America.
Written and performed by Fred Smith with band
members Dave O’Neill, Jacqui Bradley, Mitch Preston, Matt Nightingale and
Hayden Kinsman. Bicentennial Hall. Q Theatre. One performance only Tuesday
November 3rd.
Reviewed by Peter Wilkins
Fred Smith is the soothsayer who writes the songs we need to
hear. If only every kid in high school could see Smith’s song cycle through
American history. If only adults of voting age in America could witness the
truth behind the fabric of the real fake news. Would it make a difference to
how we see the American Dream? Possibly not but this is a concert that makes it
impossible for Smith’s insights to fall on deaf ears.
America is Smith’s personal account of a nation built on migration (Wind on Wind), slavery, wars and divisive politics (What Could Go Wrong?). Seen through his eyes, he sings his songs of illumination from the south to the north, and the east and the west along the highways and the byways of a vast nation, teeming with contradiction united by a constitution and divided by a grand canyon of political, social and economic difference. Using projections to depict the people and events from the arrival of the Pilgrim fathers to the time of Trump, Smith intersperses historical tales with accounts of his own experiences as the accompanying spouse at the Washington embassy and a touring folk singer at Folk Festivals throughout America. He is backed by outstanding band members Dave O’Neill on violin and electric guitar, Jacqui Bradley on backing vocals,banjo and violin, Mitch Preston on drums, Matt Nightingale on Double bass and backing vocals and Hayden Kinsman on Keys. From soul to pop to rock and roll and folk Smith and his band are in perfect sync, taking us on a journey of discovery that is as engrossing as it is entertaining.
America is entertainment with a sting in the tail. Smith sings of a nation built on belief and competition and where violence is justified. His manner is casual, his appearance relaxed but his message is a barb to the conscience in Don’t Dig My Grave. He proudly announces “George Bush. My Part in His Downfall” and the disastrous American penchant for starting wars with catastrophic consequence. Images glare from a screen at the back of the stage of Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Iran. Smith turns up the temperature of recrimination. History may have its own panacea as Smith exhorts his audience to clap along or sing the chorus of Deep Deep River a politically charged narrative. But Smith’s facts are not fake news. They leave a bitter taste at an NRA convention or on the banks of the Rio Grande where a migrant father and his16 year old daughter drowned while attempting to evade Border Protection officers in their desperate search for a new life. Smith drives a stake into the heart of inhumanity. America delves deep into the nation’s traged. It mocks its absurdity. Smith is the master storyteller with anecdotal songs dripping with irony, witty and provocative, honest and insightful.
There is no ambivalence in Smith’s concluding commentary on
America’s current presidential incumbent. “I’m An Asshole” leaves us in no
doubt of his opinion of a man who inspires Smith’s ridicule. I am writing this
after the Blue Tsunami that swept the Democrats to control of the Congress in
the Mid Terms. America is Smith’s anthem of hope for a nation that he
obviously regards with affection. However it may still be a couple of years
before he can return to sing his Song of the Open Road.
