aaamusic | On 19, Jan 2015

Wednesday 14th January, London

Legendary American singer songwriter and recording artist Nils Lofgren, the well-known multi instrumentalist, has historically played with Neil Young and Ringo Starr. He’s been a part of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band for over thirty years and in 2014 was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

At this Cadogan Hall performance Nils Lofgren played harp, keyboard, acoustic and electric guitar, chatting warmly and joking with his audience between songs. He remembered how learning the accordion in his early years helped him creatively in the recording of ‘Southern Man’ for Neil Young‘s After The Gold Rush album and he also recollected night time lyric dictation from Lou Reed.

Nils was joined by acclaimed tap-dancing partner Greg Varlotta who played keyboard, guitar and trumpet. A delicate and glittering ‘Harp Intro’ was followed by ‘Miss You C’ ( ‘Miss You Ray’ re-interpreted),the tribute to his lost colleague Clarence Clemons and there was the soulful ‘Rusty Gun’ by Grin, the band he once founded. ‘Black Books’ was a dark country song once featured in the series The Sopranos.

Nils spun and skipped around the stage to the gentle and beautiful ‘Girl In Motion’ whilst ‘Keith Don’t Go’ , the infectious gypsy anthem, was his homage and plea to Keith Richards. An unexpected but graceful ‘Going Back’, the classic song by Carol King, attempted to escape from adulthood and recapture youthful innocence.

Nils is highly respected. Listening to joyful and innovative songs like ‘Dream Big, Stay Humble’ the character of his music and personality became increasingly clear – thoughtful, modest, ambitious and enormous fun. Enthusiasts looking for favourite songs, rarities and re-interpretations can take a look at his recently released career-spanning box-set Face The Music.

Anthony Weightman

Check out Anthony’s interview with Nils Lofgren here…