Loudon Wainwright III has dedicated much of his five-decade career singing about mortality, but during his Wednesday night show at the Dakota Jazz Club, his obsession teetered on overkill.
He leaned heavily on numbers about facing death, starting with "Double Lifetime," "Missing You" and "Heaven." He recited, from memory, three of his late father's Life magazine columns, including one about having to put down the family dog. He covered songs by Mose Allison and Merle Haggard, who both passed away last year. He nicknamed the venue's upper tier the "John Wilkes Booth Memorial Balcony."
And then there was the literal showstopper.
Before performing one of dad's writings, Wainwright asked to sample a French fry from a fan near the front row.
"Salty," he said as he prepared to launch into the reading. Almost immediately, he suffered a coughing fit. Then his voice went hoarse. For a long minute, it looked like Wainwright might not be able to go on.
After a few gulps of water, the 70-year-old artist was able to continue, even though his voice never fully recovered.
"I can see it in Rolling Stone magazine now," said Wainwright before launching into "Another Song in C," a piece about the great unknown. "Folk legend dies in Minneapolis jazz club, result of eating a French fry."
