Gig: Rodriguez

Rodriguez

Harbourfront Centre. Friday, July 3, 2009.

I had read up on the recent rediscovery and reissues of Sixto Diaz Rodriguez a.k.a. Rodriguez, but I must confess I haven't yet purchased either of the discs recently put out by Light in the Attic. I've actually picked them up more than once at Soundscapes to look them over, especially during one visit when Cold Fact was playing in the store while I browsed. But word of Harbourfront landing him for a gig still piqued my interest and I headed down on a Friday evening after work — an especially cool day and downright chilly by the lake.

When a pre-show interview in eye mentioned that he was touring on his own and playing with local pick-up bands, à la Chuck Berry, it didn't strike me as anything to get excited about — anonymous session hacks would get the gig, I figured. But when I saw Randy Lee wandering around the stage before gig time, I realized something inneresting might be going on here. Turns out the band was drawn from the Steamboat / Hylozoists axis — local indie veterans, all. Kudos to whoever's idea it was to hook this crew up with Rodriguez, as the five players sounded like a fully fleshed-out band whose intuitive interplay was the perfect counterpoint to the on-the-fly arrangements on hand ("We do sound check, so we treat it as a rehearsal," said Rodriguez in that eye piece. "And we go through four, five, six songs, and that will be half of the show, or a third of it. It’s simple stuff and we move to it.") The progression of the show more-or-less followed from that — the first stretch of songs felt more worked out, and by the end the band was rapidly leafing through notes as doing the best they could as Rodriguez launched into songs. The band seemed to be having a blast, breaking out into goofy smiles at the hepcat patter between songs, as if R. had whittled down a lifetime's worth of his best banter for concentrated use.¹ Highlights included opener "Only Good For Conversation", "Inner City Blues", "Rich Folks Hoax" and "Sugarman". His most frequent points of comparison were on display in very Dylan-y "Crucify Your Mind" and the Arthur Lee-esque cadences of "Can't Get Away", a close cousin to "A House Is Not A Motel". Later on, the band was less sure-footed — "Like Janis" was a little ungainly, though "Climb Up On My Music" had a gutsy freshness provided by Jay Anderson's driving beats.

With his songs and period banter, Rodriguez gave the presentation of being a product of the sixties, and seemed to treat the fact that he was being recognized here and now with a vaguely bemused cosmic shrug.² But with his dignified hat and craggy visage he projected a sort of mellow dignity. A small crowd compared to many down at Harbourfront, but despite the cold evening winds, a most worthy occasion.

Listen to a track from this set here.

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¹ Some selected patter from Rodriguez:

"There's only one thing worse than a lying B-I-T-C-H, and that's a lying P-R-I-C-K."

"The boys make the noise, but the girls... rule the world. And the reason you can't trust women — the reason you can't trust women is that you can't trust men. Trust no one."

"So you want to know the secret to life? All you gotta do is just keep breathing in and out. It's an important secret — don't forget that secret."

"Old? I'm not old — I'm ancient. Old? Stick around long enough and it just might happen to you. Age? Age? There's only one age — either you're alive or your dead. I'm not gettin' old — I'm gettin' dead."

² One of those random things that stuck with me was the fact that he was using his guitar strap in a manner unlike I've ever seen before. The strap went over his left shoulder, like usual, but instead of looping back and attaching to the base of the guitar, it was hooked into the belt loop on the back of his pants, making it like a suspender. Anyone ever seen that before? Did this used to be the style?