Review | Have Faith, John Hiatt Can Still Play a Helluva Show

The Quintessential Storyteller Needs No Frills to Command the Stage

John Hiatt | Photo: David McClister

Never underestimate the power of a guy and a guitar — at least not when it’s John Hiatt.

He walked out on the stage of the Lobero last week as casual as can be, without any introduction whatsoever. His gait was a little rickety, his hair a little sparse, and he had kind of a funny awkward setup with a makeshift table next to him as he sat down with his guitar, a harmonica, and a mic — and proceeded to CRUSH IT onstage from start to finish!

His beautiful, solid voice and deep well of songs gave everyone in the sold-out theater an incredibly powerful and intimate evening of music. He began with the beautifully reflective “Before I Go,” about which he said, “I wrote this when the kids were little,” sharing some cute stories about being a granddad and letting his little one play with his harmonica.

Then he went way, way back in the catalog, to 1987’s “Your Dad Did,” with the sweetly humorous lyrics he’s so skilled with: “As the 2-year-old says grace / She says, ‘Help the starving children to get well / But let my brother’s hamster burn in hell.’ / You love your wife and kids / Just like your dad did.”

He’s got an ease with melodies and soulfulness to his style, and it’s clear from his music and his stories both how humble he is and how much he loves his family. “My grandbaby Ruthie, she just turned 2,” he shared. “And she doesn’t get the FaceTime thing any better than I do.”

He’s also a little bit tough to classify. The country charms of 2014’s “Long Time Comin’” were on the bill, as were the bluesy guitar licks of 2001’s “The Tiki Bar Is Open,” about which he said, “I like a good bar song. After the war, my dad’s friends said the one thing they wanted was a Tiki bar in their basement.”

Underneath the laid-back banter and folksy manner, Hiatt’s not afraid to go deep, as he showed with “Crossing Muddy Waters,” a heartbreaking song about his first wife’s suicide. He also showed off his country music chops with “Adios to California,” about his move from California to Nashville. He whistled and hooted and pulled off some very impressive vocal trickery on “Memphis in the Meantime” that most people half his age wouldn’t be able to handle.

In addition to a big range in style, especially for such a stripped-down acoustic set, Hiatt’s got an impressively prolific discography. He did a few of the songs that were bigger hits for others than himself, like Bonnie Raitt’s huge breakout “Thing Called Love,” and “Feels Like Rain,” which Buddy Guy did.

Hiatt’s songs have been recorded by Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, BB King, Willie Nelson, and so many scores of others, but there’s something particularly special about hearing someone perform their own work, as we saw with his final iconic closer of the night, “Have a Little Faith in Me.” Sure we’ve heard that song from a slew of other artists, including Joe Cocker’s version in 1994, and everyone from Bon Jovi to Kenny Rogers to Mandy Moore, but hearing Hiatt sing it at the Lobero was a memorable experience I won’t forget.