Friday, September 24, 2010

New love for an old classic

Last night I had the pleasure of seeing the Toadies (of "Possum Kingdom" fame) in concert at a terrific Minneapolis club called the Cabooze. The show was stellar: the set-list, the atmosphere, and the energy level from both the band and the crowd added up to an experience well worth the paltry $15 I paid for my ticket. All of this I had expected. The surprise bonus came when the Toadies opened up their encore with a faithful and engaged cover of "Don't Let Me Down." Let me say, though I very much like the studio versions of the song, it now strikes me as one that was made to be heard live. The way it begins with that passionate, from-the-gut-and-the-heart chorus, and returns to it again and again almost out of emotional necessity rather than for reasons of song structure ... it showed that it has the ingredients for an expressive and animated sing-a-long. After repeatedly shouting out "don't let me down," John's desperate plea to Yoko, and being joined in this by others who seemed similarly tapped into the moment, I saw the song in a new light and found my already immense appreciation of it deepened quite a bit.

Have a look and a listen:

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