Alejandro Escovedo
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Death has always been a fab career move in rock-and-roll. Alejandro Escovedo is showing that near-death ain't a bad business plan, either. And it's so much more fun for the performer.
Escovedo, 55, came to the 9:30 club on Saturday still riding the love train that left the station in 2003, when word got out that the Austin fringe-rock lifer (his '80s bands included Rank and File and True Believers) had a bad case of hepatitis. A legion of artists -- some of whom had also done time as critical darlings but, unlike Escovedo, had cashed some big checks along the way -- called attention to him through benefit concerts and a tribute album. Escovedo has come through it all with his looks and health intact and a larger, even more devoted audience.
Wearing a shiny, loud sports coat and backed by a do-it-all band that flaunted ex-Spirit bassist Mark Andes and a string section, Escovedo proved in his two-hour set that he deserves all the good stuff. Standouts from his latest CD, "The Boxing Mirror," included "Break This Time" and "Dear Head on the Wall."
On the rocky "Put You Down," cellist Brian Standefer and violinist Susan Voelz went at it bow to bow, triggering sordid ELO flashbacks in fans of a certain age. But the strings melded wondrously on covers of the Rolling Stones' "Sway" and Ian Hunter's mood-crusher, "I Wish I Was Your Mother."
Escovedo repeatedly thanked fans for the affection, but got peeved by steady shouts for "Castanets." He acquiesced after huffing about having a "love-hate" relationship with his grand garage rocker ever since learning it was in heavy rotation on President Bush's iPod. That song's a uniter, not a divider.
-- Dave McKenna
