Probably it was at least 20 years ago that I had last attended a live concert. So clearly it was now time to do so when I saw that David Buskin and Robin Batteau were going to be performing (with Christine Lavin!) at the City Winery.

Not only that, but there would be one — or maybe two? — additional performer(s). See below.

For a professional review of a very similar concert, check out this one from down in Mansfield.

The first thing we noticed at City Winery was that we weren’t the oldest people in the room, as we often are at restaurants. In fact, we were clearly above the median age. There turns out to be a reason for that: Robin and I were classmates (both high-school and college) and are therefore the same age, and David is three or four years older than us (about Joe Biden’s age — gasp). The second thing we noticed was that nobody was wearing masks. Apparently we were all confident that everyone was fully vaccinated.

We had seen Christine perform before, and she’s still going strong, ending with a slightly modified version of her classic “Sensitive New Age Guys,” necessarily modified because it included her standard unrehearsed sing-along with “volunteers” from the audience. As for the headliners, their musicianship is still strong in the instrumental department, as is common for amazingly many musicians, but their vocal chops are not what they used to be — again common. Actually, David can still sing well, but Robin’s voice was clearly affected by his recent health problems that included a heart attack and colon cancer. Under those circumstances, he did remarkably well.

At this point you will not be surprised to learn that a remarkable number of their songs and stories made references to the age of the audience. Not very subtle, but the details were right on target, ranging from ’60s nostalgia to our difficulties getting up from our seats and remembering this and that.

Barbara and I have always enjoyed hearing Christine Lavin. (Speaking of ages, Christine turns out to be almost exactly halfway between our ages.) We hadn’t known that she has written a memoir! She read a brief excerpt from it during the concert — well worth the 15 minutes or so that it took to read. It was about her first experience as an actress, in 1998, at a small local playhouse in Connecticut. She had almost no time to rehearse, as she was a last-minute substitute filling in for… well, wait, you’ll see. Of course, that combination of inexperience at acting with the description “a small local playhouse in Connecticut” would inspire nervousness in almost anyone, but Christine was told not to worry. Then she gradually meets the rest of the cast at her one and only rehearsal: first Paul Newman… then Louise Goffin and Carole King… then Tony Randall… then Nathan Lane, and Joanne Woodward, and Julia Roberts. At one point she asked who she was filling in for; it turned out to be Sarah Jessica Parker.

OK, so there were the two headliners and the two friends. But what about the additional performers? The first that I had promised you up top was John Forster, whom I had never even heard of before, but he’s basically a younger version of Tom Lehrer (who, BTW, is still alive!) in terms of musical styles, topics, piano playing, and even voice. For example, listen to this song, which is fortunately out of date today (somewhat). John’s webpage describes him as “songwriter, humorist, performer, music producer,” and I can attest to the first three of those roles. A worthy replacement for Tom Lehrer!

Finally, you must be waiting with bated breath to hear about the unannounced other friend. He’s worth the wait. It turned out to be Daniel Cainer.

No, I hadn’t heard of him either.

But I should have! With even more “-er” words than John Forster, his website describes him as “award-winning songwriter, storyteller, performer, broadcaster, and several other words ending in ‘-er’.” He’s also English. The website goes on to observe that he is:

Smart, funny, timely, and only slightly irreverent…. Brilliant timing and wordplay, great musicianship and haunting tunes you won’t forget. His songs and his music are for anyone who has ever wrestled with their home, their heritage, and their heart, and is partial to bagels.

I couldn’t have said it better myself. Which is why I didn’t try. In case it isn’t obvious that he is Jewish — and more explicitly so than David Buskin — take a listen to the one song he performed at this concert. (And note the name of his keyboard.) The song tells a true story about a very bad rabbi:

Categories: Dorchester/Boston, Life