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He mixed business with pleasure, turning pop melodies into vicious political diatribes. He left most of his best-known numbers out of the mix. And he rolled out one new one after another; sort of keeping score along the way, noting this is the 'newest of the new' before playing the rumbling "Night Train."
Many of the most recent songs rank right up there with his hits, so there was little concern that fans were denied "If I Had A Rocket Launcher" or "Peggy's Kitchen Wall."
Instead they got a haunting rendition of "The Coming Rains" (played on a heavily effected metal body resonator guitar), the fantastic "Pacing The Cage," and the ridiculously good solo instrumental piece "Mistress of Storms."
The latter pushed an almost Middle Eastern riff against a Richard Thompson-style ostinato bass pattern. It was a fine showcase for Cockburn's considerable guitar prowess; but then the whole evening was as well. Still, it was nice to hear him stretch out on a melodic invention free from the worry of supporting a lyric.
"Mistress" was also the first time Cockburn's "kick percussion" rig (basically a pair of big wind chimes that he whacks once in a while) seemed like anything more than an afterthought at one of his shows.
Not all of the new material fared so well, though. "Get Up Johnny [sic]," "The Mines of Mozambique" and "Wise Users" (which he performed last summer at the Starlite Music Theatre, but has not recorded.) under the wieght of their own messages. Cockburn is clearly concerned about the state of the world, but when he goes political he gets preachy with a very big stick and precious little humor. Maybe somebody should buy him a Phil Ochs box set for Christmas.
Luckily he can sure write a beautiful love song, and he pegged that with the beautiful and unconventional "All The Ways I Love You" -- perhaps the highlight of the show.
For those hungry for the familiar, Cockburn did include his trademark 1979 hit, "Wondering Where the Lions Are," "If a Tree Falls" and the intense "Dream Like Mine."
His bluesier hand was also shown on the fiery "Kit Carson" (ripped out on an electrified resonator) and a trio of encores in "the famous C tuning used only by Chilean women and itinerant American bluesmen."
There was one rule that Cockburn broke that wasn't so delightful. The concert, scheduled for 8 p.m., started over 30 minutes late. Rumors abounded that the delay was due to Cockburn requiring a long rest between sound check and performance. If so, he owed it to fans to cut his downtime a little and get onstage. He also took a painfully long break between his hour sets simply unforgivable considering the earlier wait. Luckily for Cockburn, his fans feel he's worth waiting for -- and frankly, most of Thursday's show definitely was worth it.