I’d like to know how others felt about this, but Friday night’s solo concert with Bruce Hornsby at the Cascade Theatre seemed like a thrill ride on the Cyclone to me.
Wonderful. Sensational. But on the edge.
Part of it is Hornsby. He’s brilliant and irreverent and pretty fearless. He collects song requests from the audience and, typically, plays what the people want to hear. He banters quite a bit, too. He coughs after hearing a cough, mentions that a “cell phone geek” has been “outed” after a loud ring, and wonders if people might be walking out because the music has become too progressive. (I think they were just going to the bathroom.)
In other words, Hornsby’s a bit chippy. He’s a hoopster after all, and I bet he could talk some trash in his day. But this can be dangerous in Redding, where people will start shouting at a performer.
There was a lot of barking going on Friday at the Cascade and I was, of course, cringing. It almost seemed like there were some greased up audience members who thought they’d purchased tickets to George Thorogood and the Destroyers, not a solo piano concert by Bruce Hornsby.
My rule is it’s almost never cool to start yelling out comments during a concert like that. This isn’t a punk show or ZZ Top or Andrew Dice Clay.
Then again, let’s just call it like it is — a certain portion of just about any Redding audience will get hammered and not be very sophisticated. It might be a small percentage, but boy do they make their presence felt.
The majority of the audience was very warm and enthusiastic about Hornsby’s playing. It translated to a lot of spirited energy. At least it wasn’t a boring evening.
And, oh my gosh, does Hornsby ever deliver. Quite simply he’s one the greatest pianists I’ve ever heard — so spontaneous and creative as he pushes styles like jazz, stride, blues, Motown, pop and classical to their absolute limits.
He probably has to clear these same barriers every time he performs. Perhaps that’s the burden of being an excellent songwriter who scored some big hits back in the day. Tunes like “The Way It Is” and “Mandolin Rain” are outstanding songs, and Hornsby still performs them. But what many people don’t get is that his artistry has soared so far beyond the short window when those tunes were tracked. Let the man progress already. Listen and try to follow.
On Friday night after a woman requested “Every Little Kiss,” Hornsby mentioned that that tune is the one that really hasn’t aged well for him. At first he wasn’t going to play it. Then — perhaps thinking “Oh, what the hell, why not?” — he launched into a gorgeous version of it. Still sounded like a pretty nice tune to me.
But then, during the next song — a counter-point monster of a jazz piece — he vocally referenced some lines from “Every Little Kiss,” seeming to communicate that: “I wrote that other little ditty while passing the moon, but I’ve been to other galaxys and back. Can you hear that?”
Wow. It made the night for me.
So, it was a great show. But folks, don’t be afraid to shoosh your neighbor.
What do they say about football players who reach the end zone for a touchdown? Act like you’ve been there before.
