Friday evening found me at The FItzgerald Theater in St. Paul, Minn., for an evening of “A Prairie Home Companion,” you know, Garrison Keillor’s public radio program that airs live around the country. Lake Wobegon? A Hollywood movie of the same title was made several years ago starring Keillor, Merrill Streep and several other big name actors. Does any of this ring a bell?
Anyway, we sat in the first balcony and watched Keillor (who must be 65 by now, but looks only 45 from a distance) do his show with his posse of musicians, actors and others. The show is highly entertaining in and of itself. From one word guy to another, Keillor still has it goin’ on with the writing and story telling.
But the highlight of the evening was hearing the music of Nick Lowe. Lowe, if you don’t know, is a musician, singer, songwriter from London and has written some very memorable tunes…stuff like “Cruel to be Kind,” and “What’s So Funny ‘Bout Peace, Love and Understanding.” While these songs left a mark on the music world, the best news is this: Lowe still has all the talent from back in the day and then some. On Friday evening he performed, masterfully, “The Beast in Me,” a song he originally wrote for Johnny Cash. He also sang, “I Read A Lot,” and “When I Write the Book.” His voice, the lyrics and the performance won’t be forgotten by this Guy Noir. (Oh come on! Google Garrison Keillor and you’ll get it.)
Here’s Lowe with Elvis Costello singing “What’s So Funny…” together a few years ago.
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