Rodriguez, May 14, Johnny Brenda's

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Rodriguez, May 14, Johnny Brenda's

POSTED: Friday, May 15, 2009, 2:00 PM

Filed Under: Music | Show | Blast from the Past Last Night

Photos by Patrick Rapa

I'm not getting old, I'm getting ancient.

I'm not getting old, I'm getting dead.

Not sure if I got the wording right on the jokes Rodriguez was cracking, but it was something like that. With good humor, a generous spirit and a genuine enthusiasm for being there, Rodriguez played his '60s folk-rock songs like he didn't know we knew they were hits in an alternate reality. One where his 1970 Cold Fact LP (recently unearthed and re-released by Light In The Attic) was always the big post-Dylan-Donvan hit it should've been and the Detroit guitarist was known by all who should know him. Backed by a bunch of young whipper snappers (including trombone and tuba), Rodriguez gently rocked us with "Sugar Man" and " I Wonder." He capped it off with a couple solo tunes. At times he seemed a little unsure of himself, still puzzling over songs he wrote 40 years ago, getting lost in the moment or just plain getting lost. He cracked shy jokes about being old and rusty and delivered between-song bits of grandpa wisdom. He downed a glass of wine like it was Gatorade. I'd never heard Rodriguez before 2009, but you could feel it: This show, this tour, was a long time coming, and this music was finally getting its due.

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Featuring everything from event roundups to concert reviews and sex talk, City Paper's Critical Mass is a space for off-the-wall coverage of Philly's A&E scene.

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