Randy Newman in Rotterdam, 1979

This is my favorite concert of all time for quite a few reasons. It has an amazing lineup of songs that really showcase most of his greatest works up to 1979. Rotterdam was part of his Born Again tour, promoting his most recent album Born Again (crazy shocker, I know). Born Again is definitely a pretty underrated album which I actually don't have much basis for because I literally know like nobody who listens to Newman. I just base it on what I've seen written about it over the years. It’s not incredible or anything but it’s a sweet little album. Randy Nweman has always been big in Holland for whatever reason… They just really like him. Good Old Boys went gold over there too, and it was his first record to ever do so (very deserved). Enough of this blabbering, now’s time for the REAL review: Listen along!

Birmingham

One of my favorite songs from Good Old Boys. It’s a sweet little tune and this rendition was done beautifully. He puts a little bit more into the beginning piano bit and I love that. The backing orchestral accompaniment is lovely too, it has a slightly different feel to the album version which i like. The bridge and ending especially! Overall a great performance of the song, and probably my favorite he's done. 10/10!

Linda

Not my favorite song, but I still enjoy Linda a lot. The accompaniment has a really great buildup, he really never misses with his orchestral sections, they’re always beautifully done. I’ve not much else to say about this one… 6/10

Sigmund Freud’s Impersonation of Albert Einstein in America

I really enjoy this song, it's a fun one. But there's not much that I have to say about it from this performance specifically. It doesn't have that extra push as the album does, but that's alright. 8/10

Cowboy

I've spoken about this song in more length in my earlier review so I won't delve too much into it. Randy’s never had too strong of a voice, and its especially apparent in his live shows. I’ll cut him some slack for that reason, but he kinda misses those big peaks of the song here and it leaves me wanting a bit more… 7.5/10

He Gives Us All His Love

I do love Randy’s little jokes and such he makes, he throws them in every once in a while. As he says, he doesn't believe a word of the song, but it's still a wonderful one. It’s quite calming, I loved this performance! 8.5/10

It’s Money That I Love

A great song from Born Again! As always the piano is wonderfully done, I really like it in this song too. Very catchy song, and a great one here. I like his little comments at the beginning too lol. 8.5/10

Yellow Man

Although he opens this one with more of a joke, he’s commonly referred to this song as “A pinhead’s view of china” which it is indeed. I do love this song though, it’s quite good. It doesn't meet the Harry Nilsson cover though that's for sure… 8/10

In Germany Before the War

Probably the most depressing song he’s ever written. It’s haunting. I'm not sure what it is about this performance that gets me so much, I think it might be the sound of the piano, it’s got this echoeyness or something… I can't put my finger on it. The vocals, although simple, I think really work here. There's a part in the song where he sings “reflected in his glasses as he watches her'' where he slightly messes up, but those small mess ups make it a bit more impactful to me, I actually try to copy them when I sing the song. This song brought me to tears as I wrote this. 10/10!

Short People

THE song I most often reference and joke about. It’s just such a great song lmao. I liked this one a lot here too! I don't have too much to say about it in this concert though, there's nothing about it that stands out enough to mention for me. 8.5/10

Simon Smith and the Amazing Dancing Bear

I absolutely ADORE this song, it’s another one from my favorite album so it gets an instant plus too. It’s just so goddamn happy and fun it never fails to put a smile on my face. And that ending piano bit??? It’s amazing! Love his little joke at the end too lol. 10/10!

Guilty

Guilty is a song I often look over, as it doesn't stand out to me as much as the song Rollin’, which follows a similar idea. But this song is always good when I hear it. It's like I forget I like this song… This isn't the craziest performance, and it's got less oomph than the album version, but it’s sweet. 7/10

The Story of a Rock and Roll Band

A song about one of my favorite bands, ELO! This song actually introduced me to them! Again, his vocal performance isn't amazing in this song, he sorta falls flat here… but again again, that orchestral backing is wonderful! I love this song a lot, it’s fun. 7.5/10

I Think It’s Going to Rain Today

Like cowboy, I’ve spoken about this song in way more detail for my review of Randy Newman (1968), so I’m not getting into it. Really emotional song. Those strings too just put that extra bit in that can bring me to tear a bit. I didnt when writing this time however! This is probably on par with the original song. Not better, but very close. 10/10!

Sail Away

OMSGDAGSJKFBWEAJ I love this song so much! It’s an incredible work with so much going for it and I’ll never get sick of it. I’ll definitely write a full review of the album titled after this song, Sail Away someday, and that's probably when I'll get really into talking about it, along with the other songs from the album. I have a lot of attachment to this song, it's just beautiful… 10/10!

Kingfish

A tribute to Huey Long, probably Louisiana’s most infamous and influential governor, This song has a great feel to it and it’s a favorite of mine from Good Old Boys! Not much to say about it though, right now at least. 9/10

Louisiana 1927

(*/ω＼*)… Heavenly… This song is actually so good… It’s very similar to sail away, I actually used to think it was the same song with different lyrics lol. It’s very similar but it's different, but that doesn't matter anyways… It’s an amazing piece. I have a decent bit to say about this song but ill save that for another time! 10/10!

The Girls in My Life (Part 1)

As I'm listening right now I've just realized what it was about this song that stood out to me. It sounds a lot like a song in Faust, his musical. Well, I guess the song from Faust sounds like this one, because it came first. I keep thinking he’s going to go “But you can't keep a good man down!” and it’s leaving me unfulfilled lmao. Anyways, Never been much of a fan of this song. It doesn’t do much of anything for me… This is my least favorite part of the whole show. 5.5/10… the worst so far.

Rednecks

Oh boy… Ohhhh boy… Now this song… If I ever write about good old boys I’m going to be write a FUCK ton about this song. First thing that hits you like a truck is the language used, awful. Randy himself was always wary of playing this song, eventually he stopped playing it entirely. I wholeheartedly believe this is one of the best songs he’s ever composed. In a musical sense, it’s just amazing. And all the lyrical contents and meaning and context just adds so much too. Really an amazing work of art, I believe. 10/10!

Rider in the Rain

I always chuckle a bit with this one, there's something so wonderful about a crowd singing in concerts. This song was such a great choice for it too! I love this song a lot. If i'm honest the first time I heard this performance i kinda got chills from it lmao. I can't help but sing along to this one! 9/10

Lonely at the Top

This song has a lot of interesting context behind it, and I look forward to writing about it! I catch myself singing this song a ton. Depending on when and where this song is played it can feel a bit different. In another concert that was very small, he jokes about the roaring crowd and everything when there's in reality only a hundred or so people (I'm not sure how many, but it was tiny). This was a large crowd however! And it’s a great song. 9/10

God’s Song

Again, I have a boatload to say and I'll save that for later! Says some interesting points, and it asks some pretty intriguing questions for me at least. A really gloomy tone, there's something about this song I still haven't been able to pin down, I suppose it’s just the overall emotions it gives me. That’s why i love this song… (hilarious joke) 10/10!

Mr. Sheep

I originally didn't like this song very much… but it’s grown on me over time! I love the little story, “Mr. Sheep'' gets his life ridiculed and made fun of by a man who's worse than him. It’s simple but a fun song, a favorite of mine on Born Again. I like the touch of mimicking the rain going down with his voice too, it’s funny. 8/10

Political Science

This is my fathers favorite Newman song if I remember correctly, and it’s the first one he ever played for me (that or short people, it was back to back). For that reason it’s got some sentimental value there but it’s also just an amazing song! It’s funny and just a treat to listen to; especially in the album version. This is lacking the musical backing of the original so it does miss that little push, but it’s alright. That's my only gripe with the performance here. More room for you and more room for me! 8.5/10

Marie

Incredible, incredible song. If I was to recommend anyone a Good Old Boys song it very well might be this one. It’s beautiful, with a bit of sadness and regret it’s just so fucking good… Brings me to tears quite often. Those strings send me and I got goosebumps as I write this… teary too. My favorite line is “You’re the song that the trees sing when the wind blows” amazing o(TヘTo) 10/10!

Texas Girl at the Funeral of Her Father

Like Marie, this is another song that can easily bring me to tears. It has a similarly sad emotion to it, although from different places. Again those strings are always just the perfect touch, I seriously don't know what it is about strings I adore so much but they’re easily my favorite orchestral part ever! My only problem I have is his voice misses a bit here, again I can get past it but it does hurt my rating a bit… Go listen to the album version if you’re interested, Or the Linda Ronstadt cover! Her voice is beautiful. 9/10

Davy the Fat Boy

The orchestra might actually BETTER here than the album version! It actually blows me away, this might be my favorite version of the song to date, from my memory at least. Like I said in my earlier review Newman always loves to end his concerts with this song and it’s a great choice. Currently listening to that solo bit of the strings and it made me cry lol. There's an addition to that section so it's got this extra bit of life to it! The brass is amazing too. I just love everything about this song, and I think it’s the one I enjoyed the most by far in this listen!! 10/10!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OVERALL RATING: 10/10! It is my favorite concert, after all.

First written January 18th, 2024