Randy Newman at the Sage, Gateshead

Modern classic ... Randy Newman

Published Date: 19 May 2010
By Terry Kelly

MASTER of irony Randy Newman specialises in writing about freaks of nature.

Running the gamut from racists to child killers, his songs have made him one of the most distinctive singer-songwriters of the last 40-odd years.

A packed house lapped up his darkly comic songs and his acidic introductions.

It's Money That I Love, his opening salvo, pretty much set the tone, Newman crumpling mankind's charitable instincts like tender flowers in his hand.

He plundered his huge back catalogue, including movie soundtracks and songs from his earliest to latest albums.

But when Newman took his foot off the irony pedal, the concert really took off.

He finished memorably with I Think It's Going to Rain Today – written, amazingly, when he was just 22 – and Feels Like Home.

Like many of his songs, Newman remains a modern classic.

http://www.shieldsgazette.com/livereview/Randy-Newman-The-Sage-Gateshead.6303619.jp