Rodriguez, the unexpected star of the Oscar winning doc “Searching for Sugar Man” and the folk legend who never was, is not an entertainer. Now at a “solid 70,” his whole life he has not been an entertainer.
“Two cannibals are eating a clown,” he says dryly in between tunes. “The one turns to the other and says, does this taste funny to you?”
This is how Rodriguez felt he had to keep his audience engaged, by punching it up with lame jokes. And that mentality combined with his performance’s whole nature was what made it so beguiling and unique.
His Friday night set at the Arie Crown Theater jumped from acoustic strummer to ballad to bouncy folk rock on a whim, his voice wavered and slowly softened as his 90 minute set wore on, and the far from sold out audience neither sang nor stood as he worked through his “hits.” So was Rodriguez mediocre and not the surprising legend that “Searching for Sugar Man” made him out to be?
Not in the slightest, because it would be wrong to put this 70-year-old on the same level as Paul McCartney or Bob Dylan. He doesn’t have the experience and iconic showmanship they’ve acquired over so long.
What he does still possess however is that mysterious, wise and even timid quality that neither of those superstars would be able to replicate. Here is a guy being walked out onto the stage by two women just to stand and perform for the next hour and a half. Donning the sunglasses and hat that characterized his album covers, he now masks his glaucoma and a difficulty to see. In between each tune, his lead guitarist leans in as though he were a nurse coming to his side.
And yet here he is, his voice identical to recordings from over 40 years ago, capable of intricate strumming and finger picking on his elegant ballads and out of place Cole Porter and Don Gibson covers he seems to have learned on the spot. Continue reading “'Sugar Man's' Rodriguez at Arie Crown Theater, Chicago: Concert Review”