Sparks To Fly When Graham Parker Meets McCabe’s Saturday

By Tomm Carroll
Music Critic

“There’s no bar here, is there?” asked Graham Parker when he made his debut at McCabe’s Guitar Shop in Santa Monica two years ago. He also extolled the brilliant idea of putting on shows in a guitar shop. It was obvious that the veteran British singer-songwriter had never performed at this intimate showcase before. And he went on to make the experience as special for the packed house of his loyal fans as it was for him.

Parker was obviously impressed with the venue; he returns there for a single show, at 8:00 p.m., Saturday night, July 30, as part of a brief West Coast tour. He’ll be performing with only one sideman, Mike Gent, despite the fact that his latest album, the recently released Songs of No Consequence (Bloodshot), finds him fronting his longtime support – and sometimes backing – band, The Figgs (of which Gent is a member).

The new album represents a return to form for the onetime angry young rocker (whose last release was a C&W-style excursion called Your Country); it’s a collection of all-new, assertive and acerbic tunes -- nearly every one an upbeat romp/rant. Take the frequently heard lament, “There's Nothing on the Radio,” in which Parker righteously snarls:

There's nothing on the radio, a nail file and a lipstick tube.
There's something by Mickey Most, and a right-wing talk show host.
The future looks like toast, we better just burn it.

Other barbed missiles he fires off on Consequence include such memorable titles as “Bad Chardonnay,” “Dislocated Life,” “Suck ‘n’ Blow” and the inevitable question, “Did Everyone Just Get Old?” At McCabe’s on Saturday, you can expect to hear stripped down versions of those songs, as well as some classics from Parker’s extensive repertoire, including “Howlin’ Wind,” “White Honey,” “Mercury Poisoning,” “Start a Fire” and “You Can’t Be Too Strong,” the latter from his best album, Squeezing Out Sparks.

And as he’s a rabid music fan himself, parker can always be counted on to dig up an unlikely but expertly executed cover tune or two to slip into his set. Last time at McCabe’s, he included a respectful arrangement of Jerry Garcia’s “Sugaree” and a rave-up of the Wilson Pickett staple “The Midnight Hour.” This Saturday’s show should prove just as surprising – and just as satisfying.