Well I haven’t seen Loudoun play for years – maybe decades. He was good. I enjoyed it. This was a different Loudon to the one I’d seen before. He was less informal and more scripted. He also did a lot more of his family than I had heard before – giving his father prominence but mentioning his mother, Rufus and Martha and ex-wives with a degree of affection I hadn’t heard before. Perhaps knives have been sheathed?
There were quite a range of songs – School Days even had an outing. That is special to me because it was the first song I ever heard of his. It was the first track on the first album that was played in the guru maharaji shop when I first heard him back in 1971. It had made me stop thumbing through the albums in the shop and listen. I can’t remember him having played it before.
He even did a song on the piano! I haven’t seen him do that before.
I was disappointed that he did not play ‘Trump’ though.
The songs were separated by three spoken sections where Loudon recited three pieces of writing his father had written for Life magazine. There was affection and respect in the way that was done – a tribute to his father – as if he was finally making peace with his old man and recognising his talent. That was nice.
He was joined on stage by Chaim Tannenbaum on banjo and the two of them obviously enjoyed performing together.
It was a bit more subdued than I am used to with Loudon but that was probably the venue. I’m used to seeing him in more intimate clubs. But it was very good.
