Stan Ridgway at The Little Fox

I caught a terrific show by Stan Ridgway and his band this weekend at The Little Fox theater in Redwood City.

Ridgway was in fine form, and unlike the last time he was town and doing a mostly solo show, this time he brought the full (well, sort of) band. Pietra Wexstun was on keyboards as usual, with Rick King on guitars; these three record as the Drywall. In addition, Joe Berardi wielded a visually unassuming but sonically intense array of percussion around his simple drum kit.

They played a mix of material from Stan's solo career and from Wall of Voodoo. I was really impressed by how much power Berardi's percussion added to the sound. Some of the Wall of Voodoo songs packed a big punch with Berardi's extra emphasis, and throughout he added overlayed bongos, wood blocks, pots and pans, maracas, shakers, and a vibra-slap, over his traditional kit and the mechanized rhythm machine track at the core of the original WOV songs. It adds up to an irresistable groove, and I found the songs even more powerful than the originals.

Listen to something like Call of the West, The Passenger, or The Factory, and imagine the drum machine ticking away in the background, with a real drummer adding a powerful kick of bass, or a snare backbeat, or tom tom fills, all in just the right key spots, all of which are lacking in the original recordings' soundscapes, and you get the idea. It absolutely rocked.

Set List: (Man, this is just a slice of an amazing catalog.)

(links are to iTunes store)

• Tomorrow
• The Big Heat
• The Factory
• Peg and Pete and Me
• The Passenger
• Don't Box Me In
• Lost Weekend
• Calling Out to Carol
• Lonely Town
• ?
• Afghan / Forklift
• Stranded
• Beloved Movie Star
• Act of Faith
• Camouflage
• Can't Make Love
• Mexican Radio
• Call of the West
• Ring of Fire
• Call Box (1-2-3)
• Drive, She Said
• White Rabbit
• A Mission in Life

"A Mission in Life" is a great closer. The narrator is a bartender closing up shop for the night, talking with the bar staff. The music finally rises into an almost anthemic crescendo, and the words of the chorus start out heartfelt and uplifting; but end up sad and ironic.