Loudo at the Customs House 1999 by Terry Kelly

Here's a blast from the past: Terry's review of a Loudo show at the Customs House from 1999. It was the first Loudon show I'd seen up here where he seemed really relaxed and where he dealt expediently with the inevitable calls for the Acid Song from those fans whose familiarity with his material thinks it gives them some kind of God-given right to ruin the evening for the rest of us (and, on occasion - think of the Peterlee show and shudder) the great man himself. I also remember it well for my introduction to Martha Wainwright; to be honest, I thought she was awful. Caterwauling her way through a handful of numbers, it's hard to make a link between what I witnessed then and the singer she's (thankfully) matured into, although, to be fair, the harmony vocals she contributed to her dad's songs towards the end of the show were effective.

Anyhow, I'll hand you over to our resident poet, raconteur, real ale aficianado and spoiler of women: Terry Kelly!

SOUTH SHIELDS - The Customs House - Sunday 14th Nov '99
Concert review by Terry Kelly

A master of stagecraft, Loudon Wainwright lll provided a brilliant overview of his 30-year career for a capacity South Shields audience. A songwriting surgeon of dysfunctional families, it was perhaps fitting that Wainwright's daughter and sometime verbal and physical sparring partner, Martha, provided the support and later some harmony vocals for her illustrious dad.

Possessing the sort of razor-sharp wit and timing other singers can only dream about, the man once hilariously dubbed "the male Melanie" dipped into his extensive back catalogue for a wonderful 26-song set which brought rapturous applause from a crowd of Wainwright aficionados, who kept him on his toes with a series of requests and friendly heckles.

The opener, a new song called 'All About the Miles', set the tone for a concert during which the 53-year-old American singer-songwriter stretched both himself and his audience. After fluffing a line or two, the man affectionately known as 'Loudo' or 'Loud' to his die-hard fans admitted he was treating us as "guinea pigs" as he road-tested this new number about the dangers and delights of travel.

The more familiar chords of 'Be Careful There's a Baby in the House', from his 1971 second album on Atlantic followed, it's vision of domestic distress being a million miles from Mothercare, and never failing to raise a laugh: "Ah, the coochie coochie coo is a lotta pooh-pooh, when you spread it on that thick."

Loudo's anti-blues, 'I'm Alright', was followed by 'Tonya's Twirls', from his latest album of satirical songs, Social Studies (Hannibal/Rykodisc). Then came 'A Year', a moving, bitter-sweet tale about a man's failure to take responsibility for a new baby. This song seemed to push Wainwright's performance into top gear, a frantic version of 'Suddenly It's Christmas' being followed by the brilliantly delivered 'Conspiracies', a spoken poem from the new album, pitching Santa Claus against the Virgin Birth, before a full-throated rendition of the unaccompanied 'Between'. The moving childhood recollection of 'The Picture' evoked an attentive hush from the Customs House audience.

I'd waited more than 20 years to hear a live version of 'Prince Hal's Dirge', from his 1976 T Shirt album, so it was a spine-tingling moment when he moved to the piano and pounded out the opening chords. A definite highlight.

Loudon invited his daughter, Martha, back on stage for duets on 'Father/Daughter Dialogue', a new song, 'You Never Write, You Never Phone', 'School Days', a version of 'Come A Long Way', by Martha's mother and Loudon's ex-wife, Kate McGarrigle, and finally, 'Green Green Rocky Road'.

Martha safely offstage, her father launched into 'Hitting You', a powerful song about slapping his daughter after some heated verbals in a car. The close proximity of the target for Loudon's recollected anger made for some complex performance cross-currents.

The shouted requests produced great versions of 'Surfing Queen', 'I Eat Out', 'Hospital Lady', 'Rufus Is a Tit Man' and Loudo's moving new song about his late mother, 'White Winos.

He encored with 'A Father and A Son', 'Out of This World' and a clap-along version of his solitary 1972 hit, 'Dead Skunk', before we tumbled into the cold night, uplifted by yet another great Loudon Wainwright concert.

Song List:

1. All About the Miles
2. Be Careful There's A Baby in the House
3. I'm Alright
4. Tonya's Twirls
5. A Year
6. Suddenly It's Christmas
7. Conspiracies
8. Between
9. The Picture
10. The Doctor
11. T.S.D.H.A.V.
12. Prince Hal's Dirge
13. Father / Daughter Dialogue
14. You Never Write / You Never Phone
15. School Days
16. Come A Long Way
17. Green Green Rocky Road
18. Hitting You
19. Surfing Queen
20. White Winos
21. I Eat Out
22. Hospital Lady
23. Rufus Is a Tit Man
Encores:
24. A Father and A Son
25. Out of This World
26. Dead Skunk

Terry Kelly