To be alive is never to be the same: three live recordings
Or as Breyten Breytenbach puts it in Notes from the Middle World: “To be alive is to keep moving, even as a carrier of shame.”
Zevon opened himself up to different producers much like an artist working closely with a passionate curator. These three different live shows, available for free via archive.org, show Zevon adapting to different environments at different times in his life.
At Park West in Chicago in 1978, he gives a sweeping performance, like he’s talking to each audience member, one by one.
At Rockefellers in Texas in 1986, he rocks out solo, songwriter style, on piano & guitar, adding in some strange instrumental numbers.
And at the Catalyst in Santa Cruz, California in March 1990, Zevon rocks out with his wit out. It sounds like it’s 1981 and everyone’s wondering what happened to the 70s, intent on bringing back the Wall of Sound for at least one evening:
