Forever Wild: Happily Paying Homage to Heroes, Willie Nile Has Readily Become One -- Chicago Concert Review

Concert Review

Willie Nile
w/ opening act Nicholas Tremulis
SPACE, Evanston, IL
March 17, 2017
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Chances are, if you're reading this you already know of Willie Nile--whether as a long-time fan of an artist active for decades, someone like me who came to know of him more recently via his friendship with Bruce Springsteen, or because of me, as this is the fifth rave concert review I've written about him since 2011. (I also loved him the first time I saw him in 2009, before I was blogging regularly.)

But if you are a complete Nile neophyte, perhaps the best way I can describe him in shorthand is to note the first songs played Friday night at SPACE in Evanston, IL. (I posted this setlist to Setlist.fm)

Though good, and hailing from 2016's World Wide Willie album, these are neither his best nor most emblematic songs.

But "Forever Wild" sees the rock 'n roll survivor--who was poised to be a "next big thing" after his stellar 1980 debut album but never quite became one--looking back with wistfulness yet ahead with buoyancy.

And "Grandpa Rocks" amply denotes that even as a doting grandfather of four, the 68-year-old Nile--who Uncut Magazine once called "a one-man Clash"--is far from ready to go gently into any night.

Nile is an excellent songwriter who has had a succession of strong albums in recent years--2006's Streets of New York was my starting point and still my favorite--and almost anything he plays live with his crack 4-piece band comes off well.

Particularly so from just a few feet away, as I was in the comfortable quarters of SPACE, where I have seen Nile the last three times.

After the opening two songs, the Buffalo, NY native played "Life on Bleecker Street," reflecting his current Manhattan residence but also--indirectly--celebrating that roadway's importance on arts & music, including venues in Greenwich Village and the former CBGBs club at the center of the New York punk scene.

With Matt Hogan often dazzling on guitar, other Nile originals came off sumptuously, including "The Innocent Ones," "Heaven Help the Lonely" and "Give Me Tomorrow," on which Chicago's Nicholas Tremulis--who had opened the show with a nice hourlong solo set ending with a beautiful cover of John Lennon's "Jealous Guy"--joined Nile's band.

(In years past, I've seen the Nicholas Tremulis Orchestra serve as Nile's backing band, but along with Hogan, bassist Johnny Pisano and a drummer I can't cite beyond a first name of John now seem rather constant as the touring band.)

The Irish-tinged "Beautiful Wreck of the World" was a treat on St. Patrick's Day, and after Willie played the poignant "The Crossing" solo on piano, an extended "Love is a Train" was one of the show's highlights.

Along with the music, it's always fun to hear Willie Nile tell stories about his interactions with more famous friends, admirers and collaborators (without ever feeling like braggadocio or brazen name dropping).

Friday night he mentioned U2 a couple times, and Martin Scorsese.

And he's never shy about paying overt homage to musical heroes--of his, and typically mine, too, though in Nile's case he can call some of them actual friends.

Preceded by saying he was working on an album of Bob Dylan cover songs, first came a rocking version of "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35," which you may recognize more as "everybody must get stoned."

And a few songs later, with Tremulis back onstage, a version of Velvet Underground's "Sweet Jane"--which closes out World War Willie--was a blistering, blissful delight that, stunningly, got even better as it segued into David Bowie's "Heroes."

These tributes to Lou Reed and Bowie nearly made me cry, and I caught much of it on video. (See below.)

After his own anthemic "One Guitar," Nile ended the night with a romp though The Beatles' "A Hard Day's Night."

Though, as usual, I said hello to Willie after the show and had a photo taken, I don't pretend to know him or the psychology that has accompanied his long career.

Back in 1980, Nile was heralded by Pete Townshend and hand-picked to open for The Who, but not only did his career never truly take off, he had long hiatuses between albums and I only learned of him less than 10 years ago.

But though far from the household name of some of his chums and contemporaries, Nile not only still puts on a scintillating rock show, he seems happy to keep doing so as long as he's able whenever a few hundred enthusiastic fans show up, as they did at SPACE.

So while I sometimes wish that this blog could have a greater audience and influence, so that smaller acts I repeatedly rave about--like Willie Nile--might perhaps play, deservedly, to thousands at a time, during Friday's show he spoke of never having much taste or need for fame.

He just seems to love writing and performing his music, unconcerned with the levels of stardom he never attained.

Hence, while I don't expect yet another sparkling Seth Saith review will generate tons of new Willie Nile fans, I enjoyed seeing him once again, and writing about him anew.

That's enough, and even more than enough.

And between his own music and that of hallowed performers we both love, Willie Nile--though small of stature and unlikely to be recognized by much of the public--doesn't just intertwine with some of the all-time greats, for me he rightfully stands among them.

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Even on a Less Raucous Note, Willie Nile Delivers Another Storied Performance -- Chicago Concert Review

Concert Review

Willie Nile

w/ Johnny Pisano on bass

Opening act Jefferson Grizzard

SPACE, Evanston, IL

February 13, 2015

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On Sunday, December 7, 1980, Willie Nile was recording at the Record Plant in New York City.

So was John Lennon, in a separate studio, accompanied by Yoko Ono.

They didn't interact directly but when the former Beatle conveyed to a recording engineer that he needed some guitar strings, the New York singer/songwriter supplied them, helping to enable the last song Lennon would record.

Nile considered accompanying the strings with a note of admiration to one of his musical heroes, but refrained as the two musicians were to meet each other that Tuesday.

On Monday, through a shared colleague who requested an autograph as John and Yoko were heading out into the night--under the guise that it was for the guy who had given him the strings, though the requester was really seeking it for a relative--Lennon warmly acknowledged what Nile had done.

Mere minutes later, John Lennon was murdered in the entryway of the Dakota, where he and Yoko lived.

This story was told with great poignancy by Willie Nile on Friday night within the comfortable, relatively intimate Evanston venue known as SPACE.

Dedicating it to Lennon, he then proceeded to play a song called "Lost" from his most recent album, If I Was a River, a piano-based record on which Nile was fortuitously able to use the same piano that both he and John had played at the Record Plant in 1980.

The unique combination of excellent music and enlightening storytelling that essentially reveals the history of rock 'n roll--Nile also shared that he had visited the Buddy Holly crash site just the day before arriving in Evanston, had enjoyed a previous conversation with Holly's widow Maria Elena, was recently given a private tour of Lennon's childhood home in Liverpool and wrote/recorded tunes with, for and/or about Roger McGuinn, Danny Kortchmar, Jeff Buckley and Levon Helm, among others--helps to explain why I make a point of seeing Willie Nile every time he comes to town.

Without meaning to be flippant or facetious, nor disrespectful to anyone's faith or beliefs, I often say--and more frequently feel--that "Rock is my religion."

And if the Beatles are my most exalted deity and Bruce Springsteen my high priest, Willie Nile is my favorite missionary (with great respect to other cherished troubadours such as Alejandro Escovedo, Paul Weller and Ike Reilly).

Now in his mid-'60s, Nile released his self-titled debut album in 1980, which garnered enough attention that Pete Townshend hand-picked him to open for The Who. But after 1981's Golden Down, due to  "protracted legal problems" (per Wikipedia), he released only two more studio albums--and quite spaced out at that--before 2006's wonderful Streets of New York.

Thanks to a laudatory mention on the Springsteen fanzine site, Backstreets.com, I bought Streets of New York soon after its release, and still like it best of all of Willie's albums.

I first caught him live in 2009 after the release of House of A Thousand Guitars and found him to be absolutely phenomenal. I wasn't blogging regularly then, but would have rated the show--which like the next two had him backed locally by Chicago's Nicholas Tremulis Orchestra--@@@@@ (out of 5).

That's also the rating I gave to Willie Nile gigs in 2011, 2012 and 2013, the last at Evanston's SPACE with his own backing band.

I've introduced myself to Willie after shows and have had CDs signed and photos taken; he's a great, extremely warm guy so I hope he's not too offended that I'm giving Friday night's show--accompanied only by bassist Johnny Pisano of his regular backing band--1/2@ less than the others.

The 90-minute performance was certainly terrific and I loved it; it just didn't quite blow my mind like the full-band, full-bore shows that have left me a bit more ebulliently ecstatic. Still, I'm happy to have witnessed Nile play in a slightly less feverish vein as it further amplifies what a great and prolific songwriter he is.

And--even if he's toiling in smallish clubs without great name recognition beyond roomfuls of diehard fans worldwide; it was nice to see SPACE near capacity on Friday--his place in rock history. 

You can see the full setlist that I posted to Setlist.fm, but everything he and Pisano played sounded great, even in leaving out at least a couple dozen songs I would have loved to hear.

Illustrating my above comment about him being a rock 'n roll missionary, Nile's numerous stories, recollections and dedications only added to the evening's sense of purpose--beyond just righteous entertainment--as he shared not only amazing anecdotes, but espoused (as is close to my heart) the idea that music and culture can truly transform lives and change the world.

He dedicated "The Innocent Ones," the great title track of his 2010 album, to the victims of the Charlie Hebdo massacre, spoke about visiting John Lennon's childhood home--where with Paul McCartney "Please Please Me" and other early Beatles' hits were written--before playing his own Beatlesque "My Little Girl" and told of meeting Maria Elena at South by Southwest prior to launching into a great cover of "Not Fade Away."

And this was only halfway through the show.

(Fascinatingly, per Willie, Maria Elena shared that Buddy adored Little Richard, but when the latter came to visit him in Texas in the late '50s, the racist views of Holly's father precluded Richard from being let into the family home.)

Showing himself to be incredibly deft on the piano, Nile performed "Sunrise in New York City," "Lost"--preceded by the story at top--and "I Can't Do Crazy (Anymore)," which is a song title taken from a comment noted songwriter/sideman Danny Kortchmar made to him after a beautiful woman was pointed out on the streets of New York. (I also like how If I Was a River is a sly reference to Nile's last name.)

Jefferson Grizzard

Reaching even further back in his personal/cultural history lesson, Willie also shared that his grandfather ran a vaudeville orchestra for 30 years, through which such luminaries as Bill "Bojangles" Robinson and Eddie Cantor became family friends.

After a romp through "House of A Thousand Guitars," whose lyrics cite many other greats, Nile brought opening act Jefferson Grizzard--a fine singer, songwriter from Rome, GA with what sounded like a Jerseyesque growl to me--onstage for "When Levon Sings," which Willie wrote after the death of his close friend, Levon Helm of The Band.

Grizzard stayed onstage for the "One Guitar," an anthemic song of peace on which Nile has repeatedly been accompanied by his pal Bruce Springsteen, including just a few weeks ago at the Light of Day Benefit for Parkinson's Disease. (My clip of Friday's version is below.)

Even with Willie playing acoustic guitar or piano throughout, it was far from a sedate evening, but for his sole encore Nile eschewed common choices by the Ramones or Clash--both friends and inspirations--or his great cover of Jim Carroll's "People Who Died," which he mentioned while citing longtime friend Norm Winer of WXRT.

Instead he ended a great show with a touching take of "On the Road to Calvary," noting that he had written it for Jeff Buckley and would have loved to have heard him sing it.

I said hello to Willie by the merch stand after the show, and he warmly told me that I could reach out to him for an interview. I hope to make that happen in the coming weeks, but already feel like I know--and try to share--much about a man who has become one of my favorite performers.

And even if--sans electric guitars and drums--Friday's show at SPACE was a bit less rocking than ones past, it reiterated my belief that great rock 'n roll is about much more than just great rock 'n roll.

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Here's a clip I shot of "One Guitar," with Willie Nile, Johnny Pisano and Jefferson Grizzard:

And here's a Spotify playlist for those wishing to learn more about Willie Nile (including a number of tunes he played at SPACE):

Willie Nile Blasts Into SPACE, Proceeds to Rocket to the Core -- Chicago Concert Review

Concert Review

Willie Nile
SPACE, Evanston, IL
October 18, 2013
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This is my third @@@@@ Willie Nile concert review in as many years (1, 2). If I was regularly writing this blog in 2009, I would have posted one then too.

For those unfamiliar with the 64-year-old New York rocker, and thus oblivious to the four superb studio albums he has released since 2006--his recording career dates back to 1980, but start with Streets of New York from '06 (though for some reason that one's not on Spotify)--and the stupendously good live shows that feel as if Bruce Springsteen collided with the Ramones, this might sound outlandish, excessive, deranged.

Or as though I were the president of the Willie Nile Fan Club, or perhaps one of his relatives.

I assure you other than a shared love of rock 'n roll--from Buddy Holly to the Beatles & Stones, all of whom he covered on Friday night at SPACE, as well as the Boss, Ramones, Clash and much else--there is no kinship between me and Willie Nile.

And while I have gladly posted his setlists to Setlist.fm on a few occasions and see him every chance I get, I am not in any club. I am simply a fan.

The three previous times I've seen Nile--first at Martyrs' and the next two at Fitzgerald's in Berwyn--he's been backed by Chicago's Nicholas Tremulis Orchestra.

Not only has this saved Willie the expense of bringing a band to town, but it has made for outstanding
shows given the impressive instrumentation of the NTO (basically a large rock band), whose leader has been well-known locally for many years.

This time, Nile came with the bandmates who played on his latest album, American Ride. While this meant no opening set from the NTO--as has been the norm--and a bit less expansive sound, guitarist Matt Hogan, bassist Johnny Pisano and drummer Alex Alexander were terrific in their own right.

Nile opened with a couple new songs, "This is Our Time"--currently the "Coolest Song of the Week" on Little Steven's Underground Garage--and "Life on Bleecker Street," and would spotlight his new record throughout, but he also reached back to the recent and not-so-recent past with gems like "The Innocent Ones," "Heaven Help the Lonely" and a truly resplendent "Love is a Train" that brought him and the band a mid-set standing ovation.

During the main set, he and his band ripped through Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away," and after having asked if Tremulis was in the house--to no avail at the time--and dedicating "The Crossing" to Nick's recently passed father, Tremulis showed up just before the encores. He joined the band for blistering versions of "A Hard Day's Night" (which I'd never heard covered outside of a Beatles tribute band) and "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction."

After the show I bought a copy of American Ride and got it signed by Willie, who remembered me as having met and blogged about him before. And I told him that though everything he played sounded fantastic over the course of nearly 2 hours, he left out some of my favorites and easily could have pleased me just as much with an entirely different set.

As always, he was quite gracious, as he was throughout the night from the stage to a nearly full crowd at SPACE, where I  attended for the first time. I found it to be a comfortable venue, with even a general admission ticket affording me a seat just a few feet from the stage.

Willie also shared how his new album is selling gratifyingly well and that he has two more albums worth of material ready to go, but needs to find the money to record them, having utilized crowdsourcing in the past.

Wherever his American Ride continues to take him, I look forward to accompanying his musical journey, which seems to be  flowering more robustly than ever well into his mid-60s.

For not only did he deliver another astonishing show--if there is a more dependable club-level performer, I'm not aware--but if my mere $20 admission fee could anywhere have been better spent, I doubt I could have gotten, as his closing song would suggest, any greater satisfaction on this particular night. Or most others.

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For a taste of Willie Nile live, here's a YouTube clip of him and his current band at a recent show, doing "This is Our Time" and "Life On Bleecker Street."

And for a bit more, these are clips I've shot and shared from shows in years past: "One Guitar," "Run" and "Hard Times in America."