Sixto Rodriguez with The Break – Hamer Hall – 22/3/13

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January 15, 2014 by posterchild8

I have been following the re-emergence of Sixto Rodriguez, after a friend in Nova Scotia sent me a link to the 60 Minutes coverage of the documentary created about the story of his life. Needless to say, I wanted to know heaps more about him and his amazing life story.

The documentary ‘Searching for Sugar Man’ was just being released at this time and lo and behold it was playing at a small boutique cinema just down the street from my home in Melbourne. I took my wife to see the documentary and did not tell her anything about it ahead of time, not to ruin the surprise for her. It was awesome to see her reaction and watch her jump up in the theatre and scream “he’s alive!!”. If you only see 1 documentary this year, do yourself a huge favour and see this – it will astonish you and leave you dumbfounded that this ever happened in the music industry and during our time. It’s a feel good story for sure!

For those of you who have not heard about Rodriguez or this amazing story, I will try my best at briefly summarizing it. More or less, Sixto (Jesus) Rodriguez grew up in the worst part of Detroit – saw everything horrible that the city had to offer and wrote songs about it. I still say he is as brilliant, if not a better songwriter than Bob Dylan – and a voice so soft and poetic as well. He put out 2 albums in 1970 & 1971 (Cold Fact & Coming From Reality) – they went nowhere in the USA. His manager screwed him out of everything and he went about his life working as a hard labourer in his home city. Unbeknown to him, he became a bigger hit than Elvis in South Africa. Somehow one of his records made it there and the words to his songs became the anthems to help fight against apartheid in South Africa. Rumours circulated that he had committed suicide and people were distraught. Years later, fans started to try to find out where he was from – with no internet back then, no one knew anything about him. One thing led to another, answers came from the questions (especially from his eldest daughter) that Sixto Rodriguez wasn’t dead – he was living a very poor, simple yet happy life still in Detroit! He was asked to come to South Africa to perform and people were literally freaking out that a legend, someone who they believed was dead was actually alive – standing and performing right in front of them! Rodriguez is currently 70+ years old and is bigger than anyone can imagine right now – better late than never eh?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hEojBYmR-o – Trailer for Searching for Sugar Man

After seeing this documentary, I took to letting most of my friends know about this amazing story and started searching the internet to see if he was touring at all – I had to see this legend live, anywhere, and would travel to see Rodriguez, if I could.

Could you believe it?? Rodriguez was coming to Australia for the Byron Bay Bluesfest and was performing a few sideshows as well – and 2 of them were in Melbourne! I got 2^nd row tickets!! I still have to pinch myself to remind myself that I actually saw him play live. I had purchased 3 tickets (one for my mate Greg in New Zealand who unfortunately could not make it over to Melbourne) and advertised his on Gumtree for sale. I sold it for face value & drinks for my wife and I. The gentleman who bought the ticket was supposed to see Rodriguez play in the 70’s in Sydney, but got so high that he passed out in field and missed the show!! Second chance is always a charm eh?

The opening act was The Break, a surf-spacey jam band who was also the backing band for Rodriguez. They were made up of some of the former band members of Midnight Oil (Jim Moginie, Rob Hirst & Martin Rotsey) with Brian Ritchie from the Violent Femmes and Jack Howard of the Hunters & Collectors. http://www.thebreak.net.au

Rodriguez was lead out on stage by a member of the band to a thunderous standing ovation – we all could see how frail this legend was and how humbled he still was after all these years – a true and gracious being. He was dressed in black leather pants, a black leather vest and a ratty, wide-rimmed black hat just placed over his eyes. Then it happened. He started strumming his acoustic guitar with just his fingers and softly sang ‘You’d Like To Admit It’ – it was like magic and the whole place was just staring at this legend and we were all probably thinking, “this guy is alive and is right here in front of us and he sounds amazing!” Rodriguez is a soft, kind and still very witty soul – and he was taking in the energy just as much as we were. The Break were also grinning ear to ear the whole time they playing with him – such a sight to see. My favourite song of his is ‘Crucify Your Mind’ and 3rd song in he had my full attention – awestruck. Unfortunately one of the stories that I read about was true – he lost part of his ring finger on his left hand. Probably due to the hard, manual labour he’s done over the past 40 years, but it did not seem to hinder him one bit while performing – what a true survivor.

The show didn’t last long (only 10 songs) but for us to see, hear and be in the same room with a ‘new’ legend was a treat I will not soon forget. He is losing his sight and had to be assisted off the stage, but he hasn’t lost his charm. He stayed for 2 hours after the show to sign autographs and meet with the audience. I was probably 2 people away from meeting him in person and getting my Cold Fact LP signed by him – but he was too exhausted and had to leave. It doesn’t matter at all, because I was so close to be able to observe him in another light – just so appreciative of where he was, where he came from and what people were sharing with him. Positive energy.

We’re all on our own adventures and paths in this world we call ‘life’ and this evening was another chapter in Rodriguez’s, and mine too. Thanks for the memories, poetry, energy and being a gracious legend even though you don’t think you are Rodriguez.

Sixto Rodriguez & The Break

Hamer Hall, Melbourne, Australia

22 March 2013

Setlist

1. You’d Like to Admit It – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lm-dxWXgE7s

2. Only Good For Conversation – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teXI7Zc2tLQ

3. Crucify Your Mind – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFlBQqNK_Wo

4. I Wonder – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xw-BpTZAFRY

5. Sugar Man – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E90_aL870ao https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVaulGxUsDI (DMB version in SA)

6. This Is Not a Song It’s An Outburst (or Establishment Blues) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQGqm2fHBUU

7. I Only Have Eyes For You (The Flamingos cover) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkTQqLBgvpc

8. Blue Suede Shoes (Carl Perkins cover) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qu0-PRMXATc