Review: Jeff Daniels concert
November 12, 2010 Leave a comment
By Christa Lawler
Duluth News Tribune
Jeff Daniels addressed the celebrity farkle-narkle immediately.
“We got any ‘Dumb and Dumber’ fans here tonight?” the co-star of the 1994 comedy with Jim Carrey asked the audience of about 120 at Sacred Heart Music Center on Thursday night. “There are some of you who think of it as your ‘Citizen Kane.’ ”
The audience cackled when he invited them to get out their cell phones and take their photos now. The actor/singer/songwriter/guitar player strummed as he chatted. Sure enough, screens were lifted in his direction. He mugged a bit, goofy smiles to different sections of the room.
“Let’s get that (stuff) out of the way right off the bat.”
The award-winning actor seems to have created a niche with his brand of concert. He’s a guitar-plucking memoirist whose songs swing between hilarious and thoughtful. He’s your unassuming neighbor leaning over the fence: black T-shirt, baseball cap, his boots keeping the beat. Mostly he sang slices of his own life both among the rich and famous and the pedestrians of Toronto.
It wasn’t all yucks, though. Daniels slowed things down here and there during the first half, moreso after the 15-minute intermission. He’s got a pleasant voice. Full, with a bluesy accent without the bluesy tragedy. His songs went from quick-picking fun to slower journal entries. But there was always a story.
When it was over he stood up, took off his black baseball cap and took a deep bow. He got a standing ovation, and it didn’t take much to get him back in his chair for one more song.
His RV — oft-referenced throughout the show — was idling at the curb, a dog at shotgun.
This review was in the November 12, 2010 edition of the Duluth (Minn.) News Tribune.
