Crooked Fingers Play So Sweet

I haven’t seen Erich Bachman perform since the late nineties, when I was lucky enough to catch him fronting the indie-rock band Archers of Loaf. In those days Coney Island High still graced St. Marks Place, now a home for the children of yuppies and chain food establishments. In his new incarnation as Crooked Fingers since 2000, Bachmann has mellowed, no longer singing, “Assassination on X-mas Eve” and “Strangled by the Stereo wire.” I traveled to Hoboken, (yes New Jersey!) to Maxwell’s to listen to a solo Bachmann play his cleverly crafted, hopeful love songs and tales of sadness. Announcing that he had no set list, Bachmann took suggestions from the crowd throughout the night. As I called out some old favorites from the Archers of Loaf days, he replied he’d play them later. I called out, “Liar!” and he replied, “I’m a liar, but not that kind.” Often he ignored the crowd and played new songs that he felt like playing. “Juliet” told the story of a woman slowly being burned by her own cigarette. With subtle word plays, a deep and rusty voice, and insightful rhymes, Bachmann turns this sad story into a beautiful tale. Finger picking his way through the night, he switched between classical, electric, and steel lap guitars. Towards the end of the two-hour set, Bachmann announced there was merchandise in the back. There was an insulting cry from a crowd member, “Capitalist!” Bachmann replied, “Well, the other thing wasn’t working out so well.” During the last few song of the night, Bachmann played some originals and mixed in some covers at requests from the crowd. “Valerie,” is a brilliant song about a man accidentally seeing Valerieundress in her room and wanting it. I actually requested that he play it again as soon as he finished drawing a few chuckles from the crowd. He covered a Kris Kristofferson song about getting stoned and being alone on a Sunday and also reluctantly covered Prince’s “When You Were Mine,” asking for a sing along from the crowd as he admitted to not knowing all the lyrics. After playing for two hours he stepped off stage despite the clamor for more music. A great show worthy of a trip to New Jersey, I’m definitely going to check out Bachmann play his CMJ show at Rothko this Friday at midnight.

Tags:   coney island high

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Posted on 9/14/2005 ( Permanent Link )
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