Eight years ago, the surf-rock masters Los Straightjackets released What’s So Funny About Peace, Love, and…, a tribute album to Nick Lowe. A few years later, the Nashville-based quartet known for performing in luchador masks began touring and recording with Lowe, essentially serving as his backup band.
The results, as revealed on 2024’s Indoor Safari and in the live show they performed at Alexandria’s famed Birchmere on Tuesday night, have been most invigorating for Lowe and his peculiar sense of pop rock.
Lowe has been a pop rock innovator for more than 50 years now. Most of his groundbreaking work came toward the end of last century… first with Brinsley Schwarz, and then as a solo artist and part-time collaborator with Dave Edmunds and Rockpile.
Nick Lowe, consummate rock professional, gives his fans exactly what they want
More recently, as he has gracefully aged into middle age and beyond, the Brit legend has not rocked quite as hard or pushed the boundaries of pop music quite as insistently. But performing in front of four kick-ass rockers in Mexican wrestling masks has injected some of that old magic.
There is a muscularity to Lowe’s later-stage work that hasn’t really been present since he played with Edmunds back in the glorious past.
At 76, Lowe is still spry and fit. He still has that wicked, understated wit that made him stand out from the crowd of popsters in the ‘70s. And he knows how to fashion a performance that is both tight and expansive.
Hitting the stage on Tuesday, thick black glasses contrasting his snow-white hair, Lowe banged away on his acoustic guitar, seemingly oblivious to the four ominous-looking creatures standing behind him.
These are Los Straightjackets, an American band that has been pounding out some of the most aggressive surf rock you will hear for more than thirty years. The current lineup features founding guitarist Eddie Angel along with second guitar Greg Townson, bass player Pete Curry, and drummer Chris Sprague. Angel is the only original member, but the current lineup has been together for more than ten years and is tight as can be.
You could hear how much they revved up Lowe’s sound from the opener, “So It Goes,” Lowe’s very first solo single, from his debut Jesus of Cool in 1976. You could also hear that Lowe’s voice, though somewhat weathered, could still deliver his infectious melodies and razor-sharp lyrics well enough to satisfy a crowd.
He estimated, with trademark light exaggeration, that this was the 300th time he had journeyed to “leafy” Alexandria in the shadow of the White House to play the venerable Birchmere. Then he marveled at the sellout crowd of about 500 who ignored all the other Tuesday offerings to come hear him. He promised a fun night of “fast and slow songs, old and new.” And that’s exactly what he delivered.
For the first half hour, Lowe and his mates bounced around his discography, playing three songs from Indoor Safari, along with the gorgeous “Heart,” originally released on Rockpile’s one and only LP in 1980, and later rerecorded for Lowe’s 1982 solo album Nick the Knife.
A half hour into the set, Lowe launched into “Tokyo Bay,” a sweet slice of rockabilly built on Curry pummeling bass line. Then he bade farewell to the crowd and let his backing band have the stage.
They blasted through four songs, opening with the theme from The Magnificent Seven and closing with a different film song - Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” from Titanic.
Lowe returned to the stage fifteen minutes later with several other newer tunes, culminating with the sinewy “Blue on Blue.” Then, with little fuss, he tossed an offhand “This one you probably know.”
“Cruel to Be Kind,” “Half a Boy and Half a Man,” “What’s So Funny About Peace, Love and Understanding,” and “Heart of the City.” One classic pop tune after another had the audience, many of whom appeared to be of the singer’s generation, singing and dancing along.
“What’s So Funny…” was especially eye-opening. Lowe has commented on how remarkably eclectic Los Straightjackets are, and they showed it on the Brinsley Schwarz number, made famous by Elvis Costello. Eschewing the urgency of Costello’s version, Lowe was downright languid and soft-spoken in his lament, and his band had no trouble toning down their typical high energy to fit in.
Lowe then let his band have the stage again for the first encore – a rollicking take on the old classic “Surfin’ Bird,” growled out by drummer Sprague. And Lowe returned one final time to close out the night with another Rockpile classic, “When I Write the Book.”
25 songs in 95 minutes, each one tight and passionate with a powerhouse rhythm section, tastefully modulated guitar riffs, and pure pop for now people, even fifty years after many of these songs first appeared. A pretty good night of rock & roll, especially for a Tuesday.