CONCERT OVERLOAD: Concert #660 - Kinky Friedman at McCabe's Guitar Shop (December 7, 2012)

December 8, 2012

Concert #660 - Kinky Friedman at McCabe's Guitar Shop (December 7, 2012)

This was my third time to see Kinky Friedman live on stage and the experience only made me want for more. Kinky's formula works great for me. He takes one part storytelling and one part music which then he mixes for about 90 minutes and what comes out is far greater than the sum of its parts. Of course, humor is the foundation of most everything he does, yet he can be serious as well and when he is, he's dead serious.

The show started even before we got to our seats, with Kinky standing right there in the middle of the store, greeting everyone, shaking hands and asking for our names. What a classy thing to do!

Kinky Friedman greeting my friend Steve, as we were walking in

With an acoustic guitar hanging from his neck, a glass of tequila in his hand and a cigar in his mouth, Kinky started the show with his traditional toast for honor: "Here's to honor - get on 'er and stay on 'er". Kinky stuff indeed, yet everyone laughed real hard.

The musical portion of the set started with "Before All Hell Breaks Loose", an old gem whose opening line is "Time to resign from the human race" and things never slowed down from there.

Partial Set List

They Ain't Makin' Jews Like Jesus Anymore

Sold American

Gets Your Biscuits In The Oven And Your Buns In The Bed

Nashville Casualty And Life

The Ballad Of Kevin Barry (a song Kinky learned from Paul Robeson)

Ol' Ben Lucas (this turned into a hilarious sing-along)

Autograph (dedicated to the late Levon Helm)

Ride'm Jewboy (the one-song encore of the evening)

Kinky Friedman at McCabe's

There's something truly magic about Kinky's personality. Whether he talks or sings, he sucks you right in and keeps you there under his mesmerazing influence until the lights go back on. It's true that he reuses some of his best lines, yet they sound good every time one hears them. But there was plenty of funny new material as well: just before leaving Hamburg for his next stop in Paris, Kinky asked his German guide how far Paris was from Hamburg. The guide thought for a few seconds and replied "About a five-day march".

Kinky's humor is out there, seemingly made to offend people and peoples, with absolutely no reverence to political correctness or anything that's "proper" when it comes to sexual or ethnic topics. He has and probably will run again for the governorship of the State of Texas and I'm pretty sure that, while on the campaign trail, he will not be the same Kinky The Entertainer we saw Friday night at McCabe's.

No Kinky Friedman show is complete without the reading of a chapter from one of his newly published books. This time we heard "Tom Friedman - The Navigator", where Tom is a World War II veteran and, you guessed it right, Kinky's father. The chapter appears in "Heroes Of A Texas Childhood", a book currently at its fourth printing. I went home happily carrying an autographed copy of the book.

Kinky Friedman's autograph on my new book

A couple of times during the show, Kinky acknowledged Danny Hutton's presence in the room. That's Danny Hutton of Three Dog Night fame, of course.

Two bottles of Kinky's own brand of Man In Black tequila were auctioned off to support Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch, an animal shelter founded by Kinky himself. The two bottles, along with a few small items, fetched a grand total of $800.

Musician and writer Michael Simmons opened the show with a three-song set. The one I liked the best was "Bubbles In My Beer", originally recorded by Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys. I had no idea who Michael was, but now I know. To find out more about Michael Simmons and his association with the Kinkster, click on the link below which will take you to an exceptionally well-written post authored by Michael himself.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-simmons/kinky-friedman-texas-jewboys_b_2247353.html

Michael Simmons at McCabe's

Immediately following Michael and introduced as the "Mad Hungarian", Brian Molnar delivered an exceptionally good set that, at only four songs, was a bit too short. His melodic sense and mine were in perfect alignment and I loved his voice and phrasing, too. I will definitely keep an eye out for this deserving young musician.