It was an unusual but wonderful concert. Michael Nesmith is far from a great singer and his songs (all of the songs he performed are ones he wrote) are generally good but not great (although Different Drum is great as recorded by Linda Ronstadt), but it doesn't really matter. He's a gentle soul who clearly loves telling people his stories and sharing the songs and a bit of his history. Part of what made it unusual was that he introduced every song with a "setting", e.g. this is the 50's, a couple is at a table at a Parisian cafe, they're both looking for different things from the relationship. With many other artists I would've been muttering OK, enough, just do the song. With Mr. Nesmith, it was a big part of his charm that he would take the time and effort to paint this mental picture of each song. Also, there was plenty of music. He has a great, supportive band, with particularly good contributions from the keyboardist and from Chris Scruggs on guitar, lap steel, and mandolin. The musical range was wide, from country rock, sort of soft jazz, rock, and one medley (which he explained was part of a soundtrack for a sci-fi short story he wrote) that sounded like James Taylor accompanied by the Moody Blues or Pink Floyd. Although I gave the show 4 stars, not everyone would love a show like this, and some could have wished for him to rock more, but if approached more as a theater show (for DC area locals, think Arena Stage), with music than a rock concert, you could love it.
Birchmere @
- Alexandria @
, VA @
- Wed, Apr 17, 2013 @
Favorite moment: Rockin' out on The Grand Ennui (how many rock musicians could give a song a name like that?) @
Setlist: (Not complete or in order): Some of Shelly's Blues, Propinquity, The Grand Ennui, Different Drum, Joanne, Silver Moon, Thanks for the Ride, Papa Gene's Blues, Rays, Rio, Laugh Kills Lonesome @
Opening act(s): None. @