Concert Review: The Nightwatchman & Friends - Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA - 4/15/08

Well known as the guitarist of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave, Tom Morello also performs solo as The Nightwatchman, a folk music act reminiscent of and influenced by artists such as Woody Guthrie and early Bob Dylan. For two weeks in seven cities the “Justice Tour” will have Morello participating in a day of local social activism. The focus of each stop will be homelessness (Los Angeles); addiction recovery (New York), safe, secure, and affordable housing (New Orleans); a living wage (Asheville); peace and veterans care (Washington, DC); affordable healthcare (Boston); and labor organizing (Chicago).

The local organizations partnering with the tour are People Assisting the Homeless (PATH), Road Recovery, Sweet Home New Orleans and Amnesty International, Just Economics, Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW), HealthCare-Now, and Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

To help draw attention to his work, Morello and assorted friends are performing concerts in each city at the cost of $10, except for the New York date. Proceeds from each show benefit the local social justice partner. The Los Angeles show had an amazing line-up that sounds unbelievable to me even though I witnessed it. The three-hour show was very relaxed as the artists causally walked on and off stage and many delivered stunning performances in the small confines of the legendary Troubadour club.

Morello as The Nightwatchman played “Flesh Takes The Day” on acoustic guitar, “St. Isabel” on drum and harmonica, and followed up his much-talked-about recent performances of “Ghost of Tom Joad” with Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band the week before in Anaheim with an acoustic rendition. He then brought out the house band for Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Fortunate Son.”

The first musical guest to join Morello on stage was drummer Stewart Copeland. They played two Police tracks with Carl Restivo on vocals. They started with “So Lonely,” which not only drove the crowd wild, but also Perry Farrell who hopped on stage to join in the chorus. After “Message In A Bottle,” the stage was given to individual performers. Pete Yorn played a couple songs, Jerry Cantrell played one, and Wayne Kramer played two silly songs, closing with a jazzy number about writer Charles Bukowski.

Article Author: El Bicho

This writer is a member of The Masked Movie Snobs, a collective that fights a never-ending battle against bad entertainment. Follow at twitter.com/ElBicho_MMS

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