Review of Nils Lofgren at Eden Court’s Empire Theatre on Monday 16th November 2015.
It was a close to sold out Empire Theatre at Eden Court to welcome a genuine rock and roll legend. Nils Lofgren is a renowned showman – the trampoline and acrobatics might have gone with his original hip, but at age 64, playing the guitar with your teeth while tap-dancing is pretty impressive. And, with a career spanning 47 years, collaborations with the likes of Neil Young, Lou Reed and of course Bruce Springsteen he has a story or two to tell. He is also in many respects a survivor of a ‘classic’ rock and roll lifestyle and he was candid about his alcohol problems. While he admits to still occasionally hankering after a good gin it seems he now has a Haagen Dazs habit. All of this and a back-catalogue that had to be edited to populate a 10 disc retrospective meant that there would be no problem filling a two-hour slot.
it doesn’t sound in the least bit sparse, he has a box of tricks
A multi-instrumentalist and virtuoso guitarist, his voice has always been one of my favourites. Tonight he opens playing harp on ‘Too Many Miles’ before moving on through a set dominated by his acoustic Takemine guitars with a brief spell on keyboards. But, it doesn’t sound in the least bit sparse, he has a box of tricks including some looping tech and of course his backing band, the hugely talented Greg Varlotta. Greg takes to keyboards, guitar, backing vocals, trumpet and on ‘Mud in Your Eye’, a tap-dancing one-man rhythm section.
There was of course a tribute to Paris and all of those caught up in the terrible events there – playing ‘Why Me’ against a simple red and blue backdrop it was well received by the audience. I have a sense that that same event was the inspiration behind his second in a three-song encore, he delivered Keep On Rockin in the Free World with lyrics taped to the mic stand and some passion – good call. As mentioned above he tap-danced his way through ‘Dream Big’ and it wouldn’t have been a Lofgren set without his tribute to everyone’s favourite rock n roll pirate ‘Keith Don’t Go’ featuring an extended guitar break that drew generous applause.
the crowd hummed and sang along enjoying every minute
Lofgren is a musicians’ musician and received regular critical claim while real commercial success eluded him. Of his ‘almost big hits’ ‘No Mercy’ features, but he saved the best for last finishing the evening with ‘Shine Silently’. Dipping into his bag of tricks this had a full backing track that to me only just narrowly avoided being reduced to a full karaoke performance. But, it’s not just one of my favourite Nils Lofgren songs, it’s one of my all-time favourite songs and the crowd hummed and sang along enjoying every minute before responding with a standing ovation. Job done, the merch desk at the end was one of the busiest I have seen for a while with Nils being generous with his time ahead of an overnight trip to Aberdeen.
All the foyer chatter was about when folk had last saw him – ’73, ’76, ‘I saw him on the trampoline’, ‘The Old Grey Whistle test’ . . . and on. I saw him with The E Street Band and Springsteen in July 1988. I had been a fan of his solo work and it was great to see him on stage – he was recently inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (2014) for his work with The E Street Band, a well deserved accolade.
For the record, he promised he would be back next year and I’m guessing to more full houses, he really does seem to be held in some genuine affection. An accomplished raconteur his stories were every bit as engaging as his music; and you sense that he has a lot to say about his life and career. He passes the acid test; here is someone I’d love to be stuck next to on a long haul flight.
