Earlier this year, Cash released "Black Cadillac" to critical acclaim. The album is an outpouring of emotion and confession revolving around the deaths of Johnny, his first wife and her mother Vivian Liberto Cash Distin, and her stepmother June Carter in the short span of two years, from 2003 to 2005. The genres jump around, but the themes of love, family, death and memory stay constant and on the surface. As tragic as its backstory is, the album remains as strong as Cash, never succumbing to the maudlin or morbid. Her concert reflected this combination of heartbreak and survival, mixing upbeat classics with these most recent releases.
Of course, Cash's career spans far back before "Black Cadillac" -- 12 albums, 11 number-one singles, and one Grammy's worth. Her first album, "Right or Wrong," was released in 1979, and numerous successes interspersed with a hiatus here and there followed. Cash is also a writer, having published two praised books, as well as several essays and pieces of fiction in magazines and other collections. Her artful use of language translates into her songs -- she wrote all 12 on "Cadillac" -- with lyrics whose words articulate complex emotions and paint beautiful pictures for the listener.
The concert began with a whisper, not a bang, as a black-and-white video played to a recording of Cash narrating her family history with poetic obliqueness. Then she performed the first song, "I Was Watching You," as the stage remained black. The show quickly picked up speed with "Black Cadillac," a genuine rock song, and "Radio Operator," an equally upbeat song about her parents' relationship, both from the new album. Her parents alone provided more than enough material for an album -- witness "Walk the Line," the 2005 hit movie that focused on just that. Perhaps that was in mind when Roseanne asked the audience, "Don't you want to torch your past?" when introducing "Burn Down This Town" in the middle of the set.
One part of her past she clearly treasures in the musical heritage passed to her by Johnny, introducing many covers as part of that aforementioned list. Best among these was "Tennessee Flat Top Box," which Johnny Cash had made a hit in 1961, and she reprised in 1987. The song also gave a chance for her guitarist (and husband) John Leventhal to show off with his solo, the most exciting moment musically of the night. The band provided solid backing for Cash's powerful voice, whether over a full-blown rock song or the hushed strums of a lone acoustic guitar. Whether talking, crooning or belting it out, Cash gave each word a velvety richness that makes each song comforting and enjoyable, regardless of its topic. Her energy was unflagging, and her presence on the stage was electrifying, full of emotion and connection with the audience and her fellow band members. Even when singing about pain, Cash was clearly not a victim to it but a survivor.
The only outright misfire in the show was those video presentations that opened and interrupted the performance. Despite Cash's voice, for which I have just professed my love, they felt like a pretentious film student assignment, all black-and-white waves as a background to narration about journeys, past, future and all of that nonsense. While these are definitely themes in Cash's repertoire, they work much better as lyrics than as narration for some New Age Cash documentary. Seriously, it was a prog rock stunt by way of Memphis. This choice broke up the momentum of the concert as a whole; I would have appreciated seeing Cash to interact directly with the audience much more, rather than dimming the lights and turning on a movie. That was what my first grade teacher did when our class gave her a migraine. A singer-songwriter as talented as Cash shouldn't resort to such tricks when her lyrics and even her stage banter can be far more emotionally honest and stirring. A live show is about that moment right then, the personalities and dynamics on the stage and beyond it. But for the most part, Roseanne Cash made those moments in Spaulding enjoyable. Her parents, of course, would have been proud.
