Set lists: Nick Lowe, Ron Sexsmith

On 21 April, I saw Nick Lowe, and it was one of the best concerts I've ever seen. The man is so versatile. It was just him and his guitar, and yet he still managed to do awesome versions of various songs from his catalogue. Also, as many times as I've heard it, I have never felt "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace Love and Understanding" the way I did seeing him perform that acoustic version. Amazing.

As a bonus, this gave me a good reason to wear my "We finally nailed the Jesus of Cool" t-shirt. I don't actually need a special reason to wear it, as I rather love it, but it was cool to have one.

The opening act was Ron Sexsmith. Having seen Feist a couple nights before, I was kinda hoping he'd perform "Secret Heart," which she did after saying she was told he was in attendance. He didn't disappoint in that respect, so now I've heard two cool renditions of that tune within the last few nights. His music was quite good and I'm actually pretty interested in checking him out at some point.

Right, so, set lists. Here's Sexsmith's:
1. Former Glory
2. Cheap Hotel
3. Jazz at the Bookstore
4. Reason for Our Love
5. Where's My Everything (Nick Lowe's song)
6. Secret Heart
7. One Last Round
8. This Is How I Know
9. Lebanon, Tennessee
10. Just My Heart Talking
11. Strawberry Blonde
12. For a Moment

And Nick Lowe's:
1. People Change
2. Soulful Wind
3. When I Write the Book
4. What's Shakin' on the Hill
5. Long Limbed Girl
6. Lately I've Let Things Slide
7. Has She Got a Friend
8. All Men Are Liars
9. I Trained Her to Love Me
10. I Read a Lot (a new song accompanied by some amusing talk about two kinds of concert goers: those who hear new songs and think how genius the artist must be to have time to write yet another amazing song, and those who are wondering when the new material will end and the familiar stuff will come back.)
11. Cruel to Be Kind
12. Heart
13. Man That I've Become
14. I Live on a Battlefield
15. Hope for Us All
16. Without Love
17. Rome Wasn't Built in a Day
18. Shelley My Love
19. I Knew the Bride (When She Used to Rock and Roll)
20. (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding
Encore
21. Heart of the City
22. My Baby's Gone (with Ron Sexsmith ... they sounded so much like a modern version of The Everly Brothers on this. Good stuff.)
23. The Beast in Me
Encore 2
24. Seven Nights to Rock

And just to keep the Nick Lowe goodness going...
1) He's in my CD player right now.
2) My next concert will be Elvis Costello (obvious connection there - perhaps he'll be the next to give me a second version of a song I recently heard live? I actually doubt it but we'll see) with opening act Carlene Carter (the former Mrs. Lowe).

Not that I imagine Nick Lowe needs any validation, but if I hadn't been cemented as a full-on fanatic before tonight's show, I can confidently say that is the case now. I am on such a musical high that I want to ramble more, but I'll cut it off here, enjoy a bit more Lowe tunage, and then I suppose it's time to sleep and rejoin reality.

Jesus of Cool (30th Anniversary Edition) (Nick Lowe)

Jesus of Cool (retitled Pure Pop for Now People with a slightly altered track list in the United States) was Nick Lowe's 1978 debut album. Thirty years later, Yep Roc Records has remastered the album, including all tracks from both of its incarnations, as well as several bonus cuts, and issued it on CD.

The result? Musical rapture. This album is about as diverse as it is amazing, and it is hugely both. There's not a bad track on here. If that wasn't enough reason to enjoy the album, also included are great liner notes, both textually and pictorially. Still not cool enough for you? The case itself is also a work of art, folding out into a cross-shaped Nick Lowe with his guitar. The folks at Yep Roc really went all out with this one to ensure one amazing musical experience.

In summary: This is amazing. Highly recommended.

Tracks:
1. Music for Money
2. I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass
3. Little Hitler
4. Shake and Pop
5. Tonight
6. So It Goes
7. No Reason
8. 38 Inches High
9. Marie Provost
10. Nutted by Reality
11. Heart of the City (live)
12. Shake That Rat
13. I Love My Label
14. They Called It Rock
15. Born a Woman
16. Endless Sleep
17. Halfway to Paradise
18. Rollers Show
19. Cruel to Be Kind (original version)
20. Heart of the City
21. I Don't Want the Night to End