Escovedo captivates audience with a tour of personal history
Concert Review – Southgate House, Newport, KY. Friday, April 2, 2010
In the end, Alejandro Escovedo stood on the Southgate House stage and opened a vein.
It might only have been figuratively, but the Texas singer-songwriter and his powerhouse band took the crowd of about 300 on an intimate tour of his musical (and personal) history that had everyone standing, hoping for just one more song, but thoroughly satisfied with what they had just heard and seen.
From the opening power chords of “Always a Friend” from “Real Animal” to the finishing frenzy of the Stooges’ “I Wanna Be Your Dog,” Escovedo performed energetic versions of favorites (“Castanets”), selections from the upcoming “Street Songs of Love” album (the title tune was a standout) and covers of the Rolling Stones’ “Beast of Burden” and “Sway.”
Just as captivating, however, were the tales of growing up in Texas as one of 12 children, his fondness for Kentucky that dates from his days playing the Newport club with punk bands True Believers and Rank & File to recording his last two albums in Lexington, and the trials of parenting a 17-year-old punk rock kid who calls what his dad does “old music for old people.”
Escovedo’s stories were funny, but poignant as well. In the middle of the show, he came into the crowd with guitarist David Pulkingham to play acoustically. Before singing, he paid tribute to his father who fought long odds as a young Mexican immigrant to become, in the words of his son, “a great man.”
When the pair started to strum their guitars, there wasn’t another sound in the room, every set of eyes and ears silently focused on the two men playing and singing without amplification.
His father wasn’t the only beneficiary of Escovedo’s gratitude. He remembered recently deceased friends and collaborators Alex Chilton (the Box Tops, Big Star) and Stephen Bruton (“Crazy Heart”) with a passionate “Sister Lost Soul.” He thanked Mott the Hoople frontman Ian Hunter for standing by him during his bout with hepatitis-C in the new “Down in the Bowery.” And he debuted “Gotta Have Faith” with “This is the one from the new album that the guy from New Jersey sings on.” Bruce Springsteen would have been proud of the economy of the introduction.
Although Escovedo was front and center all night, he made sure his comrades received their due. Billed as the Sensitive Boys, Pulkingham, drummer Hector Munoz and bass player Bobby Daniel were introduced at least a half dozen times, and deserved each shout-out. Tight is a poor description of how well the foursome played together. Pulkingham conjured otherworldly sounds from his guitar while providing the power behind Escovedo’s great songs. Munoz was the picture of confident cool in the rear, keeping every foot in room tapping along to his beat. Daniel, who reminded one fan of a younger James Taylor (with hair), couldn’t stop smiling as he completed the near-perfect circle of musicians.
This was the third of nine shows the band is playing before the June 29 release of “Street Songs of Love.” Afterward, fans pleaded for a promise to return on the next leg.
Cross your fingers now. It’s not too early to start wishing.
By Bill Thompson – bthompson@enquirer.com