Friday, January 11, 2013

Live: Graham Parker and The Rumour with The Figgs at The Society For Ethical Culture 12.1.12

I had forgotten about this show, initially owing to the high ticket price and having seen the first (albeit then-without Brinsley Schwartz and Andrew Bodnar) Rumour reunion show at the dear departed Lakeside Lounge. I also figured it would be without The Figgs, as Ian Hunter had been playing the shows previous. I was wrong on the second point, but was pleased to get an 11th hour call from Pete and score some guest list.

I rolled in and posted up front and center as America's Finest Rock BandTM launched into their aces but far too brief half-hour set. Said Society For Ethical Culture seemed an odd choice for either of the bands, what with its pewlike seating and high ceilings but the boys were in good form, hitting some of the high points of the most recent double record The Day Gravity Stopped, peppered with some choice deep cuts from the back catalog.

As the Figgs set drew towards its close and more and more tony people were escorted by ushers to positions around me, it became pretty obvious that I was occupying some real estate that was soon going to be awkwardly challenged, perhaps to the detriment of my future Figgs guest listdom. Upon investigation, I came to find that I was correct and not in the front row. In fact, I didn't even have a seat at all, as despite there being no general admission area, I was in possession of a standing ticket. Didn't make a lot of sense, but I managed to be unobtrusive for a pretty aces hour-plus set that went two encores and included a pretty comprehensive run through a gang of enthusiastically received Rumour classics. Not too many spring chickens in the audience (or on the stage for that matter) , but one hell of a good set. GP and The Rumour are featured prominently in the new Judd Apatow film. It's going to be very interesting to see what it does for the Rumour in 2013.

Check the set list below and check out the new Rumour record Three Chords Good.

R


  1. Encore:
  2. Encore 2:

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