The year might have not been quite right. And the crowd might have been a bit on the older side.
But when Don McLean belted out “American Pie” at the Calvin Theater in Northampton Saturday – the tune he first released in 1971 that’s since become sacred in American culture – time seemed to roll back.
Well, to some extent.
McLean, now 66, did a pretty good job of hitting all the right notes in the timeless cut, which tells of “The Day the Music Died,” a presumed reference to the 1959 plane crash that killed legendary rock and rollers Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson, as well as to cultural events of the 1960s – and is by far his best known song.
It’s so well known, in fact, that the folksy singer-songwriter – clad in sky-blue jeans and a black button-up shirt with an acoustic guitar strapped on his shoulder – played it back-to-back. The second time, though, he played a slightly abridged version to an audience on its feet.
The song sounded fairly similar to the studio cut that McLean released over 40 years ago – save for the expected vocal differential from a man who’s now certainly over the hill. But McLean still hit the notes better than most similar artists of his age are able to these days.
And the tune – which was played second to last at the concert – made the show for all intents and purposes. It was the cut that brought most of the audience members there, and it was the one that, when performed, received the most reaction.
That’s not to say that the rest of the show was by any means unsatisfactory; it wasn’t. But just as it has always been in McLean’s 40-year career, that one song outshined everything else.
Other tunes on the set list included “Crossroads,” “Jerusalem,” “Crying” and “And I Love You So” – a cut off of McLean’s first album, “Tapestry,” which went on to be covered by Elvis Presley and Perry Como, among others.
McLean also played “The Wrong Thing To Do,” a pretty obscure cut that he noted was the inspiration for Drake’s 2011 song “Doing it Wrong.”
But some of the best songs performed at the show included the deeply imaginative “Empty Chairs,” the Dickensian “Homeless Brother” and the beautifully crafted poetic ballad “Vincent,” which was written like a message to famed 19th-century artist Vincent van Gogh.
For most of the performance of “Vincent,” the audience was completely silent and taciturn – listening to McLean as he evoked a keenly felt, morose sentiment. Backed by some instrumental accompaniment by members of his four-person band, he did a respectable job at performing the cut.
But it would have been much more intimate and personal of a performance if it was just McLean strumming on his acoustic guitar. The synthetic sounds offered by his keyboardist took away some of that intimacy and authenticity that the tune usually conveys – and replaced it with artificial sounds.
McLean was opened for by Satinwood, a five-member cover band of 50-somethings from Connecticut, who performed hits from Harry Chapin and Cat Stevens, among others. The band also did a good job at performing “Falling Slowly,” a song from the 2007 movie “Once.”
But except for McLean’s performance of “American Pie” – which got the audience on its feet – the show was lacking in energy and electricity. It wasn’t a hopping performance by any means.
But it really wasn’t supposed to be, either.
It was a chance for an audience to see a performer who might not be playing for too many more years. McLean noted during the show that he’d give up performing once he’s unable to hit the right notes.
So, for the most part, the show served its purpose – it just really didn’t go beyond it.
William Perkins can be reached at [email protected].
