Nick Lowe • The Palladium Palaver CD
A fascinating collection of live Nick Lowe performances bringing together two very different moments in the career of one of Britain's finest songwriters. The Palladium Palaver opens with seventeen tracks recorded from a live FM broadcast at London's prestigious Palladium on 14 October 2001, during the UK tour supporting Lowe's acclaimed album The Convincer.
The Palladium set finds Lowe and his band in superb form, mixing songs from The Convincer with some of his best-known compositions. Highlights include What's Shakin' On The Hill, Half A Boy And Half A Man, the hilarious Has She Got A Friend?, Faithless Lover, True Love Travels On A Gravel Road, Cruel To Be Kind and I Knew The Bride.
The set also includes the gorgeous You Inspire Me, Indian Queens, Let's Stay In And Make Love and All Men Are Liars, giving a great overview of Lowe's songwriting across different periods. There's a particularly nice mixture of dry humour, sophisticated songwriting, Country influences and the relaxed Rock 'n' Roll style that has always been central to his music.
The final four tracks come from Nick Lowe's Tiny Desk Concert, recorded in Washington DC on 1 November 2010. This intimate acoustic performance provides a fascinating contrast to the full-band Palladium recording and includes further versions of Man That I've Become, Rome Wasn't Built In A Day, All Men Are Liars and House For Sale.
With 21 tracks spanning almost a decade of live performances, The Palladium Palaver offers a substantial collection for Nick Lowe fans, combining a full-length 2001 London performance with a rare four-song acoustic set from his 2010 Tiny Desk appearance.
