REVIEW: Jonathan Richman @ Middle East Upstairs 10/15

By Caroline Barry

Massachusetts-born Jonathan Richman was proud of his home back when he performed as the Modern Lovers throughout the 1970s and 1980s. That same enthusiasm shone through his performance last Monday, October 15, when he played the first of his four nights at the Middle East in Cambridge.

Native to Natick, Richman began his musical career as the founding member of the Modern Lovers, a band whose influence has stretched decades. The band’s original drummer, David Robinson, went on to form the Cars, and their keyboardist, Jerry Harrison, later performed as part of Talking Heads. “Pablo Picasso,” a witty song from their 1976 self-titled album that claims the famous painter was never rejected by women, was later covered by John Cale of the Velvet Underground, Iggy Pop, David Bowie, and many more.

However, their most well-known song, “Road Runner,” has a more personal sentiment for me. My father, who might claim his finest accomplishment in life to be granting his children with good taste in music, introduced me to the song as soon as I was born. In preschool, I proclaimed it my favorite song. The soundtrack of my childhood also included other Richman songs, like folky tracks “New England” and “Ice Cream Man.”

At his Cambridge show, he played most of the songs off his most recent solo album, SA. It was released on October 1. These songs were not like the peppy rock of the Modern Lovers, but rather more mellow and spiritual. According to the Bandcamp page for the album, “SA the root note in Indian ragas was what Ramakrishna, the much beloved mystic, told his spiritual students to search for underneath all things of this world.” He seemed to improvise many of the verses to his songs.

The song I was most excited to hear was his 1992 classic, “I Was Dancing in the Lesbian Bar” from his fourth solo album, I, Jonathan. The intimate audience danced and chanted the chorus: “Well the first bar things were alright / But in this bar, things were Friday night!”

While Richman has aged since his early days of rock shows, his love for music is still going strong. All of his songs were played on an acoustic guitar, accompanied by drummer Tommy Larkins (previously of bands Naked Prey and Giant Sand).

Oh, and Eugene Mirman (who plays Gene Belcher on Bob’s Burgers) was rumored to be in the audience. Talk about a night of legends.