It's a safe bet to say that 100 per cent of the audience at Randy Newman's concerts on Wednesday and Thursday wasn't there because of his involvement in Walt Disney movies. His constituency consists primarily of the parents of children to whom Randy Newman is but a name on movie credits as the composer of cute songs. The real Randy Newman is a man who dispenses dollops of satire and realism in songs so sharp they cut through the pretence of daily life.
Seated at a piano and looking for all the world like your friendly granddad in leisurewear, Newman's adenoidal voice and waspish between-song comments might not seem like an ideal evening's entertainment, but to listen to his back catalogue is to realise that Hollywood's gain is our loss.
Throughout the two hour-plus set, he covered over 30 years of a career. From early compositions such as Simon Smith And His Amazing Dancing Bear (not a career highlight, it has to be said) to tracks from his classic albums (Little Criminals, Sail Away, Good Ole Boys and his most recent, Bad Love), Newman delivered his introspective observations on life in a manner that can only be described as slavishly self-deprecating.
Often misconceived as being trite, mocking, cruel and spiteful for the sake of it in songs such as Short People, Rednecks, My Country and My Life Is Good, Randy Newman actually offers uncompromising respite from the grind of polite superficiality. Balancing acerbity with genuine tenderness in songs such as I Miss You, Marie and a new song called The Girls In My Life, Pt 1, taken as a whole Newman's work is imbued with a passion that is impossible to deny and incredibly easy to admire. In short, it was one of those concerts you were really glad you didn't miss.
