Jonathan Richman

I saw Boston singer/songwriter Jonathan Richman at Terminal West in Atlanta last night.  No pictures, because I was right in front of the stage and I know Jonathan is famously anti-technology and would disapprove of the audience playing with their phones during his performance. Instead, I stayed in the moment and just enjoyed the performance in the here and now. And clapped along at times. And sometimes sang ("O-ooo-older girl!").

It was the first live show that wasn't part of Big Ears that I've been to since the covids. It wasn't lingering fear of covids that kept me away as much as the fact that music has changed between 2019 and 2021, and I'm not so interested in going out to hear pop, or EDM, or hip-hop. Plus, at 70 years, even I can acknowledge that perhaps I'm too old for the clubs.   

But anyway, last night I went out to see Jonathan (who's my age or even a couple years older).  Driving to Terminal West, though, I remembered another one of the reasons I don't go out anymore.  Everything's a big deal nowadays and nothing's easy, even driving the couple of miles to Terminal West. 

I was driving south on Northside Drive, planning to turn west on 17th Street. But 17th was closed for some reason - big concrete barriers across the road and a police car with blue lights flashing parked on the other side of the barriers. No problem, I figured, I'll just turn west on 14th Street. But 14th Street was closed off, too. Surely, I can turn on 10th Street, I thought, but as you've probably already guessed, 10th was blocked off, too.

8th Street was my last chance to turn west before I proceeded further south past Terminal West, but not only was 8th Street closed, but further access on Northside was blocked, too. I was forced to turn east when I wanted to drive west, and then faced a series of right- and left-turn detours that eventually got me lost and totally confused on how to get to my destination.

And the traffic!  I wasn't the only one lost in the maze of detours, and the confused drivers were all crawling along at a snail's pace trying to figure where to turn next. Long story short, I finally worked my way around town to Terminal West but hardly by the route I had wanted to take, and had no idea why half of midtown Atlanta was blocked off to traffic.

But besides that, the show was great.  A Jonathan Richman performance in 2023 looks and feels just like a Jonathan show from 2018, or 2017, or 2008 for that matter.  Sure, there's new material and his songwriting and style continue to evolve, especially the incorporation of flamenco and Italian flourishes in his guitar, but the same sense of joy, innocence, and young love remain. I'm glad I went.

The roads were all open again when I drove home, and I got back before 10:00 pm (the show started at 8:00). 

Jonathan will play in New Orleans later this week, followed by a couple of nights in Austin, Texas. Then it's Madrid, New Mexico (never heard of it before) and finally a bunch of California dates for the rest of the year (he mentioned on stage last night that he's living in Cali these days).  Catch him if you can!