Jim Infantino at Home, 4-4-20 Concert Review

It has been twenty-eight days since I’ve been to a concert, which must certainly be the longest span of time I’ve gone without seeing live music since I was sixteen. Musicians, many of whom are struggling to pay the bills, have been putting on concerts in their homes, which we can enjoy in our homes. It’s strange, but there is a sense of community during these online concerts, with folks actually able to interact through the ongoing comments section. Jim Infantino has put on a few of these shows, referring to the series as “Solo In Isolation.” Today’s concert was shown on both Facebook and You Tube, so the community was sort of split in half, with folks commenting on both pages.

Jim Infantino had been fielding requests all week, and at the beginning of today’s show at 5 p.m. (eastern time) mentioned that he had received a lot. He then opened the show with “Where The Money Is,” and of course the line “Infections – that’s where the money is” stood out. That was the case with a lot of the songs he played, with certain lines seeming to be just exactly right for this bizarre situation we all are finding ourselves in. After that song, he said: “Somebody asked for ‘Big Chinos.’ I swear to God I don’t know how to play it anymore.” He then went into that “Kumbaya/Smells Like Teen Spirit” mash-up, and the line about feeling contagious of course stood out. Well, perhaps he suddenly recalled how to play it, because he went straight and seamlessly from “Kumbaya” into “Big Chinos.” It was a delight to hear this one again. “All right, so that was almost okay,” he said afterward. He followed that with a song that I requested, “Meanies.” While some songs already had lines relevant to our period of isolation and fear, for other tunes he added lines or adjusted lines. Such was the case with “Meanies,” with Jim adding “Or be awake during the day” after the line “Just to make it safe to sleep at night.” Folks, don’t let the meanies bite your head off.  He included a bit from the closing theme to The Magic Garden at the end, adding the line “I hope you don’t get the corona.”

Last week someone had requested “Can’t Fall Down,” and he attempted it, but quickly abandoned the effort, saying he’d learn it for today’s concert. And he did. It had perhaps a slow start, but he soon got into it, and it was wonderful hearing this song again. He played several songs that are not often in his set lists, at times reaching back to some really early material. He followed “Can’t Fall Down” with “Better Than You,” another I hadn’t heard in quite a while, and one with a sweet vocal delivery. After that song, he talked a bit about how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting musicians, especially those who rely on income from live performances. “Artists are generally completely screwed. I’m not. I’m not completely screwed. Lots of artists are.” He urged folks to donate to Club Passim’s PEAR Fund. And speaking of reaching back to early material, Jim Infantino then played “Another Saturday Night.” In introducing the song, he said he was surprised to see it in the request list. He added some new lyrics for this performance, which was certainly a highlight of the show. He followed that with another old one, another highlight, “Venus,” which was absolutely beautiful. I hadn’t heard that one in ages. After playing it, he mentioned that he wrote it in 1986. He followed that with “Always Thus.” At the end he sort of combined the words “clown” and “crown,” leading him to laugh afterward, “Clown crown.”

“Everybody Gets The Blues” is one of the great songs from the End Construction days. Fellow End Construction member Brian Doser showed up in the comments section on the Facebook stream just before Jim started this song, leading Jim to suggest he could type in his part if he wanted. He didn’t, but it was a wonderful rendition, a good song to hear in these days when basically everybody I know has the blues. Though there had been a place to request songs during the week leading up to the show, that of course didn’t keep folks from adding requests in the comments section as Jim played. One of those requests was for “Ahead Of The Curve.” “I’m going to try it,” Jim said, then quickly added “I’m going to mess it up.” He changed “now the internet is tired” to “but now podcasting is tired.” He also added, “and lick my boots, slave” to the line in which the girl says “Don’t call me ‘girl.’” Yeah, he got stuck trying to remember the lyrics at one point, and perhaps delivered an incorrect chord, but no matter, it was a totally fun rendition.

Someone had requested a cover of Richard Thompson’s “1952 Vincent Black Lightning,” and so Jim tried to see if he could remember it. After a few moments, he gave that up, promising “I’ll work on it.” So we’ll probably get to hear it next week. Several people requested “You Rule,” so he did that one, following it with another request, “Big Old Dark Green Car,” changing the line “in rows and rows and rows of chairs” to “in their homes, in their homes.” Big Old Dark Green Car” is such a cool song, an old favorite of mine. He then played “Jumblies,” the only song repeated from the previous show, and wrapped up the show with a great and updated version of “Stress.” I loved his delivery of “So I’m fine, so I’m fine, I’m fine,” like he was trying to convince himself. He repeated the line “It’s the little things that get you,” leading to him adding “Your hands are contaminated,” which he also repeated several times. Among the other lyric changes to fit with this crazy pandemic, he sang “I just stick my thumb in a peach and they arrest me” and also “I feel all right, but I haven’t been tested.” Certainly a unique rendition of this popular number, and a great ending to the set. The show ended at 6:23 p.m. eastern time.

Set List

1. Where The Money Is
2. Kumbaya/Smells Like Teen Spirit >
3. Big Chinos
4. Meanies >
5. The Magic Garden Closing Theme (Goodbye Song)
6. Can’t Fall Down
7. Better Than You
8. Another Saturday Night
9. Venus
10. Always Thus
11. Everybody Gets The Blues
12. Ahead Of The Curve
13. You Rule
14. Big Old Dark Green Car
15. Jumblies
16. Stress

And, hey, if you missed the show, you can still watch it. I believe it is still up on both You Tube and Facebook. Enjoy!