Jonathan Richman

By Charlie Lynch

Jonathan Richman played Thursday night to a crowd of all ages at the Somerville Theater.

Richman has been a prolific cult figure since he first began recording music in the mid-1970s with the Boston punk outfit, The Modern Lovers. In his long and ever-evolving career he has been dubbed “The Godfather of Punk,” has frequented “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” and played the Greek chorus in the Farrelly Brothers’ “There’s Something About Mary.”
The seated venue proved to be a fitting setting for his intimate performance style.  There was no opening act. The stage was empty, but for Jonathan, his guitar, and percussionist Tommy Larkins, playing a sparse drum set. The focus was on the music and Richman’s powerful charisma, which held the audience through the performance.

The songs seamlessly moved between topics and styles. Some songs were played in Flamenco-style, while others were sung in different languages. Midway through the set, Richman played the crowd-favorite, “I was Dancing in the Lesbian Bar.” The audience sang along and clapped as Jonathan put down his guitar to dance on the lip of the stage.  This was followed by another classic tune, “That Summer Feeling,” from 1992’s I, Jonathan. Here was Richman at his most sentimental and nostalgic, and the audience respectfully quieted down and followed along.
Jonathan Richman has always been outspoken about his Boston upbringing.  He sang about Boylston Street at night and hanging around Harvard Square as a young man, inserting memories and places into the lyrics. He appeared as a friend, a local-boy we could all relate to, who sang about Keith Richards and Harpo Marx.

When the set ended the audience rose to their feet in applause. Richman and Tommy Larkins returned to play a few more songs.  The encore included “Not So Much To Be Loved As To Love,” a song that sums up the Richman ethos and closed one great performance by a great performer.