So, last night Bonnie “Prince” Billy performed at the newly reopened Portage Theater, an old movie house that is eight decades old. It was a bit odd walking past the lobby and the concession stands to a large one screen theatre with nearly two-thousands seats. Apryl and I went with visiting friends Caroline (Memphis) and Liam (London), and due to grabbing some stuffed pizza at Giordano’s (yummy!), we were actually late for the very start of the show. I’m still getting use to early shows here. We got to the theatre at 9:15pm and Bonnie was already on stage with his touring band which included Azita on keys and Emmett Kelly on lead guitar. The theatre was rather packed when we arrived, so we took seats at the very back:
As our friend Caroline mentioned, the experience was similar to that of being at an assemby back in grade school. This is the third time I’ve seen Bonnie “Prince” Billy. The first time was about four years ago in Oxford, Mississippi. At that show, he played an almost greatest hits playlist, where it was not uncommon to see everyone around you singing along with every Oldham line. The second time I caught Bonnie was this summer in Memphis at the Deli. You can check this old post to see how much closer I was to the stage.
Bonnie’s performance last night was probably a bit frustrating for someone looking to hear from the artist’s extensive back catalog. I own nearly all of Oldham’s albums/EP’s/tour singles/etc and, I was at a lost at alot of what he played that night. In fact, “The Lion Tamer” from 2001’s Ease Down the Road seemed the farthest that he was daring to go. Of course, this was the opening night of his new fall tour in support of a new album. So it made sense that he would stick to the newer material. But even the encore failed to include any of his popular tunes.
Still, the night’s performance was memorable, especially with Azita deciding each next song to play by a game of charades, which only Bonnie seemed to be able to decipher.