Concert Review: Stephen Lynch at the Midland

At the Midland on Saturday night, Stephen Lynch not only made musical comedy seem like a rock show -- he gave a pointed lesson in how to deal with hecklers and other assorted loudmouths.

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Stephen Lynch at Lorensbergsteatern in Göteborg, Sweden (the same haircut and everything from Saturday - all that's different is the jacket).

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In addition to responding to a request for "the bowling song!" ("Almighty Malachi, Professional Bowling God") with a ditty that went "Why don't you bowl my balls right into your mouth?" a request for "Freebird" was mocked with "Any more songs that I didn't fucking write?" Lynch also played parts of the Lynyrd Skynyrd song, along with bits of other "25-minute songs that can waste everyone's time" like "The Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald" and "Bohemian Rhapsody."

Using short films as a break in the songs, Lynch kept the evening moving briskly along. After the opener, "Waiting," he made a comment to the effect that he'd done Broadway, and was now singing about AIDS in Kansas City -- "I hate my life." The whole show was full of random asides, smart-ass comments, and weird riffs, like when Lynch told the audience about a dream he'd had the night before where he was onstage, at the Midland, in Kansas City, but he was Prince.

With help from David Josefsberg, whom Lynch had met doing The Wedding Singer on Broadway, as well as Rod Cone, Lynch was able to do duets like "She's Gotta Smile," as well as repurposing Superhero's "Talk to Me" as a tune with three-part harmonies. It was amazing to see three guys who quite easily could have been singing much schmaltzier numbers for much bigger bucks singing about masturbation and banging fat girls.

The only "classic" tune Lynch played the entire evening was "Special Ed," which is from his first album, A Little Bit Special. There was no "Superhero," "Lullaby," or any other tunes he's probably most famous for. It's understandable, considering he's recorded several of those tunes multiple times, and I imagine the horse has been well-flogged for "ad-lib" material by this point.

I say "ad-lib" as I do, because it's pretty evident by the end of the show that all the material is scripted. When you've got three guys who are actors in addition to musicians, it's not surprising that all three can make it seem fresh and off-the-cuff. It became evident when every little gag mentioned showed up in a slide show of breasts during "Hallelujah," and when the show ended with Lynch doing "Purple Rain," going all the way back to the dream he'd mentioned right after the first song.

Still -- hilarity. I laughed so hard my face still hurts.

Set list
Waiting
Fishin' Hole
Special Ed
Dear Diary
Craig
What If That Guy from Smashing Pumpkins Lost His Car Keys?
Freebird
She Gotta Smile (with Rod Cone)
Dear Diary
Medieval Bush
Dirty Sanchez (with David Josefsberg)
Talk to Me (with David Josefsberg & Rod Cone)
Crazy Peanuts (with David Josefsberg & Rod Cone)
Dear Diary
Hallelujah

Encore
Beelz
Sidekicks (with David Josefsberg)
Purple Rain (with David Josefsberg & Rod Cone)