Richard Thompson in Berkeley
Richard Thompson brought his solo acoustic, all-request act to Berkeley for four sold out shows at the Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse. Our photographer Aaron Rubin was there.
Aaron reports that Thompson played an eclectic mix of songs, pulling requests that audience members had written on slips of paper from a large metal washtub, interspersed with wry asides and amusing stories delivered with characteristic English understatement.
Selections spanned the acclaimed guitarist’s long career, including both early numbers from Fairport Convention and later solo work, as well as an eclectic mix of covers from the likes of Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Marty Robbins, Tom Petty, and Thunderclap Newman. All that, plus a virtuosic instrumental performance of Edvard Grieg’s “In the Hall of the Mountain King” and enthusiastic audience singalongs to Thompson’s renditions of “Hey Jude” and – I kid you not — Britney Spears’ “Oops. . .I Did It Again!”
Check out the photos below: