Saturday, August 19, 2006

Concert Review: Todd Snider / Chris Knight / Jon Christopher Davis

Oak Point Ampitheater hosts KHYI- The Range's Shiner Summer Nights series

By Mike Orren

PLANO — I'm an in-town guy, rarely going north of LBJ without checking my passport. But such is my mania for Todd Snider that I made the trek to Plano, on a motorscooter, in both 104-degree heat and rain to catch him at the first week of KHYI the Range's Shiner Summer Nights concert series.

As Range DJ and songwriter Dallas Wayne pointed out every time he took the mic, the evening was billed as a songwriter's night -- all the show promotion said "Chris Knight and Todd Snider," so even though I suspected Todd would headline, I made sure I arrived before the 7 PM start time. That's when I found out that not only was Todd headlining, but that Jon Christopher Davis would be leading off.

Jon was the perfect match as an opener for Todd -- he's a witty (without being silly) songwriter, who is used to playing with a full band and brings that kind of energy to the stage solo acoustic. Considering that he was unbilled and playing as the crowd gathered, he remarkably had the full attention of the crowd. I particularly enjoyed "Baby Looks Good on You," an ode to his wife during her pregnancy. Lines like "You look as good as the night we got you this way" reminded me of a less tongue-in-cheek Robbie Fulks.

Chris Knight, although immensely talented, felt like a bit of a speedbump in the evening to me. He's a little darker and more brooding lyrically, coming across like Drive By Truckers' Patterson Hood if he was from Nashville instead of Athens, Georgia. I personally prefer my darkness spiked with some electric guitar, so I found myself fidgety through much of his set. Folks in the crowd more familiar with his work were singing right along though, and a fair number of them left after his set.

I did perk up when Chris seemed to be having fun with his wry finale, a rarely-played tune about a guy bringing a knife to a barroom gunfight. It was apparently a special request from Range station manager Josh Jones -- accompanied by a $20 bribe -- and was a nice segue into Todd's set.

If you're a Todd Snider fan, you know what to expect: Funny, poignant and pointed (sometimes all in one number) songwriting; laid back and yet energetic delivery; and "stories that sometimes go on for as long as eighteen minutes between songs." Todd is one of the few artists I like as well solo acoustic as with a full band, and this was as good as any show of his I've seen. (Didn't hurt that he started with my favorite song, "Can't Complain." He seemed more relaxed and self-assured than the last time I saw him, although there was some distraction in the set as he'd obviously been told it was a "family night," and he stumbled occasionally trying to find substitutes for the odd expletive here and there.

The songs from the new album, The Devil You Know played well, particularly "Carla" and "If Tomorrow Never Comes."

I was surprised that "You Got Away With It," Todd's ode to a certain fratboy-cum-president didn't make the list, but perhaps that and "CCRWRSWAM" get dropped when he hits the Red states.

"If Tomorrow Never Comes" came wrapped up with a great story about the songwriting controversy over "Beer Run," the one song that a Range crowd was most likely to know -- and were calling for throughout the show and with a chant at the end. (See related blog post.) Todd didn't oblige with a Beer Run encore, instead coming back with his long cover of "Enjoy Yourself." I'd seen that before, and would have rather heard something else, but as a longtime Todd Fan, I knew what the crowd didn't: Todd plays what turns him on at the time, and you should be glad of what you get. I hope the folks I heard muttering about him not coming back for "Beer Run," will bounce back and dig deeper into Todd's catalog.

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Mike Orren Staff

Here's a nice recent article on Todd: http://www.oregonlive.com/printer/pri...

2 years, 1 month ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )