- Loudon Wainwright
III
- at the Ulster Hall, Belfast,
Northern Ireland
- Thursday 24th September 1998
 Well
the great day finally arrived at last, - the opening concert
in Loudon's 'Secret Irish Tour'. Unlike the last time Loudon
was here (November 6th '95) when the entire theatre was used,
this was a much smaller and more intimate gig. Only the back
of the theatre was used, some 250 seats arranged in several rows
in a semi-circular fashion, the giant Ulster Hall organ just
behind the back row. Certainly the smallest Loudon concert I've
ever been to, and subsequently also one of the most enjoyable.
Even the sound was better. Last time it was so low that I couldn't
hear a lot of what LW said between songs (and I was in the 6th
row that time).
As for reporting on the concert
for the 'list', well I was planning to give this one a miss,
having served my time with the Dublin one, but heck, just as
I got out of the car, a biro and scrap of paper fell into my
pocket. Taking notes in total darkness though (song-list etc)
is never easy, the best I could do was just try and jot down
the initials of the songs, trusting the rest to memory.
Here goes . . .
It's kind of a tradition with
Loudon, that every time he visits the Ulster Hall that he always
turns round and looks at the huge organ (some 20 foot high, which
reaches almost to the ceiling) and makes some comment. For the
first time he was facing it throughout the concert, and made
his comment before the first song, making some reference to Monica
Lewinsky. Then he started playing . . .
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1. |
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'Bill of Goods' - followed by .
. . |
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2. |
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'I Can't Stand Myself' - He said
it was about self-loathing, "self-loathing being the cornerstone
of tonight's show". He got very mixed up with the verses,
singing verse three before verse two and had to stop midway to
sort it out, uttering a swearword! Then it was on to the "songs
about the family", starting with . . . |
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3. |
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'Five Years Old' - explaining that
he wrote the song 17 years ago, and his daughter Martha is now
22! Next, time for Loudon to have some fun with . |
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4. |
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'Between' - He did an absolutely
outstanding version, his voice stirring the cobwebs (;-) of the
old hall, as he rocked backwards and forwards towards the mike
(to vary the volume), with a maniacal grin on his face. When
he sang the line "our Father dwells on high" he looked
up into one of the dark corners and waved, saying, "howya
doin' Big Guy". Quickly slipped on the guitar and went straight
into . . |
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5. |
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'The Picture' - still one his very
best and most moving songs. I still say it would be a whole lot
better though if he'd sing on every line, as speaking every alternate
one really breaks the mood. Continuing on with the 'family theme'
we next had . . . |
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6. |
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'Bein' A Dad' - easily one of the
most popular 'fun' numbers of the night since there were obviously
a lot of parents in the audience, and quite a few had brought
their children with them (or should I say "young adults",
Diane ;-)). Anyway Loudon seemed to really be enjoying himself
on this song, hopping around and grinning throughout. A number
of requests were now being called out, mainly for 'The Acid Song'.
Loudon replied that "I don't usually do that song now until
the fourth encore". |
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7. |
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'O.G.M' - my favourite from the
last album. Great tune and lyrics, but also an extremely hard-hitting
song about the breakup. When he sings it 'live' he seems to pause
much longer between lines / verses, probably to let the effects
of the words sink in. The line "you'd been playing with
the cat" produced some laughs, whilst the next line "then
you said you'd found someone to share the flat" prompted
an appearance of 'the tongue'. Also, the guitar backing on this
song is great to listen to! A girl in the front row was loudly
calling for 'Surfer Queen', with Loudon replying that he required
extra payment for old songs like that. She immediately replied
that she'd pay him 'in kind' which caused some laughter. As requests
continued to be shouted out, the same girl called for 'One Man
Guy' and Loudon retorted "and you're a one person request
machine". Anyway, he played it. |
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8. |
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'One Man Guy' - then it was time
for a new song. He didn't give a title, but said it was a premier
for us here tonight (hey, Loudon, you're caught out again by
the 'internet spies' since it was reported that you played it
back in Greenwich, USA five days earlier). It had unusual lyrics,
talking about doctors, scientists and about sleep and death.
A very unusual song. |
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9. |
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'Bed' - a brand new song which he'd
only just written and was still working on, references to sleep,
death and scientists!!! |
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10. |
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'The Shit Song' - Another popular
song, with Loudon saying afterwards (obviously referring to the
the 'F word') "I bet you're sorry you saved money on your
babysitters tonight). More requests were shouted, someone yelled
for Primrose Hill and he played it next. |
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11. |
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'Primrose Hill' - (Hey, I guess
requests for songs from the new CD have more chance of being
played ;-)) More requests, Loudon saying "I'll do your requests
later - I want to do some new songs first", starting with
. . . |
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12. |
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'Living Alone' - a song he introduced
as "being about going back to live in the place where I
grew up, definitely not a good thing to do". The song finished
with the repeated line "You're 51 now and you're living
alone." Afterwards he remarked that he's actually 52 now
(his birthday was Sept 9th) but that it didn't sound as good
(in the song).
Much earlier, (about four or
five songs into the concert), he had switched from a bottle of
water to a bottle of beer, which when he opened it, fizzed out
all over his hand and onto the stage floor by the mike. He now
went back to take a second swig from that bottle and yet again
it fizzed up and started overflowing out of the bottle. Loudon
made some comment like "That's the second time tonight.
That doesn't usually happen much these days" (really don't
know what he's talking about there ;-)) |
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13. |
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'Homeless' - the song he wrote about
the death of his mother. A very powerful and moving song and
I got the impression that it is quite an 'emotionally draining'
song for him to sing (rather like 'Sometimes I Forget'). |
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14. |
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'White Winos' - can't remember anything
about this one. |
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15. |
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Human Cannonball' - great to hear
this one, another one with great guitar backing. Then it was
back to the requests and . . . |
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16. |
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' Mr Guilty' - got a great reponse,
(couldn't fail to), He followed it immediately with 'Unrequited'
which he said "goes with that last song". |
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17. |
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'Unrequited to the Nth Degree' -
some of the audience knew this one (of course) and began laughing
along to the chorus without being prompted. This wasn't good
enough for Loudon who stopped the song to lecture us, wanting
us to have another go at it. "Look at you all", he
said, "sitting there with your legs crossed and your arms
folded. Loosen up and try that chorus again". Followed by
. . . |
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18. |
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'The Swimming Song' - Loudon said
he'd been swimming in the 40 footer in Dublin this morning. More
requests roared out again. As they started to die away, a young
lad next to me called for 'Not John'. Loudon said "there's
a young voice I hear" and immediately played it for him. |
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19. |
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'Not John' - Afterwards he played
for "that certain person" . . . (the American girl
who'd been yelling for it earlier) |
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20. |
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Surfer Queen' - one of the best
versions I've ever heard. Why? Well because he seemed to create
a great 'hawaiian' sound to the guitar backing, his 6 string
guitar sounding very smooth and melodic like a 12 string. It
sounded fabulous! After that show-stopper it was time to grab
the guitar and head for the dressing room (though I doubt if
he got that far) as he was quickly back for the first encore.
Moving back to the subject of
family, he said he had one son. Someone yelled 'Rufus is a Tit
Man' and Loudon replied "hey buddy, you know my whole life". |
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21. |
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'Rufus Is A Tit Man' - of course
there was a plug for the new album from which it came ('Unrequited')
which Loudon informed us had just been released (for the first
time) on CD, "so rush out and buy it folks, because I need
the money". |
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22. |
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'Clockwork Chantreuse' - before
playing this song, Loudon recalled his first visit to Belfast
back in 1976 when a lot of bands wouldn't come here because they
were, like, *scared* (the 70's in Ulster were extremely violent
times). Amazingly, he even remembered the venue of that first
concert, - Queens University which he'd driven past that afternoon
on the journey up from Dublin. He said he thought that the people
there at the time really understood this song!
Off he went again, returning
for encore number two. |
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23. |
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'Motel Blues' - another request,
defiantly changing the line back to 'I'll put it on my next LP'
which got a quiet ripple of laughter. The few seconds of silence
after he finished the song were broken by someone who called
out for . . . |
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24. |
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'The Man Who Couldn't Cry' - after
which he was gone, the house lights being switched on with undue
haste despite fervant calls for another encore, but, hey, we'd
had 90 full minutes of music and that's pretty much the absolute
limit these days. |
There was absolutely no opportunity
to meet Loudon at all (yep, out of luck yet again Martin!!).
Still, I must thank those who sent me potential 'opening lines'.
My absolute favourite was the one sent by Blake Watson, "The
List sent me". I can assure you, that had it been possible
to meet the great man I would definitely have used that one!!!!
by Martin Maguire
From the Belfast
Telegraph. (The local paper's review of the concert).
Loudon's House Of Wonders (Loudon
Wainwright III / Ulster Hall)
He ambled on stage, tuned his
guitar and made a crack about Monica Lewinsky. With that, Loudon
Wainwright III was off and running on a wondrous journey through
his songs both old and new.
Live performance has always been
his strength - in a career that has spanned over 30 years - and
his jerky body movements, grimaces, gags and tongue-waving all
add vital ingredients to a compelling voice and collection of
songs.
Wainwright doesn't have to grab
an audience's attention, he has it from the moment he appears
and his intensely introspective songs draw you closer to a man
who is not squemish about addressing his own sadness and vulnerability.
After a spellbinding hour and-a-half
it was over, even though the audience bayed for another encore,
but before the lights went up he performed a shimmering set.
Wainwright selects everyday themes
and weaves thoughtful humourous and emotional observations around
them.
Despite a more than occasional
reference to self-loathing (his second song was entitled I Can't
Stand Myself) along with subject matter covering family matters,
wrecked relationships, growing old and dying; his humour always
just managed to shine through.
He brought the house down with
the observation of his two-year-old son (now aged 25) Rufus Is
A Tit Man.
Other highlights - he indulged
most of the audience's requests - included the polemical Primrose
Hill, about life down and out in London and the beautiful Not
John dealing with assasination of John Lennon.
If one complaint is to be made
it is simply this; we wanted more.
Michael Sadler |
