Show Review: NRBQ at Infinity Music Hall in Norfolk, Connecticut

NRBQ at Infinity Music Hall in Norfolk, Connecticut

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Unique, quirky, college-rock band NRBQ tore it up at the Infinity Music Hall in Norfolk, Connecticut on Thursday, December 12, 2024, playing an impressive 32-song set. The band’s lyrically whimsical music, a rollicking multi-genre blend of everything from rockabilly to Beatles-influenced pop to improvisational Thelonious Monk-inspired jazz, was somehow both loose and lively, and yet tight and technically sophisticated. Although the original band had its heyday during the 70s and 80s, this new incarnation proved that they could faithfully perform any of the NRBQ variegated repertoire in order to continue carrying on the band’s decades-spanning legacy. Performing both new and old NRBQ material, some instrumentals, and select covers, the “New Q” consists of original member and keyboardist Terry Adams, along with Scott Ligon (guitar/vocals), Casey McDonough (bass/vocals), and John Perrin (drums). Joining them that night were the Whole Wheat Horns, featuring the duel sax team of (The Mighty) Klem Klimek and Gene Oliveri.

The amusing antics and madcap mannerisms of Terry Adams provided endless entertainment throughout the night’s performance. The grinning Adams, with his white, wispy, baby chick hair and slack-jawed facial expressions, looked like a septuagenarian Jim Carrey, an overmedicated Gary Busey, or a cross between Christopher Lloyd’s “Doc” from Back to the Future and old tripped out hippie character Jim Ignatowski from Taxi. Adams played with his elbows, arms, palms, or fingertips as he banged, whacked, slapped, knocked, Karate-chopped, and poked at his keyboard, at one point even frantically moving the pitch bender knob back and forth like a hyperactive kid scribbling in a coloring book. When he wasn’t artistically attacking his instrument, he was adjusting (or rather wrestling with) his mic stand, talking garbled gibberish, or waving to the crowd (or possible some imaginary friends). Adams’ on stage rock’n’roll joy juice was definitely infectious. During “Five More Miles,” he took off and pocketed his fingerless gloves in order to lay down some serious grooves, and afterward excitedly exclaimed triumphantly, “We’re here!” to rousing applause, then gleefully added, “Everybody’s here!”

Guitarist Scott Ligon (not Al Anderson) – clad in a pink suitcoat – proved to be an exceptionally adept guitar player and soloist with a great voice for the Joey or the Al material as well. Bass player Casey McDonough (who actually looks like Al Anderson), also played and sang well, especially on their newer upbeat song “Where’s My Pebble?” Drummer John Perrin certainly had the keep-it-in-the-pocket drumming style of Tom Ardolino down, grounding each song with a steady back beat. At one point, Ligon and Perrin switched instruments, and (after a false start teaser of “Ridin’ in My Car”) jammed on a walking bluesy number that also featured the two sax players. It was a treat hearing NRBQ’s holiday classic “Christmas Wish,” sung so eloquently by Ligon. Afterward, Adams name-checked his former band members, explaining, “That was a Joey Spampinato tune. Let’s do one from Al Anderson!” before launching into “Feel You Around Me.”

Adams’ sporadic speech was difficult to follow at times, but this added to his charm. At one point, he stammered, “We have a crazy film on the big screen coming out… I think in Northampton… You should check it out,” a reference to the fact that they will be performing at the Academy of Music in Northampton, Massachusetts on December 28 to premiere the 40^th anniversary of the NRBQ concert film Rusty Nail, New Year’s Eve ’84. One anecdote Adams actually articulated well was when he abruptly confessed, “One time I asked Chuck Berry if he liked Herman’s Hermits,” before they played a Chuck Berry inspired version of “Something Tells Me I’m Into Something Good,” which got the crowd moving and grooving (even the line of young nuevo-hipster fans standing in the back row were bobbing their beanies, shaking their merch bags, and tapping their Crocs). It was indeed a night of good vibes, good music, and good fun. NRBQ still brings the joy, just as the original band did decades ago.

For more tour dates and more information: http://www.nrbq.com/

Enjoy our previous coverage here: Interview: NRBQ’s Terry Adams Defines Music & Spiritual Beauty

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