Stan Ridgway, who's been aptly described as someone who "ought to be named a goddamn national treasure, like Aretha Franklin or Johnny Cash," is playing at the Starry Plough in Berkeley tonight. He played at 12 Galaxies in San Francisco last night.

If you're reading this today, you'll notice in the sidebar that I've got Stan playing a lot today. You'd do yourself a favor to pick up one of those albums displayed there.

Stan's latest album, Snakebite, is a nice new addition to his catalog. Instrumentally, it's more in the vein of Black Diamond than Partyball or Mosquitos, with a leaning towards acoustic guitar and harmonica rather than the traditional rock band setup. My current favorites from Snakebite are "Throw It Away" and "Talkin' Wall of Voodoo Blues Pt. 1". The latter uses an ominous soundscape with twangy electric guitars and coarse synthetic string stabs while Stan sings the tale of his former band Wall of Voodoo, from their humble beginnings to the inevitable crushing by the record company and the manager who took all the money. Despite the ultimate demise of the band, Stan is upbeat and reminds himself, "Didn't want no MTV / Didn't want no VH-1 / Was a time so long ago / Yeah, we had some punk rock fun".

Post-show Update:

Here is the set list:

Stan solo on guitar and harmonica:

• "Goin' Southbound" from Mosquitos
• "Afghan / Forklift" from Snakebite
• "Train of Thought" from Anatomy
• "Long Black Veil" (originally recorded by Johnny Cash)
• "Can't Stop The Show" from The Big Heat
• "My Beloved Movie Star" from Holiday In Dirt
• "Lost Weekend" from Call Of The West
• "Runnin' With The Carnival" from Snakebite

Stan joined by Pietra on keyboard and vocals:

• "Wake Up Sally" from Snakebite
• "God Lives In A Caboose" from Snakebite
• "Monsters Of The Id" from Snakebite (originally recorded by Mose Allison)
• "The Big Heat" from The Big Heat
• "Ring of Fire" from Wall of Voodoo (originally recorded by June Carter)
• "Mission Bell" from Anatomy
• "A Mission In Life" from Mosquitos

Stan and Pietra joined by Carnyball Johnson band on drums, bass, and horn:

• "Cool Water" (originally recorded by The Sons of the Pioneers)
• "Endless Sleep" (originally recorded by Jody Reynolds)
• "The Last Honest Man" from Mosquitos
• "Peg & Pete And Me" from Mosquitos
• "Mexican Radio" from Call Of The West
• "Garage Band '69" from Holiday In Dirt
• "The Creator Has A Master Plan" (originally recorded by Pharoah Sanders)