Every time John Gorka and I have been in the same town I have had a major conflict, so when I saw he was coming for an IAMA concert at West High School, I determined to avoid any other conflicts. I conveyed regrets to Scott Anderson regarding the dinner and concert with the visiting Chinese Children's Choir, and convinced Mother to join the eclectic crowd at WHS for the big event.We were not disappointed. Who knew that John Gorka was such a funny guy? I mean, all those sad songs (Love Is Our Cross To Bear, I Saw A Stranger With Your Hair). He was non-stop entertainment, two full sets of 45+ minutes each. After a rousing opener (Outside), he acknowledged that there were undoubtedly several people in the audience who had never heard of John Gorka before and had been dragged to the concert against their will by a friend or spouse. For them, he would sing a song that provided the philosophical underpinnings of his music and outlook, to help them better understand and appreciate the rest of the concert: "I'm, from New Jersey; I don't expect much. If the world ended today, I would adjust."
He had no fixed set list but simply opened it up to requests by the audience, though of course, he did not respond to every request ("I did write that but I don't know all the songs I wrote" or "Well, how about this one instead - it has a lot of the same notes.") In between songs were a few autobiographical comments. He was born and raised in New Jersey, went to college in Pennsylvania where he got a degree in philosophy so he would have something to fall back on if his dream of becoming a folksinger didn't work out; released his most depressing album (Land of the Bottom Line) during a very depressing time in his life (he had a job). By the time 10:00 rolled around he had sung a long list of familiar songs ("Let Them In," "O, Abraham," "People My Age," "I Know," "Land of the Bottom Line," "Mean Streak," "Reach," "Flying Red Horse") and a number of newer songs. He ended with his signature piece, "Love Is Our Cross To Bear," and then did "The Gypsy Life" as an encore because, "people love you when they know you're leaving soon."
It was a great evening!
3 comments:
At last you get to see Gorka! I saw him at the late show at the Bottom Line, where he played until past 1 a.m. Love those long sets - talk about getting your money's worth! Wish I could have been there with you...
Did he do a continual stand-up comedy routine throughout the show when saw him? It was such a surprise that he was so funny when most of songs are not...
yes, he did. and he took requests the same way. "hmm. that's a good one. wish i could remember the words." he was fantastic, one of my very favorite concerts. he just kept playing and playing, until most of the middle-aged crowd had left because it was getting way too late. the graduate student crowd (well, whitney and i pretty much made up this crowd) stayed until the end, and we were just about the only people left when he finally finished. it was awesome.
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