple dark t shirt and dark, baggy work pants and boots. I would venture he rarely gets recognized on the streets here. With a Fender Telecaster electric guitar going through an acoustic instrument amp and then two Vox (I think) amps, it was an electro-acoustic evening. No traditional acoustic guitar was played during the approximately two hour set.
The first song was “Los Angeles” from 1993′s Frank Black. He sang it with heart, made the music sound a little different than the original, and made me sit up in my seat. I was going to get a show to remember…maybe. Let’s not rush into things.
It is interesting hearing these songs in a stripped down form. Raw. No percussion/bass, no backing vocals. Takes guts. And if you want to dork out, gives a peek behind the curtain at the songwriting process of Black Francis (like when he explained his love of the C major chord). Maybe how things start and are layered from there. Hearing the core. In a way, the soul. Pretty deep, it is still just a fucking rock show, right? Well…..before “Sing For Joy” Francis explains that this was the last song he jammed on with his friend Duane Jarvis who passed away earlier in the year. And the difference in passion was evident in the execution of the song.
The evening was a collection of songs from the Black Francis, Frank Black, and Pixies catalog. Black Francis didn’t shy away from the Pixies legacy, but he didn’t prostitute it either. The songs were worked in here and there and at one point when he told the crowd “there’s a little Kim Deal for you at the end ooooooohooohh.” Someone shouted “Kim Rocks!”, to which he said. “Kim does rock.”
Highlights for me included “Headache”, “Tight Black Rubber”, “Holiday Song”, “Nimrod’s Son”, “Los Angeles”, “Where Is My Mind?”, “Bullet”, and especially “Cactus”. Basically the whole damn night. At the end of the evening “thanks for coming to my show” and that was it. He eschews encores. Some things are so beautiful, make you go back again and again.
Looks like my days of taking punches are over. Hopefully all kissy kiss from here on out.
Kay. I have 16 albums and an EP to listen to.
