8 DAYS OUT On Stage
REVIEW/SHOW R ORY EAR NS HAW
COCKEYED—See Thursday. 8:15 p.m. $15. Stage Coach Theatre, 4802 W. Emerald St., Boise, 208-342-2000, stagecoachtheatre.com. FIDDLER ON THE ROOF—See Friday. 7:30 p.m. $12-$24. Starlight Mountain Theatre, 850 S. Middlefork Road, Crouch, 208-462-5523, starlightmountaintheatre.com. LIPSINC! 15 MINUTES OF FAME—See Friday. 8:30 p.m. $15. Balcony Club, 150 N. Eighth St., Ste. 226, Boise, 208-336-1313, thebalconyclub.com. LIQUID LAUGHS: TIM NORTHERN—See Thursday. 8 p.m. $10. Liquid, 405 S. Eighth St., Ste. 110, Boise, 208-287-5379, liquidboise.com. NOT NOW, DARLING—See Thursday. 6:15 p.m. $15-$20 show only, $39 dinner and show. Knock ‘Em Dead Dinner Theatre, 415 E. Parkcenter Blvd., Boise, 208-385-0021, kedproductions. org. WAR HORSE—See Wednesday. 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. $45-$75. Morrison Center for the Performing Arts, 2201 Cesar Chavez Lane, Boise, 208-426-1609, mc.boisestate.edu.
Concerts SEAN ROGERS—The pianist, composer and arranger will perform Kitten on the Keys, featuring jazz, ragtime and improvised accompaniments to silent films. Works by local artists will be for sale in the lobby and 10 percent of ticket sales will be donated to Pet Haven. 7 p.m. $10. Nampa Civic Center, 311 Third St. S., Nampa, 208-468-5555, nampaciviccenter.com.
Food & Drink CHEFS OF ALOHA: FEASTS OF HAWAII—This event features a six-course dinner prepared by Executive Chef Jack Charles paired with wines from Wood River Cellars in the Castle Ranch Steakhouse. Special room rates available for dinner guests. 6 p.m. $89. The Boise Hotel and Conference Center, 3300 S. Vista Ave., Boise, 208-343-4900.
Art ART IN THE BAR VI—Meet more than 50 local artists. All ages are welcome and a full bar is provided with ID. Noon-10 p.m. FREE. Knitting Factory Concert House, 416 S. Ninth St., Boise, 208-367-1212, bo.knittingfactory.com.
Kids & Teens BREAKFAST WITH BOOKS— Children ages 4-8 may enjoy storytime based on the theme Bear-y Good Tales for Tots and breakfast provided by Brick Oven Bistro. Cost includes crafts, breakfast and choice of one hardcover book. 9-10 a.m. $22. Rediscovered 28 Bookshop, 180 N. Eighth St., Boise, 208-3764229, rdbooks.org.
22 | JUNE 6–12, 2012 | BOISEweekly
Former Modern Lovers frontman Jonathan Richman gave a charmingly awkward performance at Neurolux.
JONATHAN RICHMAN IS THE CRAZY UNCLE YOU WISH YOU HAD There was no opening band at Neurolux May 30, just a solo performance from Jonathan Richman. And he was supposed to start at 9 p.m. At about 9:10 p.m., he was jogging up 11th Street looking flustered. Richman rounded the corner into the alley, ducked in the back door, hustled onstage and up to the mic and just started playing with no announcements or introductions. Approximately half the audience was still outside on the patio, unaware that he was starting. It was the beginning of a truly strange performance. Richman made his name in the mid 1970s with The Modern Lovers, punk pioneers that were a major influence on the The Ramones, Patti Smith, The Cars, The Talking Heads and many more. Richman’s rare combination of a raw sound and lyrics devoid of the peacock feathers so common in rock spoke to people. But since those salad days, he’s kept the lyrical style and swapped the music out for acoustic ballads. Richman crooned over the soft hum of a nylon-string guitar, accenting his tunes about growing up in the Boston art crowd with flamenco flourishes and occasionally singing in French or Spanish. He was accompanied only by a minimalist drummer with a kick, tom and several congas. But Richman has the awkward movements and disconnected gaze of someone who has experienced serious head trauma. His lyrics are almost childish in their sincerity. The only possible comparison is Daniel Johnston, but Johnston is mentally ill and Richman is just a seriously strange dude who people oftentimes think did a few too many drugs, despite being a pioneer of the straight-edge movement. For a while, Richman put down the guitar and started dancing with a set of jingle-bells. The performance was so charmingly awkward and bizarre that anyone who happened into Neurolux unaware of Richman’s legacy might’ve thought: “Who brought their weird uncle to an open mic?” Especially when Richman introduced a song about how he affected a fake William F. Buckley accent to sound sophisticated, but now—40 years later—wanted to apologize for it. “I should have been bullied for it more than I was,” he said. Where the introduction ended and the song began was a fluid concept, but it didn’t take long for him to have the audience singing back to him about his fake accent. Then he hummed a little tune he said was 400 years old and he got from a German children’s book. “I don’t know exactly what it means, but I use it to say goodnight,” Richman said. Then as quickly as he arrived, Richman threw his guitar back in its case and left the stage for the back door. But the audience wasn’t having it. They howled until he came back to play a few more. —Josh Gross WWW. B O I S E WE E KLY. C O M