Jackson Browne at the Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall, 12 April 2009
I have to admit I was in two minds about going to see Jackson Browne live: I only have a few of his albums, which I do really like, but he's never been one of my favourites. But ever since I read Hotel California by Barney Hoskyns last year I've been enamoured with the whole Laurel Canyon scene and the fact the man worked and was friends with Warren Zevon and dated both Joni Mitchell and Nico had to count for something, right? So when a decent seat popped up on the Royal Albert Hall's site close to the date I snapped it up and hoped for the best.
I've only ever been to the Royal Albert Hall once before, to see Joanna Newsom play (definitely one of my best ever gigs) and I had forgotten just how beautiful it is, in fact I'd say it's probably the most beautiful venue in London: built in the round, it looks like something out of the Roman era (although in fact it dates back to 1871). With its beauty, history and the fine acoustics, and the fact that practically every seat has a good view of the stage, I can see why such rock royalty as Eric Clapton choose to play many dates there instead of going for a larger venue because it's a positively regal place. I was seated on the very right, practically on the stage (thankfully at the end of the row) so had a profile view of Mr Browne and his band all night. That was okay though because there was nothing I couldn't see, although sadly I was also sitting next to a guy who gave a little commentary to his friend all night ("Jackson used to play Glastonbury every year, I used to go out in the field and watch him in the rain", "Jackson used to hang out with Daryl Hannah", "Jackson is very influenced by Latin music" blah, blah, blah"), thankfully it didn't intrude on the music too much. I also scanned the crowd, which was made up mainly of folks in their 40s and 50s. There were people younger than me there but they all seemed to be with their parents. This didn't strike the greatest confidence in me. Was this concert going to be a dad rock show?
The gig started promptly sans support at 8pm with the song Boulevard from his 1980 album Hold Out. Jackson, 60 years old, looked incredible, the beard that he wears on the cover of his last album gone and his hair exactly as it was back in 1970. At a distance he looked almost as he did back then, it was only when he came closer you could see the gauntnes
s of the cheeks that comes with age and the wrinkles. At first the sound was horribly echoey and with his black backing singers, teacher-like guitarist and bassist, the kind that wears his bass almost under his chin and wears one of those Kangol, Samuel L Jackson-style, caps backwards, my worst fears did appear to be realised: this was a "mature" rock show. My heart sank at the prospect of an Eagles-lite show with perfectly rehearsed guitar solos and live performances that were replicas of the recorded versions.
But, I'm happy to say, it got better. A whole lot better actually, almost as soon as Jackson swapped his electric guitar for an acoustic one and suddenly the sound became warmer, sweeter and closer to what I had imagined. Of course it also helped that he rolled out Fountain Of Sorrow, a song from probably my favourite album of his, Late For The Sky. And surprisingly when he went on to play tracks from his latest album, Time The Conqueror, it still sounded good. I checked out the front row at this point, all older fans respectfully still and silent. Only one couple in fact appeared to be enjoying themselves, their heads bobbing and doing air drum rolls. Good for them, I thought.
After a rocking, almost jamming Doctor My Eyes (which effectively segued into newer song About My Imagination) the band went offstage and took almost a half an hour break, whether this was for the band or the audience I'm not sure but I can't imagine they did this back in the 70s.
The second half started with Jackson alone with his acoustic guitar ("yes!" I thought) and he played a gorgeous version of Something Fine from his debut album, following it with an even better surprise: the title track of Late For The Sky. But it got even better when he strapped back on his acoustic and played the first notes from, perhaps his greatest song, These Days. It was pretty amazing to hear this iconic Nico song sung live by its songwriter I have to say, and it was definitely one of the show's highlights.
After that he got a little political ("Jackson is very political," droned the guy next to me "he hates war" duh) with one of the night's most boring moments, a song called Lives In The Balance, half sung by his backing singers (don't you hate it when they do that? I didn't come to hear them) but things perked up with a newer tune called Going Down To Cuba where, the shy-mannered Mr Browne appeared to open up a little telling an amusing story of how the band were only allowed to go to Cuba on a religious visa due to the US embargo and had to pretend they were playing religious music. He also played an excellent new song called Drums Of War and Your Bright Baby Blues, among others, and the show ended on an extremely high note with a double whammy of The Pretender and Running On Empty, which finally got people out of their seats.
So what started out as a night promising serious-faced mature soft rock turned into something far more special. I can only put that down to Mr Browne, his still beautifully smooth voice, and that Laurel Canyon magic, which, happily, doesn't seem to worn off just yet.
I've only ever been to the Royal Albert Hall once before, to see Joanna Newsom play (definitely one of my best ever gigs) and I had forgotten just how beautiful it is, in fact I'd say it's probably the most beautiful venue in London: built in the round, it looks like something out of the Roman era (although in fact it dates back to 1871). With its beauty, history and the fine acoustics, and the fact that practically every seat has a good view of the stage, I can see why such rock royalty as Eric Clapton choose to play many dates there instead of going for a larger venue because it's a positively regal place. I was seated on the very right, practically on the stage (thankfully at the end of the row) so had a profile view of Mr Browne and his band all night. That was okay though because there was nothing I couldn't see, although sadly I was also sitting next to a guy who gave a little commentary to his friend all night ("Jackson used to play Glastonbury every year, I used to go out in the field and watch him in the rain", "Jackson used to hang out with Daryl Hannah", "Jackson is very influenced by Latin music" blah, blah, blah"), thankfully it didn't intrude on the music too much. I also scanned the crowd, which was made up mainly of folks in their 40s and 50s. There were people younger than me there but they all seemed to be with their parents. This didn't strike the greatest confidence in me. Was this concert going to be a dad rock show?
The gig started promptly sans support at 8pm with the song Boulevard from his 1980 album Hold Out. Jackson, 60 years old, looked incredible, the beard that he wears on the cover of his last album gone and his hair exactly as it was back in 1970. At a distance he looked almost as he did back then, it was only when he came closer you could see the gauntnes
s of the cheeks that comes with age and the wrinkles. At first the sound was horribly echoey and with his black backing singers, teacher-like guitarist and bassist, the kind that wears his bass almost under his chin and wears one of those Kangol, Samuel L Jackson-style, caps backwards, my worst fears did appear to be realised: this was a "mature" rock show. My heart sank at the prospect of an Eagles-lite show with perfectly rehearsed guitar solos and live performances that were replicas of the recorded versions.But, I'm happy to say, it got better. A whole lot better actually, almost as soon as Jackson swapped his electric guitar for an acoustic one and suddenly the sound became warmer, sweeter and closer to what I had imagined. Of course it also helped that he rolled out Fountain Of Sorrow, a song from probably my favourite album of his, Late For The Sky. And surprisingly when he went on to play tracks from his latest album, Time The Conqueror, it still sounded good. I checked out the front row at this point, all older fans respectfully still and silent. Only one couple in fact appeared to be enjoying themselves, their heads bobbing and doing air drum rolls. Good for them, I thought.
After a rocking, almost jamming Doctor My Eyes (which effectively segued into newer song About My Imagination) the band went offstage and took almost a half an hour break, whether this was for the band or the audience I'm not sure but I can't imagine they did this back in the 70s.
The second half started with Jackson alone with his acoustic guitar ("yes!" I thought) and he played a gorgeous version of Something Fine from his debut album, following it with an even better surprise: the title track of Late For The Sky. But it got even better when he strapped back on his acoustic and played the first notes from, perhaps his greatest song, These Days. It was pretty amazing to hear this iconic Nico song sung live by its songwriter I have to say, and it was definitely one of the show's highlights.
After that he got a little political ("Jackson is very political," droned the guy next to me "he hates war" duh) with one of the night's most boring moments, a song called Lives In The Balance, half sung by his backing singers (don't you hate it when they do that? I didn't come to hear them) but things perked up with a newer tune called Going Down To Cuba where, the shy-mannered Mr Browne appeared to open up a little telling an amusing story of how the band were only allowed to go to Cuba on a religious visa due to the US embargo and had to pretend they were playing religious music. He also played an excellent new song called Drums Of War and Your Bright Baby Blues, among others, and the show ended on an extremely high note with a double whammy of The Pretender and Running On Empty, which finally got people out of their seats.
So what started out as a night promising serious-faced mature soft rock turned into something far more special. I can only put that down to Mr Browne, his still beautifully smooth voice, and that Laurel Canyon magic, which, happily, doesn't seem to worn off just yet.
I went to the show too! And I'm only.... 30. Agreed though, every time I go to something like that I feel slightly out of place due to my age.
ReplyDeletethe couple you mention in the front row were sitting right in front of me... Very nice couple too.