CityLife

Jackson Browne

FOLLOWING THE POLITICS OF FREEDOM: Jackson Browne

THREE songs from the end the prince of 1970s California soft rock at last let loose.

With a terrific band behind him Jackson Browne finally had a sometimes sedate crowd on their feet with the ode to the road, Running on Empty.

A galloping, ‘Born to Run’ from the sunshine state it injected the chemistry that had been missing between audience and performer.

The open lines: “Looking out at the road rising under my wheels; Looking back at the years gone by like so many summer fields”, triggered six minutes of exuberance crowned by the dazzling guitar of Mark Goldenberg.

It was the high point of a set which was fractured, awkward, but ultimately brilliant.

With such a deep canon of classic work, and a still fine voice, Browne is never going to run out of gas.

But this show was not without a few stalls. Inexplicably for an artist whose work will always make the net of ‘best 100 albums ever’ he seemed unsure of himself.

Time the Conqueror

A rambling talked intro to a new track, Off of Wonderland, from his excellent new release Time the Conqueror, provoked irritating heckling.

The song itself is terrific – a glimpse back at how he started – playing in a band in a ‘nice part’ of Los Angeles in the 1960s.

Lyrically sharp – ‘There was change in the air; It was love every where; Living off of wonderland; Ankle deep in contraband'.

It also revealed the birthplace of his politics, name checking RFK, Martin Luther King, and John Kennedy.

Trying too hard

Astutely Browne put his finger on the ‘problem’ of his performance telling us ‘maybe I’m trying too hard’.

He decided he would dispense with the ‘chit-chat’ saying ‘the songs are the songs’.

Then he reminded us of the profile he perfected 35 years ago – the dark sensitive singer-songwriter whose socially aware music won the ear of smart teenagers and fawning Old Grey Whistle Test presenters.

The songs – ‘Late for the Sky’; ‘Fountain of Sorrow’; ‘These Days’; and ‘Doctor My Eyes’ were delivered with genuine passion.

Politics

Browne now focuses on events around him and his politics infect his new album.

After a rollicking ‘Take It Easy’ – the Eagles classic, which he wrote with Glenn Frey, he ended the show with Little Steven Van Zandt’s ‘I’m a Patriot’, in which he says he is neither a Commie, Democrat, or Republican and declares ‘I only know one party – it’s freedom’.

His politics are commendable, but when he leaves them behind his ability to craft great songs about the thrill, joy, and agony, of day-to-day human interaction is his forte.

In programme notes Browne says it is an interesting time to be touring the world ‘as the global financial system unravels’ and he relishes seeing the people who come to see him play.

Maybe next time in Manchester he should start with Running on Empty.

Jackson Browne plays Manchester Apollo again on Tuesday, March 31. £40.