I picked up some last minute tix to see Taylor Hicks perform Friday night in a beautiful theater in Concord NH. I had no idea Concord was such a small town–it reminded me of the fictional New Hampshire town Grace Metalious wrote about in her scandalous pulp novel, Peyton Place. But, don’t ever say that to anyone who lives there–apparently that book is a sore subject for the live-free-or-die set.
The venue was intimate, and I was right up close. Unfortunately, my camera was confiscated as I came through the door. What’s up with that? The venue reps insisted that the orders came from Taylor, which seemed strange to me, because he normally allows fans to take pictures. I had three separate people tell me that, by the way. Odd. This picture is courtesy of J Frazier, who snapped it at a recent Portland, ME concert. He wore the same T-shirt at both shows, so lets pretend it’s Concord, shall we?
I attended the Taylor show in Cohasset, MA on his last swing through New England. I have to say, that show was my favorite of the four I’ve seen so far. Cohasset was at the beginning of the tour’s summer leg, and Taylor and the band were full of energy. It was a fast-paced, intense show, and I’m glad I was able to capture it with my camera. (check out my videos here) In contrast to the Spring tour, Taylor seemed less concerned with promoting the record. He performed nearly ALL of “Under the Radar,” and all the self-penned songs from his major label debut. There were some fine covers–particularly the Who’s “Going Mobile,” and Elton’s John’s “Take me to the Pilot”–the concert’s show-ending barn burner. He stretched familiar tunes out into intense jams that went on over 10 minutes at times. Pretty awesome.
Saturday night’s concert in NH had me working initially to get over the fact that my camera was taken away. Once I dealt with that, I was able to settle in and enjoy the show. He opened with “Give Me the Night” and closed with an unexpected cover–Dan Fogleberg’s “Same Olde Lang Syne” which was lovely, despite being a bit outside his vocal range. This concert had more quiet moments. He performed the best song off his debut album “The Right Place” beautifully, though I wish he hadn’t asked the audience to sing along. Heh. I was really happy when he launched into Paul Pena’s “Gonna Move” which is absolutely my favorite Hicks cover. Familiar Hicks tunes like “Heaven Knows,” “The Maze” and “Soul Thing” were all turned into funky jams, punctuated by Taylor’s harp playing and penchant for tagging bits and pieces of songs in the middle. The last song before the encore,”Runaround” turned into a rousing “When the Saints Go Marching In.” Good Stuff.
His live show is fabulous. The tour ends in September, at which time he says he’ll be planning his next album. So far, it seems that Taylor has not broadened his fan base beyond his initial Idol base. I say forget Adult Contemporary and go for Adult Alternative with the next album. There’s no doubt in my mind Taylor could gain a broader fan base with the right material.
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MJ, thanks for the review. I just went to my final Taylor concert of this tour last night in Toms River. It was fun but obviously designed with the American Idol audience they thought might attend in mind - since it was held at a large arena on the grounds of Toms River North High School. My favorite Taylor concert was at the HOB in Atlantic City - GREAT live music.
But - I did get a Meet and Great last night!
Haven’t left a comment in a long time but wanted to explain The Right Place interaction with the audience so other early readers will see it.
At the Portland show when Taylor started TRP he heard some audience members sing out the second line. He stopped and with a big grin asked where it came from, there is a full explanation of what happened next on the NESP site but suffice it to say a person in the second row was ID’d with a little help from her friends.
Taylor asked her if she wanted to do the next line and when she shook her head no he encouraged the audience to do so.
Taylor knew that quite a few people from the Portland show were also in Concord, in fact we made up most of the second row again, so that was the reason for him starting off TRP the way he did. It probably did seem odd to others but it was a fun and generous gesture on Taylor’s part and we appreciated it very much.
MJ we were all upset when we heard about your camera as we know what great photos and video you take. It is really too bad that you didn’t do the Portland show because the Merrill Auditorium was the most relaxed, audience friendly venue I’ve experienced with the added bonus of incredible acoustics. You would have loved it.
I had the great pleasure of seeing Taylor in concord as well! Did you stay after to meet him near the buses?
I knew about them not allowing cameras, but I snuck pictures in anyway ;-) I saw a few people in the middle section on the floor getting yelled at about it, but I seemed to not get caught. Here are the better ones (I was in row N…)
Feel free to use them if you want (yeah, they dont compare to MJs but hey ;D I tried)
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MJ — I was also sorry to hear that your camera was not allowed in, such a shame. On my way into the venue, I was talking to an usher who said the camera policy was totally up to the artist, that Bob Weir’s band, Ratdog, recently played there, and there were cameras, tapers, everything you’d expect from a Grateful Dead crowd.
This Concord resident wishes the town was as exciting as Peyton Place. Apart from the chance to run over presidential candidates every four years, it’s a pretty quiet place.
Thanks for the recap.
MJ - This is my first time posting. I’m a HUGE Taylor fan and just wanted to thank you for the recap. I live on the west coast in CA close to the OR border. I would have loved to been able to attend one of Taylor’s summer shows but it’s a long ways back East. I did get to attend the Portland & Seattle shows. Had a great time of course- Seems like months ago. One year ago at this time I was all excited about seeing Taylor at the AI concert in Sacrarmento. I guess I’m a little sad I don’t have a concert in the near future to look forward to. I loved the Cohasset videos- The sound is so clear- They’re the next best thing to seeing Taylor live. Thanks!