Paraphrasing the self-declared stoner folk musician Todd Snider during this one-off show at a sold-out Borderline he said ‘I might share some of my opinions with you over the course of the evening, I’m not gonna share them with you because I think I’m smart or because I think you need to know them, I’m gonna share them with you because they rhyme!’ And that’s exactly what he did over the span of a non-stop, frenetic 90 minutes!
Snider has built up a devoted and loyal following over the course of a long career that has seen him pay his dues in more ways than one! A hardscrabble and angry chronicler of what he sees as wrong in the world, in religion, in politics, in business, in the lives of the dispossessed and marginalized – nothing escapes his acerbic attention yet he delivers his material with so much humour that you never feel that you are being browbeaten into sharing his own point of view.
As soon as he walked on stage with acoustic guitar slung across his shoulder, a harmonica strapped around his neck, a pint of beer in his hand and a smile on his face he was greeted with the type of reception reminiscent of one extended to the return of a prodigal son.
With a vast back catalogue to draw upon he started by flicking through his back pages before playing some new songs from AGNOSTIC HYMNS AND STONER FABLES (March 6th release date) and then turned the evening over to requests. He was inundated with titles and joked ‘I’ll play all of them – it’s going to take a while!’ You could gauge from the requests he received that there were long standing fans in the crowd with Easy Money andDoublewide Blues from 90’s albums played alongside more recent material Stuck on the Corner (Prelude To A Heart Attack). Completing the set with Conservative Christian, Right Wing, Republican, Straight, White, American Males Snider wasn’t going to get away without an encore, despite being tight up against a curfew and closed the night with the appropriately titled Big Finish from the new album.
An extremely popular performer with great stage presence; his blue-collar credentials, his tell it like it is approach and self-deprecating style belies a fierce intelligence and I can see why he is so beloved by his legion of adoring fans. Love him or not – you simply can’t ignore him when he’s doing what he does! Jela Webb
(This review will appear in a forthcoming issue of Maverick – www.maverick-country.com)
Set List
Greencastle Blues – The Excitement Plan 2009
The Devil You Know – The Devil You Know 2006
The Ballad of the Kingsmen – East Nashville Skyline 2004
Forty Five Miles – Happy To Be Here 2000
Just Like Old Times – The Devil You Know 2006
Play A Train Song – East Nashville Skyline 2004
? new song
Too Soon To Tell – Agnostic Hymns and Stoner Fables 2012
Precious Little Miracles – Agnostic Hymns and Stoner Fables 2012
Beer Run – New Connection 2002
Age Like Wine – East Nashville Skyline 2004
Long Year – Happy To Be Here 2000
Doublewide Blues – Viva Satellite 1997
Lonely Girl – Happy To Be Here 2000
Statistician’s Blues – New Connection 2002
Easy Money – Songs For The Daily Planet 1994
Stuck On The Corner (Prelude To A Heart Attack) – Peace Queer 2008
Looking For A Job – The Devil You Know 2006
Conservative Christian, Right Wing, Republican, Straight, White, American Males – East Nashville Skyline 2004
Big Finish – Agnostic Hymns and Stoner Fables 2012
