Robert Francis rights some wrongs at the Troubadour
Kevin Bronson on
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Everything that could go wrong Wednesday night at Robert Francis’ record-release show did. And in a strange way, it made everything go right.
For the first chunk of the show at the Troubadour – celebrating this week’s release of the singer-songwriter’s third album, “Strangers in the First Place” – the unconscionably chatty crowd who all but sabotaged Leslie Stevens’ sublime opening set continued to blab as if the doormen had made them spit out their manners, and not just their gum, when they entered the venue. Francis’ able four-piece, which doesn’t exactly turn anything up to 11, struggled to compete.
Then the 24-year-old Los Angeles native’s harmonica went missing. Then his guitar and/or his amp went south. As techs scrambled to make everything work, Francis excused the band and nervously apologized, making light of the delay by climbing to the top of the stage rigging.
There was little left to do but play on, so Francis took up his acoustic guitar and delivered a spine-tingling version of “Little Girl,” off his 2007 debut “One by One” to a suddenly silent and respectful room. He followed it with an equally rapt “Hallways” from 2009’s “Before Nightfall,” and faster that you can say “Free Bird” (which, naturally, a couple of goofballs did when Francis asked for requests), the Troubadour crowd had a real concert on its hands.
Francis has always been shy and slightly awkward onstage; even at his four-show residency last year at the Bootleg Bar, there was little in the way of banter, anecdotes or explanation. He seems to expect, rightfully, that his expansive folk music speak for itself – which it does, when allowed into the conversation. “Strangers in the First Place,” Francis’ first album for Vanguard, finds the songwriter less burdened by the weight of his own conscience yet no less willing to look inward. Francis’ songs carry the heft of an old soul, but “Strangers” seems to imply he’s made some new friends, or at least achieved some emotional equilibrium.
Wednesday’s misadventures made for a somewhat accidental connection between artist, music and audience. The quartet finished strong, highlighted by 2009 singles “June Bug” and “Mescaline” and a duet with Francis’ sister, Juliette Commagere.
Now if that harmonica would only have turned up.
That’s a strange story! We went to the Hotel Cafe last week to see the Leftover Cuties and the crowd talked very loudly throughout the gig. It was completely disruptive. I’ve been to the Hotel Cafe dozens of times and never experienced this before. Now the Troubadour’s having the same issue? Ugh!
I was at the Troub show and experienced the same audience rudeness. My daughter and her friend nearly came to blows with some “industry-type” girls who refused to stop talking behind them. Robert did indeed overcome all the technical adversities and gave us glimpses of brilliance. Incidentally, when I was at the Hotel Cafe to see Dawn Mitschele, she had to reprimand the crowd about talking in a venue that advertises that policy, which shut them up, but why would an artist have to go to that length? The best room in town for audience respect remains Room 5 on La Brea. I highly recommend it to anyone who goes to shows to hear the artists perform.