Review: Pokey LaFarge brings his live show to Cambridge
Coming out to a fantastic reception from a packed out J2, charismatic American singer-songwriter Pokey LaFarge, whose electrifying music encompasses everything from rock ‘n’ roll to country, from Latin to jazz, looked every inch the star in a well-fitted light brown suit, while the rest of his four-piece band (keyboard player, guitarist, drummer, stand-up bass player) all wore matching blue suits.
After exciting opening number, Get It ’Fore It’s Gone, off his latest album, 2021’s In the Blossom of Their Shade, Pokey announced that he was delighted to be back in the UK, noting that it’s been four years since he was last over here. He later revealed that before the pandemic, he spent 10 years regularly touring the UK. It was certainly great to see him back, a feeling further enhanced by the insanely-catchy second song, Fine to Me.
The singer, a magnetic performer with an impressive vocal range (I particularly liked it when he sang falsetto), said that he and the band had only arrived in the UK the night before, stating that they were still suffering from jet lag - you wouldn’t have guessed it, though, from the energetic performances of Rotterdam and End of My Rope.
On the Latin-tinged To Love or Be Alone, guitarist Erik Miron unexpectedly brought out a small trumpet and began playing it, drawing a fervent response. He subsequently played it on other songs throughout the evening. I felt it, as well as his guitar, should have been louder at times, though, especially when he was playing slide guitar.
Wanna Be Your Man had a lovely vintage ‘ragtime’ feel to it, while Something in the Water, one of Pokey’s best-known tunes and the title of his 2015 album, resulted in much merriment, dancing and the holding aloft of phones recording the action - more so than at any other point in the evening.
The sublime all-round entertainer expertly crooned his way through the moody Lucky Sometimes and then brought singer and dancer Addie Hamilton, who also happens to be his fiancée, out onto the stage for the uptempo Bluebird, a song Pokey said was written about her.
Hamilton remained on stage with the band for the rest of the evening, livening up the proceedings with her infectious singing and dancing. Pokey encouraged the audience to turn to the person next to them and introduce themselves - “Who knows, you may fall in love,” he said - but needless to say, very few people did so. This is England after all!
At the start of the encore, Pokey alluded to the fact they were in “lovely England”, which initially drew a muted response (the crowd were more enthusiastic second time around), and introduced the jazzy What the Rain Will Bring.
He and Addie got the fans singing, as they had done previously, on the call-and-response Don’t Let It Go and brought the proceedings to a close with the gorgeous, 50s-esque Goodnight, Goodbye (Hope Not Forever).
You certainly get a wonderful evening of fun and excitement from Pokey and co (isn’t that what popular music is supposed to be about?) and the upcoming venues on his UK tour are in for a real treat!
