Nick Lowe was a delight last evening at Knuckleheads

Nick Lowe is probably most identified with the 70s and 80s, when he was a pub-rock punker and behind-the-scenes new wave songwriter and producer. But many of Lowe’s best songs (“Long Limbed Girl,” “Lately I’ve Let Things Slide,” “I Read A Lot,” “Hope for Us All,” “Restless Feeling,” I could go on) have arrived, with little to no fanfare, in the past fifteen or so years.  

Lowe’s post-millennium records — The Convincer, At My Age, The Old Magic — are filled with Bacharach-like tunes: heavy on craft, elegant melodies, lyrical wit. Listening, it almost sounds like Lowe is doing the out-of-ideas Rod Stewart thing of covering Great American Songbook standards. But these are not covers. They are Nick Lowe songs. His songs sound like classics because he is as good as the people who wrote the classics. Nick Lowe is a goddamn treasure.

What a joy it was to watch Lowe play some of those songs last night at Knuckleheads. I saw Lowe back in 2012 at Knuckleheads, a solo performance on the venue’s outdoor stage. This time around, he was indoors, in the Knuckleheads Garage, and was backed by Los Straitjackets, a retro surf-rock group that earlier this year released an album of instrumental Lowe covers called What’s So Funny About Peace, Love and Los Straitjackets.

The show was structured in such a way as to blend the two acts into one. Lowe and Los Straitjackets went on a little after 9 p.m., opening with “So It Goes.” Lowe wore high-waisted trousers and a checkered shirt. He has big, black glasses and an enviable shock of white hair that he styles vertically. It adds up to a very cool look for a 68-year-old man. He legitimately looks better now than he did in the 1980s. 

After about seven songs, Lowe exited the stage and Los Straitjackets played for twenty-five minutes. The members of the band wear luchador masks and black suits with white mock-turtleneck shirts underneath. They don’t sing, but in between songs they occasionally uttered Spanish phrases in American-sounding accents. (They’re from Nashville.) They also do this thing where they lift up their hands after songs. It’s a strange motion, kind of like what you would do if you were handing somebody a big box. I think it was meant to coax applause. It seemed very Old World. I found it charming.

Los Straitjackets’ set was a mix of their own songs (“Space Mosquito,” “Aerostar”) and Lowe tracks, such as “Lately I’ve Let Things Slide” and “I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass.” As the latter song drew to a close, Lowe reappeared on stage and sang only the final line. The band’s blazing instrumental version was actually quite good, but, boy, it would have been nice to hear Nick do that one in full.

The rest of the set mixed in newer songs such as the highly relatable-to-me “Sensitive Man” (I’m a sensitive man / Though first impressions might steer you wrong) and “Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day” with older cuts like “Heart of the City” and “Cruel to Be Kind,” after which Lowe said, “Goodnight, everybody,” then laughed and proceeded to play several more songs.

The encore included Los Straitjackets playing the Batman theme song, then “When I Write the Book,” followed by “(What’s So Funny ’bout) Peace, Love and Understanding.” Then they waved goodnight. It seemed somehow unlike Lowe to close with his best-known song, and though the crowd up front started to filter out, the lights didn’t go up. Lowe returned to the stage alone, picked up his acoustic guitar, and serenaded us with “Alison,” a song he produced forty years ago for his contemporary Elvis Costello. His version was flawless: tender and soulful, not an ounce of fat on it, his voice straining but never breaking. It made me think of the song in a new way. When I got home, I listened to the Costello version. It’s an incredible song, of course. But when it was over, I put on some Nick Lowe. 

SETLIST

So It Goes

Ragin’ Eyes

Without Love

You Inspire Me

Crying Inside

Shting-Shtang

Ghost In My House

Tokyo Bay

Kawanga! (Los Straitjackets)

Lately I’ve Let Things Slide (Los Straitjackets)

Space Mosquito (Los Straitjackets)

Itchy Chicken (Los Straitjackets)

Aerostar (Los Straitjackets)

I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass (Los Straitjackets)

Sensitive Man

Somebody Cares for Me

Half a Boy, Half a Man

Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day

Cruel to Be Kind

Heart of the City

I Knew the Bride When She Used to Rock ‘n’ Roll

Encore:

Batman theme (Los Straitjackets)

When I Write the Book

(What’s So Funny ’bout) Peace, Love and Understanding

Second Encore: 

Alison