Kurt Wagner (Lambchop) live review
This is a Kurt Wagner review of the gig he did at The Duke of York’s cinema in November 2007. This was part of his solo tour.
For those who may be unaware, Kurt Wagner is the mastermind behind the Nashville Americana collective Lambchop. Normally onstage with at least 6 other band members, sometimes augmented with a string quartet, here was a chance to see Kurt completely alone with just a guitar for company. The cinema may seem like an unusual gig venue, but the Duke of Yorks puts on a few gigs, I recently reviewed the King Creosote gig here. With a full band the small stage can get a little crowded, but for one man, its just perfect.
Kurt made his initial appearance at the back of the cinema, I spotted him thanks to his trademark truckers cap. Unusually he then burst into song, performing an accapella version of the X-press 2 hit which features him on vocals, ‘Give it’. As he sang he made his way to the front of the cinema, pausing to sing lines directly at random people. It was a superb entrance, and set the mood for an unusual evening.
Upon seating, Kurt had the stage lights switched off, so he could only be seen by the light of a tiny torch which he used to read lyrics off. Many of the tracks tonight had only been written recently, he was ‘trying them out on people’ and this was an experimental evening according to Kurt. This would explain the unusual washing line of lyrics, whereby Kurt would peg the lyrics to each track he had played on a line when he had finished. He didn’t seem to need the lyrics much, but perhaps without the full band to boost his confidence he needed a crutch of some kind. The washing line probably did that well, that and the total darkness.
The songs were not all new, many I recognised from previous Lambchop albums and it was great to hear them in an intimate setting. Sat as we were down the front, it felt like we were sat in Kurt’s basement listening to him play a few songs for himself before turning in for the night. He told a few stories too, and was happy to chat to the crowd, often inviting questions and fulfilling requests. For a Lambchop fan tonight was a real treat, and for anyone else this was much better than your average singer songwriter gig.
5 stars.
Lambchop Albums
Lambchop videos
Interview with Kurt Wagner
[youtube rKo6oX0twzs]
Kurt Wagner performing Is a Woman on another solo date
[youtube fVdpEHRWVMI]
Lambchop – Up With People
[youtube pbNVx9Y28rk]
X-press 2 feat Kurt Wagner – Give it
[youtube iUbvKEqyQ8k]
More Kurt Wagner
Lambchops official site features news and gig dates.
The Lambchop myspace also has news and tour dates, plus you can hear tracks of Kurt’s solo album, currently only available on the tour.