The New York-based artist returned to Michigan, delivering a show Friday at St. Cecilia Music Center that boasted fan favorites from his acclaimed debut album and music spanning his career.
Playing Before an Appreciative Crowd in Grand Rapids on Friday: Marschall Crenshaw at St. Cecilia. (Photo/Chelsea Whitaker)
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When it came to putting together a road trip through time of his brilliant recording career, Marshall Crenshaw had plenty of must-hear destinations to choose from.
Playing before a cozy crowd that braved Friday’s unseasonal storm at St. Cecilia Music Center in Grand Rapids, Crenshaw said he and his band were “visiting all points on the timeline of 40-plus years in showbiz.”
The Michigan native and one of pop-rock’s premier songwriters took the audience on a 19-song tour beginning with his widely acclaimed, self-titled album in 1982, performing jangly delights such as “Cynical Girl,” “Mary Anne” and the impossible-not-to-dance-or-at-least-bob-your-head-to hit, “Someday, Someway,” which inevitably lifted a couple of women from their seats.
Along the way he visited lesser-known gems of his enduringly excellent catalog during the second of his two-day Michigan homecoming swing that landed earlier in the week in Brighton.
The selections in what Crenshaw had earlier described as a “well-rounded” mix of his tunes ranged from hard and heavy rockers like “Will of the Wind,” penned at the outset of the 2020 pandemic, to the stirring life-journey anthem “Live and Learn” from 2009’s “Jaggedland.” That album also produced his surprising set-opener “Passing Through,” a beautifully wistful ballad exemplifying a Crenshaw forte: mature love songs written about complicated grown-ups.
Crenshaw periodically called out dates on his songwriting journey, such as the bluesy “Move Now” from 2015’s “#392: The EP Collection,” along with “Driving and Dreaming” from that same disc – an intriguingly mellow encore choice before closing with the radio hit, “Whenever You’re On My Mind,” from 1983’s “Field Day.”
The songs were given plenty of boost from band members Fernando Perdomo on guitar, Derrick Anderson on bass and Mark Ortmann on drums. Though at times overpowering St. Cecilia’s ultra-live acoustics, the band won the crowd with its energy and enthusiasm.
Fan Frank Tobin called it “a great show” played before “an appreciative crowd. … Fans got what they came for, with a set that featured ‘Cynical Girl,’ ‘Someday Someway,’ ‘Mary Anne’ and ‘I’m Sorry (So Is Brenda Lee).’ The band really rocked on ‘The Will Of The Wind.’ my personal highlight, and a cover of Bob Dylan’s ‘115th Dream,’ and included the more recent ‘Move On’ and ‘Driving and Dreaming.'”
Added Greg Scheer: “Watching Marshal Crenshaw’s show at St. Cecilia was like being invited into your cool uncle’s living room to watch him and his buddies play through all their favorite songs. The atmosphere was relaxed; Crenshaw’s banter and clapping back to the audience made it feel less like a performance than a celebration. … (It) was a celebration of forty years of music making, reminding us what a treasure of melody and lyrical wit Marshall Crenshaw has produced over his musical career.”
Of course, no Crenshaw concert would be complete without a nod to Buddy Holly, an early influence and hero. His second song of the night was Holly’s “Crying, Waiting, Hoping,” which Crenshaw performed while portraying Holly in the 1987 movie, “La Bamba,” about Ritchie Valens. Crenshaw said he was invited to visit the site of the 1959 plane crash that killed Holly and Valens, in Clear Lake, Iowa, when he began his tour there. He declined the invitation.
“From the time I was 5 years old, I’m still sad about that,” he told the crowd.
Check out the Local Spins interview with Marshall Crenshaw.
PHOTO GALLERY: Marshall Crenshaw at St. Cecilia Music Center
Photos by Chelsea Whitaker
