Friday, December 19, 2008

It could have been the icy, rainy weather. It could have been that it was a weekday. It could have been a bad idea to book an obscure singer-songwriter, whose minor heyday was in the early 1970s, in a club that caters to experimental noiseniks. But at Elliott Murphy's concert Tuesday at Velvet Lounge, there were only 16 people -- and that included this writer, the sound man and the opening act.

The veteran expat, who was in from France for his first U.S. tour in a decade, just surveyed the motley crew and said, "I told them to keep the other 300 waiting outside." Murphy then asked whether he and his accompanist, guitarist-singer Olivier Durand, could do the show fully acoustic: two guitars, no mikes, no plugs. For the next 75 minutes, Murphy and Durand played as if they were in front of millions. "I always try to play for the people who are here -- not for the people who aren't here," Murphy said late in the set.

During the concert's 13 songs, Murphy engaged his campfire crowd with direct eye contact, making the evening's intimacy even more intense. His textured voice -- as with his songwriting, it's equal parts Bob Dylan, Lou Reed and Bruce Springsteen -- also exhibited tonal strength and beauty. And Durant's high harmonies were the perfect salve for Murphy's weary-romantic lyrics.

Murphy's intensely personal compositions, which focus on loss, love and regret, garnered even more raw power without amplification, turning this nearly private performance into an epic memory for the lucky few who saw it.

-- Christopher Porter