White Noise
Don White puts family first at Club Passim on Saturday, 4 January 2025.
The Thompson twins, Chris and Meredith, are double trouble in the opening slot.
Ace the Quiz, Win the Tix
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Hump Nights
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Ace the Quiz, Win the Tix 〰️ Hump Nights 〰️
Hump Nights
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Ace the Quiz, Win the Tix
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Hump Nights 〰️ Ace the Quiz, Win the Tix 〰️
Chris and Meredith
Thompson
Chris and Meredith Thompson opened an evening of folk in Harvard Square’s favorite folk underground, Club Passim. The twins harmonized with honey-suckled tones, complementing their mix of covers and originals, including “Lines of Longitude,” with acoustic guitar, flute, and conga drums.
Don White
I’ll defer to the writeup at my Cambridge Day gig for the Don White set.
Local folk singer and storyteller Don White is an institution. A mental institution!
If jokes like that tickle your funny bone, then you would have been rolling in the aisles at Club Passim on Saturday night. The singer-songwriter returned for his 35th show at the garden-level hotspot in Harvard Square. From the look of the audience, an amalgam of grey hair and loose-knit wool, he wasn’t the only longtime frequenter in the house.
Case in point, I sidled into my reserved seat next to Mort, Jan, and Nancy, three beautiful seniors who love life, folk music, and good conversation. They were Don White regulars, having attended decades of his performances.
Mort, who works in computers, recalled the annual (and now extinct) “funny song” competition at Somerville Theatre. Don partnered up with Christine Lavin to win it every year.
Jan, who ordered the banana bread pudding, speculated that the annual competition was canceled because the dynamic duo of White & Lavin could never be beaten.
Nancy didn’t say much at all, too busy doing battle with her Portobello Melt.
Although Mort, Jan, and Nancy couldn’t recall any particular favorites from White’s discography, they were united in appreciation of the central theme that runs through his work: family.
Sure enough, when the lights dimmed and the headliner took the stage, White wasted no time shifting into confessional mode, telling tales of love, loss, and the power of family.
If you don’t have strong opinions about Spiro Agnew, you might have had some trouble mapping all the cultural references. But the general thrust of White’s message was clear: whatever the question, love is the answer. And the message hit home for Mort, Jan, and Nancy, who all shed quiet tears at various moments during the set.
Don White is a singer who doesn’t sing that well, a guitarist who doesn’t play guitar that well, and a comedian whose jokes feel tired. But none of that matters when the right storyteller finds the right message for the right audience. And it felt just right on a nearly sold-out Saturday night at Club Passim.
Get ready for number 36.
Photo Gallery
Don White puts family first at Club Passim.