Glenside Got To Spend An Evening With Al Stewart
by Alex Lloyd Gross
Al Stewart played a show at the Keswick Theater in Glenside Pa this past weekend. He had a band called The Empty Pockets open and play with him. This allows fans to hear his songs the way they were meant to be. With a full band . It was great.
The thing about Al Stewart shows is that Al is very smart and his banter in between the songs is just as entertaining as the music. He will teach you about medieval times, about history and anything else his music is about. That is what makes his concerts so special.
He knows the area as well. He spent about five minutes talking about shows he did at The Main Point. He also played at the Tower Theater and the Spectrum, in the mid 1970’s. During a show at the Chestnut Cabaret in 1985, Stewart was passed notes from the crowd, many of whom were seated on the floor directly in front of the stage.
Alex Lloyd Gross Photo-Delaware Valley News.com Al Stewart at the Keswick Theater
During the Keswick show, he played , “Modern Times,” “Time Passages” and a lot of songs from his first three albums. Of course, he did “Year of The Cat”. Stewart has written close to 500 songs and many are not on records, he just plays them live on occasion.
The Empty Pockets are from Chicago. They know about 30-40 of Al’s songs. They are an entirely different band. They have their own music, their own CD’s., which they were selling at the show. You can learn more about them here.
Alex Lloyd Gross Photo Delaware Valley News.com Al Stewart with The Empty Pockets
They will play some shows on their own and then Stewart will pick them up and play shows with them. Ater the show, the band came out to meet fans . Stewart did not. The crowd left the show feeling fulfilled, but wanting more. Stewart should play longer shows, and his on stage banter should be extended. He is delightful to see and hear. He loves language and his lyrics show that.