Concert Review: Stacey Earle and Mark Stuart at Knuckleheads
Better Than: Watching last night’s episode of Desperate Housewives.
Pulling up at Knuckleheads last night, I would’ve never guessed the short, friendly-looking woman with a knit hat getting out of the black Suburban parked by the front door was Stacey Earle. The back of the vehicle with Tennessee plates read: “Drive Her ‘Til She Drops. Odometer: 437,721”. So began our night of kitschy (albeit bland) Americana.
At 7:15 p.m., Earle and her long-haired husband, Mark Stuart took to the indoor stage before a small crowd in the neon-lit room. Stuart, who looks like a grunge-rock incarnation of James Taylor, announced there was no set list. This simplicity was echoed throughout Earle and Stuart’s set: they were lovers in love singing love songs. Their biography calls their songs “the diaries of their life, good times and bad, completing the love they have.”
They opened with “In My Way” from Earle’s first solo album released in 1998. Though she took the lead on this song, it would alternate throughout the night as the duo played and sang backup for each other. Often, Earle stared lovingly at her man as he plucked and crooned. Last year, he released his own DVD called, “Americana Acoustic Guitar Styles with Mark Stuart.” In it, he reveals the secrets to “help you zone in on what it takes to become a tasteful side person.”
Yes, they definitely are “married and stuff,” as Earle put it. They celebrated their 16th anniversary on Christmas Eve and have been making music together for the last 18 years. However, this tour marks their last as a duo as they will continue on with their solo projects after pulling the Suburban into their driveway. Stuart released his first solo album in 2008, Left of Nashville and Earle is still working on hers.
Stuart’s second solo song, “The 12 and 49 Highways,” was instrumental. The room was quiet as Stuart deftly manipulated his acoustic guitar. My friend and I scanned our surroundings. He whispered to me, “This show is kind of like a Cialis ad.”
“Oh,” I said. “Because of the song he’s playing right now?”
“Well, yeah… but look at who is here,” he said. We were definitely the youngest people in a room of mostly men in their late 50’s. Few had lady friends.
“Hmmm… 36-hour Cialis or Cialis for daily use?” I asked.
We couldn’t be sure. Earle and Stuart’s sweet love songs were definitely an aphrodisiac for the older set. For their last song, they came out into the audience, sounding as clear and sweet as they did when they were amped up.
Their second encore and final song, “Simple Gearle,” written by Earle seemed to be a crowd favorite. Perhaps it was the impending cloud of fog that would engulf the East Bottoms or fatigue from the weekend, but the crowd was generally subdued. I suppose everyone was just there to simply listen: the one thing a singer-songwriter wants most.
