Richard Thompson Plays the Crest Theatre in Sacramento

Richard Thompson Trio at the Crest Theatre in Sacramento

When it comes right down to it, I’ve probably been to more Richard Thompson shows than just about anybody’s but, since I don’t go out all that often, that’s not saying much. I mention it because I was looking for a blog about the time I fell asleep at The Fillmore watching Richard Thompson, and I ran into another blog from 2009 about his All Request Show at the 24th Street Theatre in Curtis Park. Probably the first show was at First Avenue in Minneapolis, or maybe it was Minnesota Public Radio’s The Fitzgerald in St. Paul, where they do Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion.

The reason I fell asleep at The Fillmore was no reflection on Richard Thompson. We had seats in the balcony, with a table, and it was way past my bedtime by the time he rolled onto stage. At my age, we just can’t stay up that late. Not like when I was 23 and working at First American Title as a title searcher. All I had to do the following morning back then was stomp about in my 6-inch heels at the Boulder County Courthouse and thumb through the Grantor and Grantee books, which wasn’t rocket science. Not like today when I negotiate complex transactions for Sacramento real estate.

Eileen Rendahl, Elizabeth Weintraub and Andy Wallace at The Crest Theatre.

We went to the Crest Theatre last night with our friends Eileen Rendahl and her boyfriend Andy Wallace, renown underwater photographer. Eileen is a famous writer who lives in Davis. As I reported a few weeks ago, there are not a lot of restaurants open on Sunday night near the Crest Theatre on K Street, and I certainly wasn’t about to repeat the unfortunate situation at the KBar / Cafe Bernardo across the street, when the only thing I could get served within 30 minutes of the Zombies was a plate of icky barbecue potato chips. So, this time, we checked out the landmark institution of Frank Fat’s at 8th and L Streets. I don’t know how we could live this long in Sacramento and not dined at Frank Fat’s before, especially since I love red leather booths, and the food and service was pretty decent, too.

Richard Thompson first performed an acoustic set before the electric show: he was his own opening act. During the acoustic, I could see him doing an album of lullabies for babies, his voice is that velvety. Maybe that’s why I fell asleep at The Fillmore, now that I think about it. After that, he launched into his new material from his new studio album, Still, part of which was produced by Jeff Tweedy whom, btw, we went to see at the Basilica Block Party right after the 4th of July in Minneapolis. Such a good match for this type of collaboration.

Richard Thompson is quite possibly the best guitarist ever. His lyrics and voice are magical, rich, grainy and convoluted, just like life. You might be able to still get tickets for The Fillmore on November 10th.