Two acts at the opposite ends of everything played in Dublin last night. The Handsome Family was my choice, no contest. The fact that they were both performing on the same night was certainly a topic not to be wasted as the trio came on stage, and Rennie Sparks introduced herself as ‘Garth Brooks’, her husband Brett as ‘Garth Brooks’ and their percussionist, Jason Toth, by that name also. There then followed something of a rant from Brett which was not exactly appreciative of the big G. He told us that the day Garth Brooks started flying around the stage on a wire was pretty much the end of country music. Would Hank Williams Senior or Junior have done that, he mused, while adding “ he’s (Brooks) symptomatic of everything we’re trying to destroy.” Rennie commented that they had come here to get away from American flags and cowboy hats and here they were amongst a veritable sea of such cheaply sourced items.
The trio then proceeded to playing songs from their rich back catalogue that included such titles as Don’t Be Scared, So Much Wine (a Christmas song, they noted), Back In My Day, 24 Hour Store, Octopus, The Bottomless Hole, Weightless Again and of course the well received Far From Any Road, the song used so effectively as the theme for season one of True Detective. The song had also been used, briefly, in the film Lost City which starred Sandra Bullock. Brett said that he liked Bullock, as they had both been in Odessa, Texas, facilitating another comment about a fan letter received by a knowledgeable person who had discovered their music through Real Detective!
Rennie played her Hofner bass and banjo, while Brett was seated and played acoustically, with percussionist Jason Toth on drums, percussion, xylophone and Omnichord, adding much to the overall sound. Pedal steel and electric guitar player Alex McMahon, who had accompanied them on their UK and Irish tour to date, was absent due to his upcoming nuptials, but undoubtedly his playing would have added another layer of excellence to the delivery of the songs (as reported by LH writer Eilís Boland, who attended the Belfast gig a few days earlier). Although, as they say, you don’t miss what you don’t know. What we do know is that the sonorous voice of Brett contrasted with Rennie’s harmonies and effective musical contributions, and although Brett has previously dissed his guitar playing ability, it held together well.
The lyrical aspects of Rennie’s writing should not be overlooked either as it has a magical (or perhaps more correctly mystical and mythical) quality that is close to unique and that husband and wife collaboration produces something that is very special. Not, perhaps, for the boot scootin’ brigade but much appreciated by the attentive audience. Those in the know know that it is also the stage comments and exchanges that are very much a part of a Handsome Family show.
In one particularly long rant about the viability of music, Brett reasoned that once you buy an expensively imported vinyl album its scratched, ice ring recordings were the answer for Rennie! She then told Brett she would give him 50 bucks right there if he’d just play the song! And so it went on, with asides about other such topics as a song being a blatant rip off if anyone could spot it. There was a tale of a car alarm going off at night when they lived in Chicago. It gave out the message “I’m being tampered with” - which he said was true in the end, tampered with by the disgruntled neighbours. As regards items for sale, Rennie said she would be selling her hat, a spectacular black feathered affair, which she described as perhaps a mammoth’s eyebrow, and would be for sale, but it would need to be fed.
They promised some new music next year and played two new songs, one written based on the things Rennie said in her sleep during lockdown, which she tried to cope with by resorting to sleep aided by sleeping pills. One repeated phase that she spoke, but had no memory of, was the phase “Come into the circle, Joseph”, which may or may not be the actual title of the song. The other song was written as a performance closer and it was played as the final song in a two song encore. Goodnight was a good place to end what was an enjoyable family night out.
The opening act was chosen by the band and was an engaging set by another former Chicago resident, singer/songwriter Daniel Knox. A bearded and long-haired piano player, he was fittingly unique in his delivery which at times reminded me of the string of Randy Newman and the music of Scott Joplin - but then that’s just me! He arrived onstage with a sheaf of printed lyrics, and after each song he dramatically took a page, scrunched it up, and threw it on the ground. The between song exchanges were also amusing. Star Trek, Mr Rogers and the local burger chain Supermacs all came in for comment. He had a voice that went from baritone to, on occasion, falsetto and had a percussive and melodic playing style that was perfect for his lyrical themes and Mr Knox, judging from the numbers at the merch table, made a lot of friends here too.
Goodbye Mr. Brooks, I’ll be sticking with this particular family in the future. Handsome is as handsome does.
Review by Stephen Rapid. Photograph by Kaethe Burt O’Dea