Event: Jonathan Richman

Tour: Live! On Stage: Jonathan Richman Featuring Tommy Larkins on the Drums!

Musicians:
Jonathan Richman - vocals, acoustic guitar, and auxiliary percussion
Tommy Larkins - drums and percussion

Recording Date/Time: Wednesday, March 6, 2024 at 7:30 PM

Recording Location: Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center; Old Saybrook, CT, USA; Orchestra Center, Row C (main floor, 3rd row, dead center)

Source: MM-HLSC-3 (Sennheiser MKE-40 cardioids, croakie-mounted), +plug-in (phantom) power > Zoom H2 (MEDIUM gain setting)

Lineage: 24-bit/48 kHz WAV saved by Zoom H2 to Transcend SDHC 16GB card > Audacity v3.1.3 and v3.6.0 for editing > signed 24-bit PCM tracks (Audacity) > FLAC (8) encoding with Trader’s Little Helper v2.8.4.

No noise reduction or dynamic compression were applied to the musical segments. In the raw captures, audience applause segments were intrusive, being much louder than the music itself, so I chose to suppress them by 12 dB (-12dB) for greater listening comfort. Normalization of musical segments was not performed, as I felt that the sound levels in the raw WAV files were already acceptable. No errors occurred during or post-encoding.

Recorded and edited by @Mac2300


TRACK LISTING (mm:ss)
01 JR Spoken Intro (00:54)
02 Springtime in New York (05:31)
03 Let Her Go into the Darkness (07:25)
04 In Che Mondo Viviamo (03:48)
05 That Summer Feeling (06:15)
06 City Lights (04:01)
07 My Baby Love Love Loves Me (04:43)
08 Instrumental - Guitar in Orange Drums in Purple (05:55)
09 Sa Voix M'Attise (02:45)
10 New England (01:23)
11 Older Girl (04:32)
12 New Kind of Neighborhood (02:01)
13 The Fading of an Old World (04:04)
14 Shameless, Shameless (04:08)
15 Pablo Picasso (04:17)
16 When She is Walking Up the Street Towards Me (02:22)
17 Surrender (04:23)
18 Cold Pizza (06:42)
19 Affection (02:58)
20 O Mind! Let Us Go Home! (04:30)

Single Set, No Intermission.

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NOTES ON THE SHOW AND THE RECORDING: Before attending this show, I knew very little about Jonathan Richman beyond the fact that he wrote the hilarious song Pablo Picasso, known to me from the Burning Sensations cover on the Repo Man soundtrack (1984). And that he had founded a band called The Modern Lovers which included Jerry Harrison and David Robinson, who would later go on to greater fame in the Talking Heads and The Cars, respectively. My close friend of more than 30 years, "LP," had mentioned to me on several occasions how much he loved JR's music, and how much he was inspired by his artistic example. So when I saw that Richman was coming to The Kate in Old Saybrook (just an hour's drive each way for me), I bought a ticket.

In the few days before the concert, I listened to some of Jonathan's studio songs, taking my cue from setlists of his recent performances. I have to say that, given this sampling, I wasn't really blown away by the music, and the lyrics struck me as either simplistic or pretentious. So I was approaching the night of the show with some trepidation. I figured that the stealth recording I made might be of interest to my friend LP, but probably not to me. I could not have been more wrong.

From the very moment he glided/bounded onstage along with his stalwart, speechless drummer, Tommy Larkins, Richman had us in the palm of his hand. His ability to bond with and communicate with the audience was uncanny, as good as anyone I'd ever seen. His candor pulled you in, and his stories were ones which we all could identify with, even if only indirectly so. Example: "Tompkins Square Park, and the couple's just meeting. Say what you like, but I feel my heart beating..." (Springtime in New York). And then, as this couple follows their romantic arc all the way to the breakup, we hang onto the bittersweet story as if we were reliving it ourselves.

If I were to identify a potential quibble with JR's music, it would be the simplicity and interchangeability of the melodies. Both his guitar work and the chordal arrangements seem fairly basic at first glance, and could perhaps be exchanged between different songs. But upon further listening and reflection, although he is no Mark Knopfler, his guitar-playing is actually quite proficient, effective, and emotive. To me, Jonathan Richman's greatest strength is his ability to tell very human tales - quite frequently funny or ironic ones - conveyed in an exceedingly honest and believable way. His wide-eyed, childlike enthusiasm is real, not an act, and we are gladly pulled along by his storyline, interspersed as it is with various dance moves and percussion interludes.

After the artist had said goodbye to a warmly-cheering, rapturous crowd, I texted LP: "Jonathan Richman is fantastic! I think I finally saw what you see in him." And then, just a few days ago: "I really loved this show and his performance." The warm memories will stay with me for a long, long time. JR prohibited photography/videography of any kind, but I did grab a couple of shots of his stage setup prior to the performance (see included photos).

I listened to this recording multiple times on the big stereo at high volume, and I feel that it ably captured what the rest of the audience and I experienced in small, cozy venue.

Included below is a local press release announcing and previewing Jonathan's show at The Kate. Also provided is a near-contemporary review of a September 2024 Jonathan Richman/Tommy Larkins concert in Colorado, which accurately describes the performance, mood and vibe that I experienced in Connecticut as well.

The major intention of sharing this recording is to increase interest in attendance of the artists' live shows. Please support them by buying live concert tickets, official recordings, and other band-related merchandise. Also, please support this gem of a venue, called "The Kate" by those familiar with it. Concerts there are a blast, with excellent acoustics and an intimate feel.

Share this music widely, but never sell it. Please do not convert to lossy formats except for personal use.

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INDIE TROUBADOR JONATHAN RICHMAN RETURNS TO THE KATE MARCH 6
Press release

Nancy Sasso Janis, Community Contributor
Patch.com - Madison, CT
Thursday, February 22, 2024

OLD SAYBROOK, CT - The Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, “the Kate”, presents Jonathan Richman and Tommy Larkins on Wednesday, March 6, 2024 at 7:30 pm.

Jonathan Richman has been playing music, recording and touring for most of his life. Originally from Natick, MA, in the early 1970’s he formed the influential proto-punk band the Modern Lovers in Boston. Since then, he’s performed mostly as a solo act with some backing, often with his drummer of twenty-five years Tommy Larkins. In late 2018, he streamed his new release “SA” that was co-produced by Richman, former Modern Lovers member Jerry Harrison, and Nicole Montalbano. He and Larkins win fans wherever they play and even appeared together as a two-man Greek chorus in the Farrelly Brothers’ film “There’s Something About Mary” starring Ben Stiller and Cameron Diaz. Larkins, who was in the groups Naked Prey, Giant Sand and others popular in Arizona, also plays on “SA.”

For more information or to purchase tickets, please visit www.thekate.org or call 860-510-0453.

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Jonathan Richman at the Bluebird Theater in Denver, CO on 09/29/24 – Show Review
By Brett Garske on October 3, 2024
www.brettgarskewrites.com

“I’m the reason that you are in Hell,” proclaimed Jonathan Richman to the sweltering audience during his song Let Her Go Into The Darkness. The music legend admitted that he asked the venue to refrain from turning on the air conditioning, claiming that it interfered with the sound quality on the unusually warm autumn day. Richman also insisted that there be no photography, keeping the focus purely on the music.

Richman, front man of The Modern Lovers, was a pioneer of punk, new wave, and alternative before those genres even had those names. His music is haunting, romantic, and humorous. After the Modern Lovers disbanded, keyboardist Jerry Harrison joined The Talking Heads and drummer David Robinson became a member of The Cars (both bands were later inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame). Richman was further immortalized in the 1998 comedy There’s Something About Mary, where he famously sang plot summaries as part of the film’s narrative.

There was no opening act. It was just Jonathan Richman playing acoustic guitar (along with sleigh bells and cowbells) and drummer Tommy Larkins who also appeared beside him in Something About Mary. The minimalist stage setup left plenty of room for Richman to showcase his dancing.

Appearing in a yellow jacket, the seventy-three-year-old Richman beamed at the crowd with wide-eyed enthusiasm. Larkins, with his shaggy haircut, sunglasses, and a dark jacket looked every bit the rock drummer. The audience was a mix of younger and older fans. The AARP members mysteriously found folding chairs in the mostly standing-room-only venue. Some fans dressed as various versions of Richman throughout his career including his famous French Sailor shirt.

Early on in the set, Richman performed Pablo Picasso from the original Modern Lovers’ debut album. The crowd eagerly sang along to the iconic lyrics, “Some people try to pick up girls and get called assholes/This never happened to Pablo Picasso/He could walk down your street and girls could not resist to stare, and so/Pablo Picasso was never called an asshole.”

The humor continued with Shameless, Shameless, which Richman introduced by declaring, “Only half of this tune is funny.” He then sang about people committing theft while stealing/playing Santana’s One Como Va at the same time. The irony was not lost on the audience, who laughed along.

Throughout the evening, Richman’s flamenco-inspired guitar playing blended effortlessly with his romantic Italian songs, and his spontaneous dance breaks charmed the crowd. One of the highlights of the night was his performance of I Was Dancing In The Lesbian Bar, from his 1992 French Sailor shirt wearing period. After setting his guitar down to show off his mambo dancing complete with fancy leg swings, Richman led the audience in singing the infectious chorus, “In the first bar folks were drinking sips/But in this bar they could shake their hips.” The crowd’s enthusiastic participation delighted Richman, who extended the song, reveling in the interaction.

As the set wound down, Richman performed Cold Pizza, seamlessly switching between English, Italian and Spanish. The show, clocking in at just over an hour, left the crowd wanting more. I had no complaints being home by 9:00.

See you at the next show. Ill be the one breaking out in a slow mambo.

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Images for all shows as well as full size images for this show.

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