On the Road Again
Live Review

Ron Sexsmith
Noe Valley Ministry, San Francisco
July 12, 1997

A beautiful night in San Francisco (aren't they all?). Not too hot but not too cool.

Tonight Ron Sexsmith is on the bill at Noe Valley Ministry, in the sleepily trendy Noe Valley section of town, opening for Jimmie Dale Gilmore who is in the middle of a three-night run here.

Gilmore's fans are a very loyal and vocal bunch which make it all the more impressive that on this Saturday night, they gave it up for St. Catherines born Sexsmith and his unassuming stories and songs of the "Average Joe."

Hearty applause met Sexsmith as he headed to the altar / stage (this is a real ministry that is rented out to local club Slim's for low key concert events) with drummer / cellist / backing vocalist (and Rheostatic) Don Kerr and L.A. bassist Bill Bonk, who also provided some cameo appearances on melodica and accordion.

Focusing on material from his new album Other Songs, the trio held the congregation in their spell for the duration of their 45 minutes plus set, even making a few converts along the way. New songs like "Strawberry Blonde," "April After All," "Thinking Out Loud" (a Ron Sexsmith manifesto if ever there was one), "Clown In Broad Daylight" and the single "Nothing Good" came alive in this intimate setting.

Running his acoustic through a distortion effect for "Lebanon, Tennessee" (from his debut album) Sexsmith even managed to give a good rock show and provided a decidedly secular counterpoint to the otherwise religious ambiance. Kerr's polyrhythmic drumming and nimble cello work complemented by Bonk's rollicking bass and subdued accordion textures made for a sound greater than the sum of its parts, both sidemen also possessing fine backing vocals.

Rounded back up for an encore by a zealous horde chanting "more, more, more," Sexsmith was affable and humble as he laid into "There's A Rhythm," a song twice recorded for his debut album. He may consider himself an "Average Joe", as he sings on Other Songs, but here on this San Francisco night Ron Sexsmith proved once again that he is blessed with an above average talent for transporting listeners to far off and exotic places with his exemplary song writing gifts and unique voice.

Yeah, I liked it.

- Paul Myers
(The Homesick Canuck)