BRUCE COCKBURN, 3/16/2007, Stuart's Opera House, Nelsonville, Ohio
After Loudon Wainwright III's excellent concert at Stuart's Opera House in Nelsonville, Ohio, on November 17, 2006, I stood in the emptied-out theatre with the Executive Director Tim Peacock and told him how I'd once heard Mountain Stage's Larry Groce introduce Bruce Cockburn by saying, "There's just a few people who can play here anytime they like 'cause we love them so much: Richard Thompson, Loudon Wainwright III and this man, Mr. Bruce Cockburn." Stuart's had hosted Richard the previous June, and after Loudon's fine show, it seemed a good idea to fantasize about Bruce coming to play there as well.
Stuart's is a three-story Victorian-era Opera House first opened in 1879, perched on one corner of the Nelsonville Public Square in northern Athens County, Ohio (see http://www.stuartsoperahouse.org/). Inside is a very intimate hall that seats 395 when it sells out like it did for this show, and with nine rows downstairs and eight in the balcony, there's not a bad seat in the house. The place has been reinvigorated over the last decade, Tim and his staff have really got it up and running well these days.
As an Athens resident, I really appreciate having world-famous first-class musicians playing shows just 12 miles away in Nelsonville, making it unnecessary to travel 70 miles to Columbus or farther to Cleveland, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and points beyond to see folks like Richard, Loudon and Bruce perform. I've now managed to attend 15 Stuart's Opera House shows, starting with Gillian Welch & David Rawlings in 2003 and including Steve Earle/Amy Rigby, Greg Brown/Pieta Brown with Bo Ramsey, The Sam Bush Band, Eliza Gilkyson/Tracy Grammer (in 2004), Fred Eaglesmith & The Flying Squirrels, Christine Lavin, Todd Snider, Tom Paxton with Anne Hills, The Tim O'Brien Band (2005), Lucinda Williams/Tim Easton, Richard Thompson/Natalia Zukerman, Loudon Wainwright III (2006), James McMurtry & The Heartless Bastards and now Bruce Cockburn (2007) (Past Events, 2003-present...with lots of great shows I've missed...appear at http://www.stuartsoperahouse.org/index.php?page=91).
When Tim announced the 3/16/2007 Bruce-at-Stuart's solo acoustic performance in January 2007, I could hardly believe it. I'm a pretty big fan of Bruce Cockburn's music (okay, he's my favorite musician, I'll admit), and I like to keep an eye on his tour dates...if he decides to play anywhere within, say, a three-hour drive, I like to know about it in case I can go. I'd already noticed that he was scheduled to perform a set for NPR's Mountain Stage on 3/18/2007 in Charleston WV, not too far from Athens OH, and had begun to wonder if he'd do a full show in one of the aforementioned nearby megalopolises, possibly requiring another long road trip. And now he was coming to nearby Nelsonville, so very close...what fantastic news!
So, long story short, the show finally came to pass on the last Friday night of the hot-then-cold 2007 Ohio winter, and it was...I can't find the proper superlative, so I'll have to start making new ones up...splendiphonous...magnifellent...gymendous. I got to sit in the second row, slightly left of center, watching Bruce do his thing through 20 amazing tunes. Black pants, black button-down shirt, black T-shirt, short white hair, no goatee...eyes closed in musical concentration much of the nearly two-hour performance. Here's what he played:
(Set 1:) World Of Wonders * Last Night Of The World * See You Tomorrow * Lovers In A Dangerous Time * Life Short Call Now * Beautiful Creatures * The End Of All Rivers * Wondering Where The Lions Are * (Set 2:) Elegy * Wait No More * Dust And Diesel * This Is Baghdad * Tell The Universe * Put It In Your Heart * If A Tree Falls * Mystery * (Encore 1:) King Kong Goes To Tallahassee * Peggy's Kitchen Wall * (Encore 2:) Pacing The Cage * Rouler Sa Bosse
"World Of Wonders" was the very song I'd been longing most to see live, having heard him do an awesome solo acoustic version on Mountain Stage a couple of years ago. When he opened the show with that beautiful song, I felt so happy, especially at the line, "I stand here dazzled with my heart in flames at this world of wonders...."
All six "Life Short Call Now" songs sounded very cool, especially the title cut which I think, done solo, seemed even more lovely and touching than on the CD. I love the chord progression, the way the verses dance around the V chord, before resolving into the chorus. As it ended, he repeated the opening chords of the song a few times while scat singing over them...really nice. "See You Tomorrow" oscillated between the intricate picking of the verses and the pulsing bass-driven groove of the choruses...I can understand how Bruce's term "folk disco" applies after hearing this solo version. "Beautiful Creatures" was appropriately heart-wrenching given its topic (disappearing species), as Bruce held long clear falsetto notes and sang real soulfully...man, he was in fine voice on this night. Such a strange chord progression and melody, with that aching minor IV chord, but as it becomes familiar I like it more, especially this way without the recorded version's string section.
Bruce rendered "Last Night Of The World" and "Lovers In A Dangerous Time" sincerely and vigorously, the latter ending especially propulsively. As for the mysterious "Speechless" instrumental, "The End Of All Rivers,"...what a knockout piece of musical exploration! Fantastic echo sounds cascading all over the room, Bruce rocking back and forth one leg to the other and back again with his eyes closed and fingers flying, and when he played the last lick it echoed seven times, receding into silence as he stood there done. Big applause, and then the people all sang heartily to the set-closing "Wondering Where The Lions Are," echoing the title in the chorus with no prompting from Bruce, who gave a big smile and, delivering an enthusiastic vocal improv ending, seemed to genuinely enjoy this great song he's played a couple bazillion times.
The whole first set was done on two Manzer acoustic guitars: one on six of the songs, the other just on "Life Short Call Now" and "Beautiful Creatures." To start the second set, "Elegy," "Wait No More" and "Dust And Diesel" were played on the silver Chrome Dobro. After the somber instrumental "Elegy," "Wait No More" featured more great singing, Bruce getting into it on lines like "Something explodes at the base of my spine and I cry-iy-iy..." and another great bass-line pulse. "Dust And Diesel" was a delightful treat...I'd never seen him play it before, and 1984's "Stealing Fire" was the album that first drew me into his music back when I got turned onto Bruce's music in the heart of the Reagan-years wilderness. He plays such a great chord progression while he's singing that great chorus: "Dust and diesel rise like incense from the road/Smoke of offering for the revolution morning."
Then Bruce reached for his Guild 12-string with the sunburst finish on the front. Remarkable how well it stayed in tune, which 12-strings often don't do. I love the solo acoustic 12-string version of "This Is Baghdad," heard on a September 2004 E-Town (NPR) program well before the CD version came out, and while I've gotten used to the CD version's cinematic orchestration, I still prefer his gorgeous solo rendition. The way he teaches himself an intricate little repeating fingerpicking pattern and then keeps it going while singing verses over it is just amazing, and the fingerpicking he uses on this song, with its delicate use of 12th-fret harmonics...just stunning musicianship. Plenty of audience cheers on the line "...the thing we forgot was a plan in case it didn't turn out quite like we thought." "Tell The Universe" was just as good, not as intricate on guitar but moving nonetheless. And then to see "Put It In Your Heart," his response to 9/11/2001, played live on that chiming 12-string with driving rhythm and high energy vocals as passionate as he's ever delivered, making it obvious how much he continues to believe in this song....breathtaking! Drew a big audience reaction.
The rest of the show featured the first Manzer 6-string he'd started the show with. "If A Tree Falls" really rocks, even without a band. The line about taking out creatures "at the rate of a species every single day" seemed quite heartfelt and poignant after the lament of "Beautiful Creatures." Strong chorus vocals...glorious soloing as the tune concluded. More big applause, then straight into "Mystery"...simple chords but played with such melodious fingerpicking that I felt as if in church, with spring light through stained glass brightening up the path to whatever lies ahead. Some of us stood right up just as he sang the last lines, "all you stumblers who believe love rules, stand up and let it shine," and others quickly got the idea, until most of the sellout crowd was standing and cheering as the second set ended.
Loud noise...the locals and the visiting travelers were all lovin' it. People knew this was no ordinary concert. On to the first encore with "King Kong Goes To Tallahassee," very smooth live. Bruce was playing the blues with licks as authentic as anybody's, but this instrumental also had his sophisticated and slightly jazzy chord voicings, letting you know it wasn't a typical straight-up 12-bar blues.
Then a wee bit of talk...he'd briefly mentioned a few things earlier like the Cuban gun-runner job he once almost took (introducing "See You Tomorrow"), his many road-related songs (introing "Life Short Call Now"), how his 1980s trips to Central America began a recurring traveling/writing theme in his life (introing "Dust And Diesel") and how a band jam led to the collective writing of "Tell The Universe." Now he explained how the subject of the next song had passed on "about a week and a half ago" so it seemed "appropriate" to play this again...and suddenly he was fingerpicking and rocking out to "Peggy's Kitchen Wall"...vocally ripping into lines like "Everybody wears a halo, never saw nothing at all," and then the boom of the first line of the chorus...and each time he got to the second "Who..." he backed off the mic and I heard several hundred audience-mates all singing "put that bullet hole in Peggy's kitchen wall" together, full throttle, like they meant it. More great "Stealing Fire" music. So glad he's doing this one again.
Departure, then a second encore, and he came out with the graceful reflection of "Pacing The Cage," his eyes scanning "bleached-out lands for the coming of the outbound train..." as the show approached it's finale...which turned out to be that lovely instrumental from 1974's "Salt, Sun And Time" that always sounds so inexplicably Canadian to me, "Rouler Sa Bosse." Naturally Bruce sang the horn part, as he's been doing since reviving it in recent years....lilting high vocals doubling his guitar licks...towards the end breaking down into lower notes and then building back up to a crescendo with a flurry of 32nd notes, a final ringing chord, big smiles and thanks, hands together and head bowed, and Bruce saying "Good night!" and waving to a very enthusiastic farewell wave of applause.
Heckuva deal. What more could I want, right? Well, I couldn't help myself...I went out to my vehicle to retrieve my own guitar and then went backstage. Someone introduced me to his road manager, and I asked if Bruce might sign my guitar, an acoustic Alvarez Yairi (shown on the cover of my "Homecoming" CD). So he comes out of the dressing room a few minutes later and I show him the guitar...tell him I play a lot of his tunes on it, especially when I play instrumentals at a Nelsonville restaurant, and I mention "Creation Dream" and "Bright Sky." Next thing I know, Bruce is tuning my guitar and then playing a bit of "Creation Dream" on it...just a few chords and licks, but I'm in heaven...says he likes the guitar, then signs his name with a Sharpie just below the bridge...signs a poster for the show ("God Bless! Bruce Cockburn"), a Rumours Of Glory songbook and a photo too, very graciously...accepts a couple of my CDs as a thank you...I wish him a nice trip to Charleston, where he says his bus is going very shortly, as it's about 11:30 p.m. already. I say "Safe Travels" as Bruce heads back towards his stuff...he says "Safe..." and I suggest "picking" and he smiles and is gone.
So on Bruce Cockburn's first visit to intimate little Stuart's Opera House he used four acoustic guitars and his voice to simply present a truly great concert, perhaps the best of the ten times I've seen him. Great singing (didn't miss a single lyric all night)...brilliant songwriting and composing...mindblowing acoustic guitar playing. He seems to be fully in his prime and as impressive an artist as ever, intent upon taking listeners on wondrous flights of musical fancy with songs that make you think, feel, laugh, cry...and grow. In both his music and his manner, I found Bruce so gentle, kind and tender, yet also so powerful, mystical and intense, all at once. I know he's just a person with issues, same as the rest of us, maybe just another thoughtful singer-songwriter with pretty good chops, but I still come away from seeing him feeling kind of lit up inside, less afraid, more hopeful, maybe even more conscious. Certainly even more amazed.
Hope some of you folks can come to see a Stuart's Opera House show in Nelsonville, Ohio someday. This venue feels as cozy and homey as a really large living room, one with enough space for a few hundred friends, and it seems to bring the best out of every artist I've seen there. Meanwhile, many blessings and happy trails to "all you stumblers who believe love rules."
