Live Review

Loudon Wainwright III – Liverpool Philharmonic Hall

• 26th May 2011

Grammy award winner, actor, humorist and veteran of a forty year music career. Loudon Wainwright III seems to be getting better with age. His solo show consists primarily of a solitary acoustic guitar and vocal. His minimal arrangements held together by brutally honest, funny and heartfelt autobiographical lyrics.

Comedy is a difficult thing to master in song. Too often the singer-songwriter genre can lapse into self pity or even self indulgence. We’ve all heard variations on the common themes – soul searching songs, love songs, protest songs etc. but why is it that humour so rarely enters the equation? With respectful nods to Randy Newman (Short People) and Bob Dylan (Talkin World War 3 Blues) who have each had their moments, Loudon Wainwright III may very well be the master when it comes to making us giggle with a song.
With his declaration that “I was in control baby I was so relaxed/I found myself my dental floss, my favourite kind – unwaxed” on the absurd blues workout ‘I’m Alright’ or with his between song assurances that his new album ’10 Songs For the New Depression’ is “An attempt to cash in on the recession” Wainwright keeps us laughing all night long. However, as entertaining and engaging as this playfulness is, it isn’t where Wainwright’s true talent lies. Pathos is Loudon’s secret weapon. He’ll have the room roaring with laughter one minute only to drop a lyric that hushes the audience into quiet reflection the next. The best example of this tonight is on the sublime piano ballad ‘Another Song In C’. “I’m playing piano at the Philharmonic Hall!” Wainwright exclaims gleefully as he moves over to stage right.
The first few lines get the requisite laughs in the right places.

“Here’s another song in C
When I play piano it’s my key
If I was playing my guitar
I’d probably be in G the chances are
But here’s another song in C
With my favourite protagonist – me”

Then the song turns darker as Wainwright retells a heartfelt tale of family disintegration and regret.

“There used to be a family
Brothers sisters father mother and me
We were living in a little home
We were fending off the great unknown
But the great unknown it got inside
What had been whole it did divide
In the end the father had to leave
When he did the mother had to grieve
That’s the time real troubles start
It’s when a world can fall apart
And there not a thing I can do
Except to sing in C to you”

It is this delicate balance between light and shade that Loudon does incredibly well. He treads the line of comedy and tragedy so subtly that the audience genuinely doesn’t know what to expect next.
Loudon is then joined on stage by his daughter Lucy Wainwright Roche for duets of ‘Beautiful’ from ‘High Wide and Handsome’ and a delightful cover of ‘Love Hurts’.
During the encore the feisty Liverpool audience fire requests at the stage. When asked “Where’s the ukulele Loudon?” He quips “I didn’t bring it, it was too heavy! I brought the piano, what more do you want!”
Whether he’s musing on the alcoholic beverages served in heaven, or recalling the destruction of his old red guitar. Catharsis never sounded so good. Come back soon Loudon!