I was almost nervous when I spoke to Amanda Shires after her enchanting set at European Street Cafe in San Marco. Which is silly considering I am a grown man and she is not Barry Larkin, Michael Jordan, or the ghost of Waylon Jennings– the only people a man my age has a right to get tongue tied around. Such is the hold she had on the tiny room in Jacksonville on Thursday, May 24, 2012. The “Listening Room” at European Street is simply one of the dining rooms that gets converted for concerts on Thursday nights. You call to make a reservation, pay your money (a very reasonable $12 on this night) at the door, and enjoy your very own table just steps away from the entertainment. It is an intimate and comfortable setting and the ideal venue for an evening with Amanda Shires and Rod Picott.
Amanda and Rod were drinking wine before and during the show, a selection that may not be very rock n’ roll, but which made a ton of sense in that venue and for those two folks. The contrast between Amanda’s murder and suicide ballads and heartbreak songs, and her gorgeous voice and elegant choice of beverage expedited our tumbling in love with her. Her set was mostly original stuff with a smattering of outstanding covers. Amanda mentioned Leonard Cohen as her favorite songwriter of all time and then launched into a superior version of his classic “I’m Your Man”. She took it head on, and we followed. That was one of at least three songs written by men in the first person that she tackled with aplomb. Her own outstanding songs are mostly about love gone bad and the characters who go off the rails a bit when it does. In other words, my kind of tunes.
Juxtaposed with Amanda, Rod Picott was overshadowed- a fact that I mention not as a slight to him but as an illustration of her presence and ability. Rod Picott is one hell of a singer, songwriter, and storyteller; and those talents were on full display. But a live ten foot alligator on a chain ridden by a bikini-clad Laetitia Casta circa 1999 would have struggled for attention next to Amanda on this night. This is where I mention her striking looks even though I promised myself I would not because I do not want the reader to think that my characterization of her singing and songwriting is influenced by her beauty. But, damn is she gorgeous- somehow simultaneously stunning and adorable. She has the kind of beauty that takes your breath away yet invites you to smile at her. And if she smiles back, as she did when I stumbled through an invitation to show her and Rod around Jacksonville, it will cripple a mortal man’s charm, as it did mine.
Amanda and Rod played for about an hour and a half, mostly alternating turns and including a two song encore. It was a nearly perfect night. Go see either of them if they are in your neighborhood, and get down on Amanda’s new album, “Carrying Lightning”, then thank me in the comments.
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