Marianne Faithfull at the Henry Fonda

[MicheBel]

MARIANNE FAITHFULL
Henry Fonda Theatre
Friday, March 25, 2005
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The last concert (Steve Earle) I attended at the Henry Fonda had a mosh pit full of revelers. I arrived early enough to scope a seat. For Marianne Faithfull, I was running behind (damn LA traffic!), so I figured, I'll just blend into the other moshers. No problem.

Walk in, there are people milling around, as if it's a movie set. Chatting, scoping camera angles, checking light levels. The mosh floor is filled with small tables, adorned with little lights, as if we're in a European cabaret. All the tables have a RESERVED placard on them. They are empty.

I check my watch again. The concert's due to start at 9 pm and it's nearly that. I wander over, feeling for all the world like I'm backstage at an event, instead of a paying concertgoer. As I wander around, disoriented, I run into another Indie Street Teamer. We bond, we chat, we hang by the open door which has a nice breeze flowing in our direction.

The walls, normally plain and undistinctive, now have a beautiful floral pattern. Each side has a decorative poster, adding to the cabaret feel. Two serious cameras (no handheld nonsense here) point directly at the stage. Another crane camera looms above, and throughout the concert swirls forward and back.

I see a production manager/extra wrangler type person slowly directing various people to the empty tables. Street Teamer and I are not among them. However, remember in "Rocky Horror Picture Show", when they are chasing Eddie around those ramps, they drive past a VERY tall guy who's standing next to a very short woman with black hair? Well, these two were there. They got seated.

It was very odd. The crowd that they were seating didn't seem like true Marianne Faithfull fans. They, for all the world, seemed like extras who clapped on cue. And stood to applaud her, not because they were thrilled with her singing, but because they wanted an extra moment on camera. Very strange.

I've been to three concerts recently, all of them featured opening acts which were less than stellar. So let's just say that Marianne Faithfull's opening act was her bassist who sang a bunch of his own songs. OK, let's move on.

At last, Ms. Marianne takes the stage. She's wearing a black tux jacket, close fitted, and tux pants. Her gorgeous blonde hair is shorter than I remembered seeing it. She is luminous. Watching her, I realize that Courtney Love truly is the next generation's Marianne Faithfull (except that Ms. Faithfull radiates class). But both women command the stage with a presence that can be felt to the back rows.

She has a podium next to her to help her remember the words, and from time to time she puts on her glasses for a refresher. She banters easily with the audience, and talks lovingly about all of her collaborators and her bandmates.

Among the songs she performs: The Ballad of Lucy Jordan; a song written for her by Polly Jean Harvey (aka PJ); her new song, Crazy Love; songs written for her by Mick and Keith; she talks about liking "story songs" and that that's the kind she writes; the song she wrote with Nick Cave from the new album; the song, she's "known for": As Tears Go By. She ends the show with a killer version of "Why'd You Do It? (Why'd you let her suck your cock?)" that just ripped your guts out.

She is grace personified. I didn't even want to think about how old she might be. To me, she looked luminous and stunning, though she moved more slowly than she might have earlier. She was a joy to watch.