WEST
HOLLYWOOD, CA - Believe it or not, a microphone stand at center stage became
an unnecessary distraction during Gordon Gano's solo show in support of
his recent "Hitting The Ground" soundtrack album. While Gano wrote all
the songs for this recording, he also asked special friends like Lou Reed,
PJ Harvey, and Frank Black to provide guest solo vocals for the disc. For
this reason, the ‘mystery microphone' had tonight's audience in rapt anticipation,
wondering just which superstar guest might step up to it next. But when
only Frank Black (who also happened to be Gano's opening act) was the only
one to join in (he sang his "Run" contribution to the album) this audience
couldn't help be a little disappointed. Gano introduced each song from
the album—which he performed from beginning to end in its entirety—by also
noting who originally sang it on the album. This made for a series of redundantly
awkward, pre-song announcements. Yet what Gano lacked in stage patter,
he more than made up for with his fine musical performance.
Not
surprisingly, it was just a bass player and a drummer backing Gano, the
solo act. This is the exact same configuration he works with in Violent
Femmes, so it wasn't much of a performance stretch. Although he mixed in
plenty of aggressive moments, Gano shined brightest on his quieter numbers,
such as with the ethereal "So It Goes," and the Christmas-y "Merry Christmas
Brother."
Frank
Black joined in at about the midpoint of the show, and injected a large,
and welcome, dose of energy by bouncing and then rolling all around the
stage. He also accidentally unplugged Gano's guitar, which caused a brief
interruption in the show. Black later returned to help Gano with an ever-popular
encore, "Blister In The Sun."
Frank
Black was actually more entertaining than the headliner. Black played acoustic
guitar, and had the help of a second guitarist, who also doubled on pedal
steel. Dressed in a suit and dress shirt (but no tie), Black spanned his
solo career catalogue with a set of twisted, spiritual acoustic numbers.
He even threw in a wonderful version of The Pixies' "Wave Of Mutilation,"
for good measure.
In
the end, though, what looked on paper like a special concert, turned out
to be a little underwhelming. Nevertheless, during this dark age of disposable
pop music, coming from these guys, that really wasn't such a bad thing
after all.
