Mr. Airplane Man @ Zuzu

Zuzu/Cambridge, MA
8/23/07

I wasn't going to do a "formal" review of this for a variety of reasons, but the Mr. Airplane Man blowout at Zuzu last week gives me the perfect excuse to slip you some rare 2007 scribblings in between all that old archival stuff I've been dumping on you...don't know how many more shows the ladies will be performing this year, but this 14-songster of a reunion set brought back a lot of great memories as the night unwound; whilst all the MAM classics were as raw and potent as ever (leading off w/a 1-2 punch of "Johnny and Johnny" and "Red Light" was indicative of the take-no-prisoners plan of attack), a surprise cover of "Cool Drink of Water Blues" and the gorgeous new original "Memphis Blues" (a slow mood piece on a par with some of those killer ballads off the first Reigning Sound LP) showed that they aren't all out of new tricks either...my way-non-digital tape of the show calls attention to fire engines roaring past on Mass Ave. in tinny C-90 stereo, but people who were actually there also got to see Margaret climbing up on a table for a guitar solo and Tara fending off street people with a broken drum stick! Take that, you fucking Central Square crackheads!!!