About 300 people showed up at the Park West Friday night to see Graham Parker perform. I don't think anyone was disappointed with what they heard. Backed up by the Figgs (from upstate New York,) Graham and the band hammered out an hour-and-a-half of pure Parker. Wire thin and slightly gray, Parker showed that he had lost none of the musical vitality that enriched his first record in 1976.

Drawing on songs from all points of his career, Parker stood front and center and sang numerous classics, including "Fool's Gold" and "Soul on Ice." The Figgs played hard, fast and punky, pushing the Parkerilla to his limit much in the same fashion that his old band, the Rumour, used to do for him.

They also played several songs from Parker's new CD, "Acid Bubblegum," which fit right in the mix with his older stuff. Never at a loss for an interesting cover, Parker first encored with Prince's "Cream" and finally ended with Chuck Berry's "Around and Around." My hunch is they would have played more, but The Figgs didn't know any additional Parker songs well enough to do them justice. The pity was that Parker could have performed another hour's worth of favorites without depleting his fantastic songbook. Prediction: Catch this band in a month and you'll really have a wild night on your hands. (Mitch Myers)