50 Shows, 50 States, 50 Days

August 14, 2003

Smack dab in the aorta of Philadelphia sits Kennedy Plaza and the infamous LOVE sculpture based on the design of hippy painter Robert Indiana. You know the one ... with the boxed four letters and the cock-eyed letter "O"? Now imagine taking the piss outta that monolith to the Unwashed Generation and replacing the LOVE with another four letter word (no, not that one)--like DORK.



That's exactly what non-folk folk singer Adam Brodsky (in photo) did on the cover of his album titled, well, DORK. Because that's what he is: an amazing song-crafting, clever lyric-writing, brainy, funny-like-a-rubber-crutch dork. And that smirkingly mocking version of the sculpture is what Brodsky does so fucking well to the more-often-than-not humorless folk scene. While most singer/songwriters wear their laid-back, folk Fonzie cool on their shirt and CD sleeves, Brodsky spits all over the jaw-dropped Jonis and Jameses. His delivery is akin to Dan Bern with the added glitch slap-to-the-Yamulkah, pop cultural commentary of pre-trial Lenny Bruce done with Tom Lehrer's tongue. Check this line from his "(The Girl I Like Is a) Diesel Dyke": "She drinks her beer from a Gertrude Stein." Or from "The Feel Like I'm Gonna Cut My Head Off Blues" from the album Hookers, Hicks and Heebs : "I can't find work in my field/And I won't make crow my last meal/You say it's not as bad as that/But soon I won't be needing hats."



Brodsky's irreverence also bleeds into his current tour schedule. Combining his childhood lust to get into the Guinness Book of World Records with his passion for playing, Brodsky is on the road, playing the unheard-of 50/50 Tour. From his show back on August 3 up to September 21, Brodsky will have played 50 shows in 50 states in the same number of days. This mind-bending tour (yes, he hits Alaska and Hawaii) stops at The Space (295 Treadwell St., Hamden, 288-6400,) on Friday, August 15. Brodsky goes on at 7:30, opening for Groovski and Awek . Perhaps Brodsky will be as prominent a Philly icon as that yawn-inspiring sculpture. 'Cause "the city of brotherly dork" sounds pretty damn good to me.

by Craig Gilbert, New Haven Advocate