'Sugar Man's' Rodriguez at Arie Crown Theater, Chicago: Concert Review

A review of “Searching for Sugar Man’s” Rodriguez’s beguiling, unique performance at the Arie Crown Theater in Chicago.

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”

Searching for Sugar Man

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“How do you feel about knowing that you weren’t aware of something that could’ve changed your life?”

This was the question posed to the folk musician Sixto Rodriguez in the fascinating documentary “Searching for Sugar Man.” Worded a certain way, it’s a question usually directed at the guy who skipped out on his big chance or blew it altogether. For Rodriguez, he never even knew.

Rodriguez was a folk rocker based in Detroit in the late ‘60s with a poet’s spirit and Bob Dylan’s voice, but the people who saw him perform thought of him as a homeless drifter. He performed with his back to the audience in smoky bars down sketchy pockets of Detroit, and yet he got discovered and recorded “Cold Fact” and “Coming from Reality” in 1970 and 1971.

Maybe it was his Latin name or maybe it was overproduction in the backing tracks, but Rodriguez got a raw deal. One successful Motown producer who worked with all the greats said he was one of the most memorable artists he worked with, but the album probably sold six copies. Continue reading “Searching for Sugar Man”