Marc Ribot – The Tuning Fork (Concert Review)

Guitarist extraordinaire Marc Ribot performed a rare solo acoustic show at Auckland’s Tuning Fork. It was a showcase of intense musicianship that left the assembled fans spellbound, despite the fact that there was very little personal interplay between Ribot and his audience. This was very much a case of an artist letting his music do the talking.

It was clear this show was going to something special right from the start. 13^thFloor photographer Michael Flynn was advised that there were to be no photos taken during Marc Ribot’s performance. No, the guitarist wasn’t pulling any diva attitude on us; he just finds the sound of the camera’s shutter distracting when he plays. Fair enough. And so he graciously invited Mr Flynn to the afternoon soundcheck where he sat for several photos which now accompany this review.

In order to ensure that the audience was comfortable and quiet, The Tuning Fork was filled with rows of chairs and there were signs posted imploring the patrons to please keep the racket down. Both the signs and the chairs proved effective…there was little rustling around and virtually no noise made by the fans…well done, everyone!

The evening began with Auckland-based guitarist Neil Watson, who looked like he may have borrowed Neil Young’s wardrobe circa 1975 and his shaggy haircut along with it. Watson played a variety of electric guitars in a variety of styles including a Latin-tinged version of Nirvana’s In Bloom, and a thrilling version of Erroll Garner’s Misty. He also sang a couple of love songs for good measure.

Armed with only a battered Gibson acoustic guitar, Marc Ribot took the stage shortly after 9pm. He may have muttered a brief greeting amid the applause, and if he did, it would have been the only thing he said to the audience for well over an hour. Mr Ribot promptly sat down with his head bowed over his guitar, glasses slide down to the end of his nose, and played the hell out of his guitar.

It was almost 20 minutes later when he paused for the first burst of applause. I can’t really tell you the song titles he performed; although I’m pretty sure he began with the art song, How Insensitive, but moved on to play several selections along the way, finishing the first section with an upbeat blues.

He followed that with The Beatles’ Happiness Is A Warm Gun, which he had covered on his 2001 album, Saints.  He used the familiar melodic lines of the song as a blueprint to improvise and it quickly became something very different than what Messers Lennon and McCartney may have originally imagined.

Needless to say Ribot’s playing was technically precise while simultaneously soulful and challenging. The word I would use to describe his playing would be “abstract”.

Ribot finally addressed the audience about an hour and twenty minute in to the show to tell them he had just played a John Coltrane composition, Dearly Beloved and would finish the set with a tune from his “former bandleader in The Lounge Lizards, John Lurie” and a song called Blow Job.

Ribot did return for one more song. His encore was another Coltrane composition titled Amen which left us with one more dazzling display of virtuosity and passion for music.

Amen, indeed.

Marty Duda

Click on any image to view Michael Flynn’s portraits of Marc Ribot shot at The Tuning Fork: