Concert Review
Todd Snider
March 16, 2013 @ SPACE
X
By Dave Miller
X
Todd Snider isn't shy about being a pothead. If anyone was in a weed-induced daze and didn't notice the two oversized, psychedelic-colored mushrooms that looked like leftover props from Alice in Wonderland sitting on the stage, then the handful of songs with marijuana references made it clear. Snider likes his pot. As far as appearances go, the shabbily-dressed, bearded singer-songwriter looked like someone selling mushrooms in the parking lot at a jam-band concert with his bare feet, loose brown pants, untucked denim shirt, broad-rimmed, brown hat with a feather stuck in its side, and wide, far-out eyes.
X
Get the picture?
X
Here's the deal, though. Snider took that image and flipped it with tight songwriting, sharp performance and quick wit. An old-fashioned Teleprompter known as a music stand stood near his side, but from my view near the back of the intimate listening room I didn't see him look at his notes once. Snider was on top of his game on a sold-out Saturday night, the first of a two-show stand, at SPACE in Evanston.
X
Snider performed solo with an acoustic guitar and harp. His guitar playing is nothing special and even he made fun out of his voice. "Let me get the frog out of my throat," he said early in the show. "It's only going to take two hours." His songs are the big attraction. They're expertly-crafted and filled with biting social observations and commentary, a stoner's let-live vibe and gallows humor. Add it up and it's lyric writing at a master level that pays off constantly. A song about the rat race, "Stuck on the Corner (Prelude to a Heart Attack)," elicited one of the night's biggest reactions. Its chorus:
X
I'm stuck on the corner of sanity and madness
I'm looking them over, I can't see a difference
We're making money out of paper
Making paper out of trees
We're making so much money we can hardly breathe
X
On "Ballad Of The Kingsmen," Snider made a point that you don't see coming on first listen. The song starts as a report on the Kingmen's indecipherable lyrics in "Louie Louie" before making the case that lyrics of a song don't make a person to commit murder.
X
The first of the night's two sets featured a pair of songs from Snider's well-received new album, Agnostic Hymns & Stoner Fables. The release looks at religion and dark times with an unflinching eye. For example, in "Too Soon To Tell":
X
They say that living well
Is the best revenge
I say bullshit
The best revenge is revenge
X
Snider sang about religion in "In The Beginning":
X
And ain't it a son of a bitch
To think that we would still need religion to keep
The poor from killing the rich
X
Snider's one misstep during an entertaining show that stretched close to two hours was a major one from this perspective, however. He inexplicably played just those two songs from the new album. It deserved a better airing.
XX X
The only other problem with the show had nothing to do with Snider, but with the audience. With St. Patrick's Day celebrations on this night, about a dozen drunk 20-somethings by the bar in the back corner of the room became a distraction. Their incessant loud talking and obnoxious yells grew worse as the night progressed to where they often drowned out Snider during his second set. The performer never acknowledged the situation. For awhile, I thought Snider was making a silent protest by not playing his crowd favorite "Beer Run," but the song finally appeared as the encore opener. Maybe that was due to a stoner's let-live philosophy. Snider brought it all back home by closing with the Grateful Dead's "High Time."
X
"It's taken a lot of discipline to keep my life as fucked up as it is," Snider said. That may be true, but he sure knows how to write songs and perform them.
X
The setlist:
X
Can't Complain
Is This Thing Working?
Too Soon To Tell
Ballad Of The Kingsmen
Greencastle Blues
In The Beginning
Statistician's Blues
The Devil You Know
Ballad Of The Devil's Backbone Tavern
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Conservative Christian, Right-Wing Republican, Straight, White, American Males
Stuck On The Corner (Prelude to a Heart Attack)
Tension
Easy Money
East Nashville Skyline
Hey Hey
Just Like Old Times
Alright Guy
Play A Train Song
Sideshow Blues
-----------------------
Beer Run
High Time
X
Start (first set): 9:08 p.m./Finish (first set): 9:57 p.m.
Start (second set): 10:19 p.m./Finish (second set): 11:13 p.m.
Totals: 21 songs, one hour 43 minutes
XX
X
Photo Gallery
Todd Snider
March 16, 2013 @ SPACE
Zo
Todd Snider
March 16, 2013 @ SPACE
X
Todd Snider
March 16, 2013 @ SPACE
X
By Dave Miller
X
Todd Snider isn't shy about being a pothead. If anyone was in a weed-induced daze and didn't notice the two oversized, psychedelic-colored mushrooms that looked like leftover props from Alice in Wonderland sitting on the stage, then the handful of songs with marijuana references made it clear. Snider likes his pot. As far as appearances go, the shabbily-dressed, bearded singer-songwriter looked like someone selling mushrooms in the parking lot at a jam-band concert with his bare feet, loose brown pants, untucked denim shirt, broad-rimmed, brown hat with a feather stuck in its side, and wide, far-out eyes.
X
Get the picture?
X
Here's the deal, though. Snider took that image and flipped it with tight songwriting, sharp performance and quick wit. An old-fashioned Teleprompter known as a music stand stood near his side, but from my view near the back of the intimate listening room I didn't see him look at his notes once. Snider was on top of his game on a sold-out Saturday night, the first of a two-show stand, at SPACE in Evanston.
X
Snider performed solo with an acoustic guitar and harp. His guitar playing is nothing special and even he made fun out of his voice. "Let me get the frog out of my throat," he said early in the show. "It's only going to take two hours." His songs are the big attraction. They're expertly-crafted and filled with biting social observations and commentary, a stoner's let-live vibe and gallows humor. Add it up and it's lyric writing at a master level that pays off constantly. A song about the rat race, "Stuck on the Corner (Prelude to a Heart Attack)," elicited one of the night's biggest reactions. Its chorus:
X
I'm stuck on the corner of sanity and madness
I'm looking them over, I can't see a difference
We're making money out of paper
Making paper out of trees
We're making so much money we can hardly breathe
X
On "Ballad Of The Kingsmen," Snider made a point that you don't see coming on first listen. The song starts as a report on the Kingmen's indecipherable lyrics in "Louie Louie" before making the case that lyrics of a song don't make a person to commit murder.
X
The first of the night's two sets featured a pair of songs from Snider's well-received new album, Agnostic Hymns & Stoner Fables. The release looks at religion and dark times with an unflinching eye. For example, in "Too Soon To Tell":
X
They say that living well
Is the best revenge
I say bullshit
The best revenge is revenge
X
Snider sang about religion in "In The Beginning":
X
And ain't it a son of a bitch
To think that we would still need religion to keep
The poor from killing the rich
X
Snider's one misstep during an entertaining show that stretched close to two hours was a major one from this perspective, however. He inexplicably played just those two songs from the new album. It deserved a better airing.
XX X
The only other problem with the show had nothing to do with Snider, but with the audience. With St. Patrick's Day celebrations on this night, about a dozen drunk 20-somethings by the bar in the back corner of the room became a distraction. Their incessant loud talking and obnoxious yells grew worse as the night progressed to where they often drowned out Snider during his second set. The performer never acknowledged the situation. For awhile, I thought Snider was making a silent protest by not playing his crowd favorite "Beer Run," but the song finally appeared as the encore opener. Maybe that was due to a stoner's let-live philosophy. Snider brought it all back home by closing with the Grateful Dead's "High Time."
X
"It's taken a lot of discipline to keep my life as fucked up as it is," Snider said. That may be true, but he sure knows how to write songs and perform them.
X
The setlist:
X
Can't Complain
Is This Thing Working?
Too Soon To Tell
Ballad Of The Kingsmen
Greencastle Blues
In The Beginning
Statistician's Blues
The Devil You Know
Ballad Of The Devil's Backbone Tavern
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Conservative Christian, Right-Wing Republican, Straight, White, American Males
Stuck On The Corner (Prelude to a Heart Attack)
Tension
Easy Money
East Nashville Skyline
Hey Hey
Just Like Old Times
Alright Guy
Play A Train Song
Sideshow Blues
-----------------------
Beer Run
High Time
X
Start (first set): 9:08 p.m./Finish (first set): 9:57 p.m.
Start (second set): 10:19 p.m./Finish (second set): 11:13 p.m.
Totals: 21 songs, one hour 43 minutes
XX
X
Photo Gallery
Todd Snider
March 16, 2013 @ SPACE
Zo
Todd Snider
March 16, 2013 @ SPACE
X
Todd Snider
March 16, 2013 @ SPACE
X
Photo Gallery
Todd Snider
March 16, 2013 @ SPACE
Zo
Todd Snider
March 16, 2013 @ SPACE
X
Todd Snider
March 16, 2013 @ SPACE
X
Todd Snider
March 16, 2013 @ SPACE
Zo
Todd Snider
March 16, 2013 @ SPACE
X
Todd Snider
March 16, 2013 @ SPACE
X
