Mr. Eddie Money came to electrify the Annapolis City night life last Friday evening at Rams Head On Stage. He brought band mates Glenn Symmonds and Tommy Girvin along for the ride. They played mostly a mic’d up acoustic set. Glenn Symmonds Eddie Money’s drummer opening up with a solo performance playing guitar, harmonica and percussion with his feet. He was promoting the release of his latest project “Glenn Symmonds Southern Poets, Trains And Troubadours.”
Eddie Money is a soft rock icon! (A tape deck recording of “Take Me Home Tonight” got plenty of airplay on my portable Sony boombox.) I knew I was going to enjoy the performance I just didn’t know what to expect as far as instrumental arrangements. It was a dual acoustic guitar performance for the most part and that was surprising. I thought there would be an electric guitar. Of course Eddie added in some keyboard, saxophone and harmonica for good measure. One word I would use to best describe Mr. Money’s show would be engaging. He was really good at encouraging the audience throughout the songs without skipping a beat. He also paced around stage clinching his hair like a stressed out NYC police officer; I didn’t know whether I was looking at Eddie Money or Officer Mahoney from “Big Crash.” It was like he was putting on an act of himself. I wouldn’t exactly call it cop rock but there are some connections. It was great!
Now, I wouldn’t describe Mr. Money as having the voice of an angel especially if you heard some the jokes he told between songs, but the majority of the lyrics in his songs are about love. His song “Baby Hold On” is one of the greatest love songs I ever heard. He’s a compassionate individual, he try’s to act like it ain’t nothing but he pours a lot of emotion into his music. Now don’t get me wrong; Eddie can sing! He’s been singing for so long its like an afterthought to him. The distinctiveness and volume of his lyrics is projected smoothly. In addition Eddie also displayed his patronage with a touching performance of “One More Soldier.”
The variety of sound was enjoyable. Eddie ripped harmonica solos to an array of Tommy Girvin acoustic guitar that was really amazing. You could hear both Tommy and Glenn’s input on a lot of Eddie Money classics like “Two Tickets To Paradise” and the Smokey Robinson cover “You Really Got A Hold On Me.” They added a lot of variation to the show especially during the intros and transitions of the songs. When they played “Take Me Home Tonight”, there were guitar bits thrown in that weren’t on the original version. It was like listening to the song for the first time all over again.
Eddie Money is a natural showman. It’s like he’s one of the greatest lounge singers of all time. He knows how to keep your attention. He does this bit where he bulges out his eyes while he’s playing saxophone that’s really funny. It was a great show and you’ll have the chance to see him again October 10th at Rams Head On Stage. I didn’t see any tour info about the concert nor is it posted on the Rams Head calender but Eddie confirmed the show several times during the concert. Just contact Rams Head On Stage for details.
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