People still talk about the 1979 concert by
Graham Parker and the Rumour at Lisner Auditorium as one of the best rock shows ever to
hit Washington. Sunday night at the Bayou, Parker reunited with two-fifths of the
Rumour for another show people will be talking about
for years. Singing his best batch of new songs since 1979, Parker channeled all
of his old passion through far richer, far more controlled vocals.
When he sang his 1976 songs "Howlin' Wind" and "Fool's Gold,"
he came much closer to the stylish soul singers who had been his models than
he ever did on the original recordings.
Parker's rugged rhythm guitar was anchored by
Rumour bassist Andrew Bodnar's compact phrases; the songs' tension was heightened by
the terse fills from
Rumour guitarist Brinsley Schwarz and young organist James Hallawell.
The anger in new songs like "Success" and
"OK Hieronymus" was peppered with the sad irony in Parker's increasingly expressive voice. He
sang several unrecorded songs -- most notably the sharply political
"Double Poison" -- that indicated his best work may be yet to come.
- Geoffrey Himes
Reproduced with kind permission from Geoffrey Himes.
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