To those who followed the classic British comedy of the early 70's, a guy named Neil Innes was (is) a musical hero who worked with Monty Python and was a member of both The Bonzo Dog (Doo Dah) Band and The Rutles. He appeared last week at Jammin' Java and I popped in to see his one man show, a mix of classic Python numbers like "The Philosophers' Song," Rutles favorites (in a piano medley) and new tunes, some of which were actually more poignant than novelty numbers. I meant to write an in-depth review, but time is tight and I'm off to Toronto Friday morning, so I'll give you some photos and odd bits between.
I recently pulled out a factoid from an UNCUT magazine compendium of rock trivia that fits here and now. There's a popular indie band that took its name a Bonzo Dog Band track. The title of the song – and the band’s name - comes from the lyric: “Death cab for cutie/Someone’s going to make you pay your fare.” So now you know.
“I've suffered for my music,” he famously said once, introducing a song. “Now it's your turn."
The picture above was taken from a song that mocked Elton John, the one below shows Neil leading the crowd in blowing raspberries.
"How Sweet to be an Idiot" was performed at the piano, with duck chapeau.
If you want to see Innes in action, here are the remaining dates on this tour:
APRIL 23 - THIS AIN'T HOLLYWOOD - HAMILTON, ON
APRIL 25 - THE DOIUG FIR - PORTLAND, OR
APRIL 26 - TRIPLE DOOR - SEATTLE, WA
APRIL 28 - COBBS - SAN FRANCISCO, CA
APRIL 30 - McCABES - LOS ANGELES, CA
MAY 1 - ACCOUSTIC MUSIC - SAN DIEGO, CA
MAY 2 - SKYE - PHOENIX, AZ
Neil was very nice about hanging out after the show and signing all sorts of fan collectibles. I brought a vintage Rutles ad from the Rutland Dirty Weekend Book. (I am not in the habit of destroying my books; the glue had lost its stick'em and the pages were loose.)
And so ended the evening for two "veterans" of Back in The Day. Take that, you young whippersnappers.
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