British singer and songwriter, Billy Bragg, decided to celebrate his 40 years of music with a year-long tour, only recently hitting the United States. Calling it the Roaring 40s tour, Bragg made his Boston (or Medford) stop at the Chevalier Theatre. My guest for the evening was my father, from St. Louis, Mo., who has attended previous Bragg concerts.
For the Daily readers under 35, Billy Bragg is a musician with deep ties to political activism. In fact, one of Bragg’s most well known albums was created out of the unfinished lyrics of American leftist folk singer, Woody Guthrie. The album, “Mermaid Avenue,” was a collaboration between him and the band Wilco to bring some of Guthrie’s unfinished songs to fruition. Outside of that, Bragg has released multiple albums and EPs and has toured through a variety of countries, notably playing at strikes and protests worldwide.
At the Chevalier, Bragg’s opening act was another familiar face to Bragg fans: Steven Page, formerly of the Barenaked Ladies, and his performing trio. This trio was composed of Page on guitar and lead vocals, Craig Northey on second guitar along with backup vocals and Kevin Fox on the cello and backup vocals. Their energy was high, and their music, a combination of Barenaked Ladies songs and pieces from Page’s new album, “Excelsior,” was loud and fast, building momentum and excitement for the audience. That momentum only continued to build as Bragg walked onstage.
Bragg began his set with a land acknowledgement statement before his set began, setting the stage for a night full of political commentary. Due to the nature of Bragg’s discography involving politically centered statements, he was able to fluidly deliver topical messages in between songs. “King Tide and the Sunny Day Flood” was written about a climate change phenomena, “Sexuality” was reworded to explicitly show solidarity for transgender and nonbinary individuals. “Mid-Century Modern” was prefaced with a condemnation of political apathy amongst the older generation (the “geezers” in the audience, as Bragg said). It is impressive not only how well Bragg’s voice has persevered, considering some of the louder songs he sings, but also how well informed on the world Bragg is.
While a large part of his set, Bragg deviated from politics to tell us anecdotes about a variety of things. He spoke about cases of mistaken identity while he was in Canada, his touring legacy in the United States (his first performance in Boston was in 1985) and even a mini rant on how he hates root beer. He has a grounded, rugged charisma and a hypnotic thick British accent that draws you into whatever he talks about. It’s this earnestness that allows for his musical diversity. His gruff voice is ideal for the biting wit in his anti-corporation anthems like “There is Power in a Union,” yet is also endearing for his romantic storytelling like “Greetings to the New Brunette.” Bragg called himself “genrefluid” and that’s the perfect way to describe his set. Bragg had two guitars with him on stage, one black and metallic and the other tan and acoustic, along with an occasional pianist, Jacob Stoney. For the punk rock infused songs, Bragg commanded the stage with powerful vocals, biting lyrics and fuzzy chords. For his more sentimental pieces, the simplicity of the instrumentation and his poetic lyricism pulled at your heartstrings. Bragg ended his set with the crowd favorites — “A New England” and “There is Power in a Union” — earning boisterous audience participation.
I left Bragg’s concert feeling a sense of hope for the world. There’s an idea that as you get older, your political views shift more conservative as the idea of change becomes scary or infeasible in the mind. I’m certain readers either know former activists turned cynics or conservatives. This idea does not apply to Billy Bragg nor does he want it to apply to the people in his audience. He is just as aware of the social climate and socially active as he was at the start of his career. It was heartening to hear him talk about the importance of all these topics openly and proudly. People like him are a part of the great tradition of protest and human solidarity that my generation is carrying on. Protest music, in particular, has a special role to play. As Bragg said, “Music has the power to make you believe the world can be changed.” If enough of us listen and believe, then we can do the work to create change.
