Show Review: Paul Baribeau and Ginger Alford –
Darkness on the Edge of Your Town Tour
March 21st, 2009 at The Attic
By Dan Creahan
The
stairs creaked as I walked up to the top floor of the house. I have to say, presentation aside, the
guys who run The Attic on Elmwood definitely have one of the best venues in
Buffalo. Inside the skeleton frame
of the old house, cross-beams span over attendees heads and make a perfect
accent over the performers up front.
Sound echoes off the wooden roof and floats down into your eardrums.
I had missed most of the opening bands thanks
to some miscalculations and parking issues, but luckily managed to catch Paul’s
Grandfather, a trio from Fredonia, NY whose indie-folk tendencies provided a perfect
counterpoint to the sparse surroundings.
The songs were equal parts beautiful and furious, featuring basic
instrumentation and breath-taking three-part harmony. Their last song, “Jail Birdie,” had me absolutely
floored. Definitely a band to
watch in the local scene.
Immediately after they left the stage, Paul
and Ginger starting tuning up. I
had found out the day before that they would be performing only Bruce
Springsteen covers, and I was feeling a blend of anticipation and mild
skepticism. I was a huge fan of
Paul’s last album, Grand Ledge, and was looking forward to finally seeing
him play his material live. It was
a compromise of sorts, but after a few songs, I abandoned all of my
doubts.
The duo killed it. Starting off with one of my favorite Springsteen tunes, “Atlantic
City,” Paul and Ginger went through the Boss’s back catalog, putting new heat
into the old tunes. Springsteen’s poetic and intricate writing was highlighted
by the quick-handed acoustic strums and spitfire pacing of Baribeau’s
performance. He introduced almost
every song with the statement, “this is a song by Bruce Springsteen,” and didn’t
hesitate to give the man his props.
I’ve heard stories about the singer being somewhat uncomfortable
onstage, but it seemed that he was in his element, smiling and joking through
the performance and putting every ounce of sweat into each song. Covering much of Springsteen’s older
work like “Pink Cadillac,” “Born to Run” and “Thunder Road,” he managed to get
some sing-alongs half-heartedly started by the seemingly perplexed crowd, but
seemed undaunted, clearly engrossed by his love of the music. Either way, there were definitely those
in the crowd who latched on, singing every word, and at the end of the night,
few could deny that the two put on a fantastic show.
Especially in the punk scene today, people
seem all too ready to write off artists like Springsteen. He seems to hold the stigma of some “rock
dinosaur,” attached to the era of my parents, but as Baribeau’s impassioned
yelp rose above crowd, those singing along caught hold of something
timeless. He closed the show with “I’m
on Fire,” and the softly spoken lyrics of youthful passion cascaded off the
walls. Take us higher indeed.