In autumn 2001 Ulrika and I had tickets to see Lyle Lovett in London. That September of course was a memorable one and Lyle cancelled his tour. So it was a great pleasure last night to finally catch him live for the first time together with John Hiatt. Just two guys with their guitars and a couple of chairs and tables and as far as I could see no terribly predecided set list. Some artists, often Americans but also some Scots and Billy Bragg, do this so well. An anecdote, a song, a wry observation: everything flows so effortlessly. It felt as though one was sitting in their front room: an illusion aided by the fact that Duncan had fixed us cracking seats in the fourth row.
Hiatt and Lovett matched each other very well. The former is very volatile, exhibitionistic and in-your-face and wears his heart on his sleeve; the latter is laconic, soft-spoken and is giving very little away. They joked about it being like a psychiatrist's session and there was a lot of truth in that. If Lyle wants to retrain he'd make a great shrink. John H was opening up about his life as a teenage joyrider, drug abuser and general wild boyo. Lyle just sat and listened and asked the right questions.
Hiatt has some great songs and he put them over very well last night. But when Lovett got going I was spellbound. He's a nifty guitar player and a fabulous singer.
See for yourself:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-LneYYF6TI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rl04KTHzq0s
There was one fascinating moment when he mentioned that a Swedish woman, who he'd met on a German course many years ago and had just got back in touch with through a mutual friend, was in the audience. He felt very honoured that she'd come along. She's now a professor at Stockholm University
How odd! Lyle learning German! Maybe we can expect an album of Kraftverk covers some time in the future?
Inga kommentarer:
Skicka en kommentar