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September 08, 2005
Jill Sobule at Largo 9/7/05
In trying to get friends to see last night's Jill Sobule show at Largo, I personally guaranteed she would be charming and hilarious and play great music. Although my proselytizing earned her no new converts, I went to the show myself and she didn't disappoint on any of the 3.
Playing a mix of old and new (Underdog Victorious and newer) songs on both her funny little guitar and a mandolin (an instrument that she admitted she "knew nothing about" and had bought only 3 days earlier), accompanied at times by her opening act Goldenboy playing bass, piano and drums, Sobule left the small but appreciative crowd satisfied and well entertained.
The highlights were the new songs, mostly because her backup musicians had actually rehearsed those songs and the fuller sound let Jill loosen the reins a little more. However, it was still the kind of show where an audience member could call out a request for an old, obscure song, and Jill could then spend a couple minutes with the band trying to remember the chords, then singing it (very well) with that same audience member holding up her laptop computer with the lyrics for her to read.
Largo is an intimate (read: tiny) venue, perfect for a performer as charming as Jill Sobule, who spoke freely with the audience about times Paula Cole was bitchy to her, her love for the show The Comeback, and her addiction to Christian Right-wing talk radio.
Finally, knowing Jill's liberal leanings, I went in expecting some amusing commentary on the administration's failings in New Orleans. But I didn't think she would already have a brilliant satirical song written about it. She did. Playing an upbeat hoe-down beat on her mandolin, she sang "High Five" -- a song in which George Bush commends his people on the great job they're doing. "Good job, Brownie. Hey buddy, high five." Truly hilarious, with lines about the soldiers who sacrificed their lives in Iraq and their mothers who appreciated his private vacation time, and a line about sharing a drink on Trent Lott's new porch. It was so good, the crowd asked to hear it again later in the show (though Jill would only do it again if people danced the hoe-down jig she invented to go along with it).
And after all the funny and satirical songs, she closed out the night perfectly with the emotionally powerful Somewhere in New Mexico.
Charming. Hilarious. And great music. Tremendous show.
Posted by JoshHornik at September 8, 2005 01:50 PM