When you pair up legendary songwriter Nick Lowe with the instrumental genius of Los Straitjackets, you get a pairing that is more enticing than peanut butter and chocolate. The two recently came together for a Spring tour of the East coast of the US which ended at Hartford Connecticut’s Infinity Music Hall and those in attendance were given one amazing performance! Music Madness Magazine was there to catch is all and bring it to you on our music news website.
Opening the show was solo folk/country artist Dawn Landes. Born in Kentucky, she moved to Brooklyn, NY which is where she cut her teeth in the music industry. Having released a handful of full-length releases since her debut in 2005, she had quite the catalog to draw upon. Ms. Landes has a voice that turned the crowd silent. Powerful and soulful, she had the audience in the palm of her hand. It’s not often that an opening act receives the respect that she was given!
Next was the moment everyone was waiting for. The legendary songwriter Nick Lowe, backed by Los Straitjackets, took the stage. They opened with Lowe’s “So It Goes” which the audience took great delight with. The band rifled through a number of Nick Lowe songs and then they performed the song “Tokyo Bay” which Lowe & Los Straitjackets recorded together. When they performed this song on Conan O’Brien’s television show and the audience was treated to an even more enthusiastic version than Conan’s audience was. After “Tokyo Bay”, Lowe left the stage and the instrumental genius of Los Straitjackets continued on with several instrumentals in the surf style that they’ve mastered.
You might think a surf instrumental band wearing lucha libre masks might be using shtick to entertain and cover up musical shortcomings but this is certainly not the case with instrumental genius Los Straitjackets! This band is made up of musicians who have made names for themselves either as solo artists or with other bands and their talents meld nicely. They have performed all over the US and Europe and are always well received wherever they play.
Lowe re-joined the band on stage and ripped through more Lowe songs including “Half a Boy and Half a Man” and “Cruel To Be Kind” and ended the set with a rousing version of “I Knew The Bride (When She Used To Rock & Roll)”. Los Straitjackets returned to the stage regaled in sport jackets looking like the outfit worn by the Joker in the 60’s version of Batman. They tore into the Neil Hefti theme of the original Batman and were joined on stage by opener Dawn Landes sporting a handmade Bat Girl mask while dancing around the musicians.
Anyone could see right through the lucha libre masks and see the joy the band had as they played and the audience responded in kind. Lowe rejoined them for a few more songs then once again, the stage was cleared and everyone thought the music was done. Surprisingly, Nick Lowe walked back on stage alone and performed a solo acoustic version Elvis Costello’s “Allison”. You could hear a pin drop as he delivered this iconic ballad in a way that only the legendary songwriter Nick Lowe could do. The emotions that it invoked ran deep and one audience member was overheard saying she was moved to the verge of tears.
Lowe and Los Straitjackets will be playing several shows apart in the US in May when they hit the UK together at the end of that month. Separately or together, Nick Lowe and Los Straitjackets are not to be missed.
http://nicklowe.com/tour-dates/
https://www.straitjackets.com/shows
Review and photos by Rich Russo
