An Intimate Evening with
John Wesley Harding & Rob Wasserman

Park West - Chicago

November 22, 1994

First Appeared in The Music Box, December 1994, Volume 1, #6

Written by John Metzger

John Wesley Harding and Rob Wasserman settled comfortably into Chicago's Park West on November 22 for an extremely intimate performance, and while the crowd was sparse, those who made it were provided with a real treat.  Harding opened the show with a 30- minute set, and while his past endeavors frequently have drawn comparisons to Elvis Costello, he sounded, here, like a young Bob Dylan. This was particularly apparent during the hilarious Talkin' Return of the Great Folk Scare Blues, though it also came through on Waterloo Sunset, a song that also owed a huge debt to Ray Davies.

Wasserman followed with a 25-minute romp through an array of wildly entertaining bass solos that rambled through The Who's Baba O'Riley and the blues classic Spoonful.  As good as his bass playing sounds, watching him play is enough to leave one's mouth hanging ajar. He concluded his set with Satisfaction at which time "Wes" joined him for another hour of material. These two sound like they have been performing together for years, and they covered a wide gamut of material from each of their new albums as well as some new selections that they had written together. All of these latest collaborations were excellent, including the depressing Election Night and the cynical Mary's Cameo. Harding made the Wasserman/Hornsby collaboration White-Wheeled Limousine his own, and he added some humor through his introductions as well as his pairing Hitler's Tears with Tears of a Clown.

Throughout this final set, Wasserman added his musings on upright bass to Harding's rhythmic strumming and heart-felt vocals for an evening of what Harding likes to call "Folk Noir". The question now is when will Bob Weir join them?

John Wesley Harding's Here Comes the Groom and The
Name Above the Title are available on a single disc
from Barnes & Noble. To order, Click Here!

Rob Wasserman's Trilogy is available from Barnes & Noble.
To order, Click Here!

Copyright © 1994 The Music Box