Entertainment For Lively Minds
Willie Nile - an appreciation
I went down to the Village on Wexford Street the other night to catch the Dublin date on the Light of Day tour - a brief European tour featuring a bunch of American songwriters to raise money for Parkinson's research. The acts performing - Joe D'Urso, Jesse Malin, Marah and Willie Nile took turns to sing, with the others adding occasional vocal or guitar support.
The pubs and clubs of Dublin were packed on Saturday night but I'd say there wasn't much more than 100 people in the room for the gig. It was a pretty sad affair. Still the performers all put on a decent show and seemed to be in good form throughout. I don't really know much about Joe D'Urso but I've heard some of Jesse Malin's records and he makes a decent noise. I can say much the same for Marah too but the undoubted star of the night was Willie Nile.
I remember a few years ago one of his songs was on a Word cd and David Hepworth gave his record, Streets of New York, a glowing review but I only got around to buying it about 6 months ago. It's fantastic. It really is. And - better still - all the other songs he played the other night that weren't on that record were even better. He even played a new song that (obviously) nobody knew but by the end we were singing along as though we'd been listening to it for years.. I'd never seen that before. I mean, the others were fine but Willie Nile was head and shoulders above them.
At the end, they all came out and signed records and talked to us and really couldn't have been any nicer but I went away feeling that it's a shame that somebody as talented as Willie Nile is playing sets to an almost empty room and selling his records in person when, really, he should be filling big rooms and counting his cash. This morning I was looking at a clip of him singing Higher and Higher with his pal Bruce Springsteen in front of 20,000 people in Buffalo last month. I wonder does he ever wish it was him instead.
Perhaps he wouldn't have it any other way.
Anyway - if you get the change next time to see him, I thoroughly recommend it.
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Bedford - tonight
The very excellent East West Promotions (with whom I have no connetcion other than as a happy punter) are putting him on tonight on Bedford
http://www.entshed.com/
The venue is a splendid little hall on the side of a pub!
Appreciation seconded
I saw the London leg of the Light Of Day tour at the Half Moon in Putney last week, and the place was packed - so I'm sorry to hear that Dublin was poorly attended. (Mind you, it only takes about 100 people to fill the Half Moon.)
I agree that Willie is a star: Streets Of New York is the only album of his I've heard, so I was a little surprised at the political emphasis in some of the songs he showcased at the Half Moon, but they were excellent, and as catchy as you say.
I guess the problem for Willie (and Joe, and even Jesse to some extent) is precisely that they're not Bruce Springsteen. That is, they're rock-oriented singer-songwriters from the New York/New Jersey area who put on a damn good show and aren't afraid to wear their liberal credentials on their sleeves - and the world's already got one of those.
Personally, as a Springsteen fan who's never seen him play anywhere smaller than Wembley Arena, I welcome the opportunity to see people like Willie Nile and Joe D'Urso perform in the back room of a pub. It's a shame more people don't feel the same way.
Ah well, you know how it is.
musicians seem to expect that they’re somehow entitled to an audience.
Bastards
Just because they learn to play the guitar they seem to think people will listen to them. And all because of volume. You can't talk over them. And they try to write ther own crap songs instead of recycling the Beatles, who of course invented everything. I hate them.