Steve Forbert (vocals, guitar, harmonica, foot percussion); Jesse Bardwell (guitar, mandolin, backing vocals). Opening set: Paul Horton (vocals, guitar)

I have seen Steve Forbert once before, at the Narrows Center in Fall River, MA, in September, 2006. He is a talented songwriter with a voice that is on the wispy side, but works really well for his songs. He was accompanied tonight by Jesse Bardwell on guitar and mandolin, whose accompaniment really rounded out the sound. Steve himself played acoustic guitar and, on a few songs, harmonica. There was a microphone by his foot, so he added a percussive sound with foot tapping.

He played a wide range of songs, a few from his latest album, The Magic Tree, a few of his classic favorites ("Romeo's Tune," "Goodbye to Little Jo"), and a few great covers, including one or two by country legend Jimmie Rodgers. When introducing "Romeo's Tune," which he played to end his main set, he joked that if he had played it sooner in the show, he was afraid people would get up and leave because sometimes audiences just want to hear the "hit." He told stories about his many years as a travelling musician. He was very loose on stage and kept the audience laughing and singing along. He has this unique way of leaning toward the crowd to encourage singing along. He told a very funny (and obviously spontaneous) story featuring the musician who opened the show, Paul Horton. Steve began the story by saying he thought the audience looked like people who like to read intellectual books, then went on to say that before the show Paul was telling him that he was in Newbury Comics in Boston one day and in walked John Entwhistle from The Who. According to the story, Paul Horton eased over toward where John was talking to the store employee to overhear what they were saying, and well, Steve said the book we should all be reading is, "Horton Hears a Who."

Steve's encore song, dedicated to the young climate activists who just today were protesting in Washington and around the nation, was "Good Planets Are Hard To Find." All in all it was a great show with a real entertainer who has been one of the hardest working guys in music for several decades.

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