Richman at the Roxy

[Knight of the Iguana <wicinski@nrl-css.ARPA>]

Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers/The Roxy Club/March 13, 1986.

Since the first show was sold out tonite, I had to settle with seeing
only one set of Jonathan Richman.  While the rest of earlier Modern
Lovers have now grown up and are making money from their music,
Jonathan Richman is still a kid at heart.  The music he writes now is
identical to the music he wrote over ten years ago: its happy, sad, but
it will always make you smile.  His music is pure pop, and with his
music could become mainstream pop very easily, Jonathan himself has no
desire to have that happen to him.  In one of his conversations with
the audience tonite, Jonathan said he loves small clubs where he can
talk to the audience and they'll talk back to him.  It's a good sign
when musicians care more about the audience than making money.

There was only two other members of the Modern Lovers with him; both
played acoustical guitar and did a little harmonizing.  Jonathan now
carrys a saxaphone with him onstage; he uses it infrequently, but he
does a decent job of and playing it.  His songs now focus on the three
things in life he enjoys: nature, life, and romance.  All the songs
they performed were from his last two albums and his soon to be
released record on Twin-Tone records, and deal with the three important
ingredients in his life.