On the Road Again
Live Reviews:

Cracker
August 24, 1998
Lee's Palace, Toronto, ON

They may not be the most fashionable band on the planet, and their new Gentleman's Blues album may be more subdued than usual, but Cracker are still a great night out. Playing to a sold-out crowd of rabid fans at Lee's Palace (the night before their appearance at the Pearl Jam concert), Cracker offered no wild stage show, no musical concessions to passing fad or fancy, no between-song patter - just solid, 4/4 rock 'n' roll with plenty o' heart and their unique, oblique lyrical edge.

With his slightly-hoarse singing voice and metronomic strumming hand, David Lowery led his Cracker-Jacks through a rollicking set that leaned on familiar staples like "Teen Angst" and "Get Off This," much to the crowd's delight. The choruses of "Low" and "Eurotrash Girl" inspired massive audience singalongs, the latter tune allowing keyboardist Kenny Margolis to stretch out for some top-notch accordion riffage. Lowery switched comfortably from his usual electric to occasional acoustic guitar. Johnny Hickman was Lowery's perfect six-string foil, his solos just swashbuckling enough to be showy without drifting into flashy wankery.

As befits his previous experiments in ethnomusicology with the long-gone Camper Van Beethoven, Lowery broadened the selection with nods to various worthy traditions: White-trash country ("Mr. Wrong"); '60s psychedelia (a take on the Status Quo classic "Pictures Of Matchstick Men," also covered in the CVB days); even an authentic polka, sung in the original German. Ultimately, Cracker's performance is more about twang than distortion. Yes, they're a rock 'n' roll band (a damn fine one, too!); no, they'll never be mistaken for surf kings, Southern-culture kitsch, alt.country scenesters or old-country hillbillies; but they could easily share a bill with any band playing any one of those styles.

If you listen close enough, you'll hear a submerged heartbeat of natural-born twang that keeps the whole thing flowing. And that's the kinda fuel that'll keep Cracker's pickup truck running long after all those fashionable new bugs have been permanently squashed.