By: David Rachac
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Martin Devaney with Jake Hyer - Photo by David de Young (click for larger)
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A Saturday night at the Turf Club is always a good time, but then you throw Martin Devaney celebrating the release of his new CD Letters Never Sent on top of that, and then you throw Big Trouble and Mike Gunther and His Restless Souls warming up the crowd on top of THAT; pretty soon, you are asking yourself, “Can it get any better than this?”
The short answer – probably not.
Big Trouble was a fun band to watch, especially to see the look of amusement on bassist Twinkie Jiggles’ face as he fought to keep the groove train from falling completely off the track. You can tell that these long-time Heiruspecs bandmates really enjoy playing in each other’s company.
Gunther and the Souls brought their old-time revival show to life (although I am not always sure which side of sin and salvation Gunther comes down on – which I like), complete with a half-dozen or so fans dressed very similarly to the Souls’ 50s-era attire.
Devaney took the stage in his usual unassuming way, joined by the guys from Big Trouble (Jiggles, guitarist Josh Peterson and drummer Peter Leggett) for the Tex-Mex shuffle of “An Open Letter.” Jake Hyer of The Get Up Johns joined them after that, adding violin and harmony vocals on the Dylanesque “Drought,” as well as “Theme For An Anonymous Waitress” off of 2004’s La Mancha. Hyer was also featured in the unreleased “Great Expectations,” laying down an extended violin solo before leaving the stage for a short break.
Much in the same way that Letters deviates from the pure poppiness of La Mancha, Devaney seemed to strive for more of an earthy, organic sound than usual. He still pulled from Dylan for inspiration, but also included shades of other classic-rock contemporaries, including the Slowhand-era Clapton on “Almost Alone,” as well as pinching the melody of Tom Petty’s “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” for “On Learning To Love.”
But to prove that he wasn’t stuck in '70s rock, he brought Steve McPherson onstage to play guitar. Devaney led the crew on a spirited (but not always accurate) cover of Michael Jackson’s “Man In The Mirror,” showing an ebullient side of Devaney that included just about everything short of scissor-kicks, which most of the crowd really seemed to enjoy.
The latter half of the show saw Devaney pull several songs from earlier albums, including throwing down a mean harmonica solo on “Nobody Writes Letters Any More,” before reaching into his bag of covers again, this time with Prince’s “I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man,” which had the same level of over-the-top enthusiasm as the Jackson cover.
If he had ended the night there, I think everyone would have been pretty satisfied, but Devaney came back and played seven additional songs, all requests, for the faithful in front of the stage. I guess if I was the requester of one of the songs, I would have been really happy, but as the clock lurched towards 2:00, I was hoping that he would just call it a night. I gained a stronger appreciation of the adage “Always leave them wanting more” – but for the people in front, Devaney gave them everything they wanted.
Set List:
An Open Letter
Drought
Theme For An Anonymous Waitress
Five Day Affair
Great Expectations
Flowers On The Doorstep
Impressions
Almost Alone
On Learning To Love
Man In The Mirror (Michael Jackson cover)
Is That You?
September
Nobody Writes Letters Any More
Blessing And The Blame
I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man (Prince cover)
Encore: Various Requests
Location Info:
The Turf Club
Artist Info: Big Trouble, Martin Devaney, Mike Gunther
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