Nick Lowe has come a long way from his beginnings as a brash young pub rocker with Brinsley Schwartz and his role as the in-house producer for pioneering British punk label Stiff Records, where he worked with the Damned, Elvis Costello, and Pretenders. The same off-kilter wit and eccentric humor that’s always been present in his songs is still there, so it makes a certain sense that he’s taken on the lucha libre mask-wearing Los Straitjackets as his backing band.
But he’s aged gracefully into more of a smooth, laidback crooner. His recent performance at The Hamilton Live was a delightful, relaxing evening of wonderful songs.
Nick didn’t shy away from playing the hits on July 25: “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding,” written during his time with Brinsley Schwarz, has been covered by artists ranging from Elvis Costello to Steve Earle and, most significantly, Curtis Stigers, for the soundtrack to The Bodyguard, starring Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner. That album became the bestselling soundtrack of all time, resulting in a significant windfall for Lowe.
That windfall allowed Lowe to reshape his career on his own terms, beginning with 1994’s The Impossible Bird, a landmark album in the-then burgeoning Americana genre. “I Live On a Battlefield,” which he cowrote with Paul Carrack, is one of the record’s many standout tracks, was covered by Diana Ross.
Watch Nick Lowe perform “I Live On a Battlefield” live with Daryl Hall for Live from Daryl’s House on YouTube:
His biggest hit came many years before that, with the power pop classic “Cruel To Be Kind.” There were plenty of other classic gems in the set: “Half a Boy and Half a Man,” “Heart of the City,” and “So It Goes,” which he opened the set with. He followed that with the more recent “Went To A Party.” After “Heart,” he quipped, “We have a pretty good set list tonight, I think. There’s a few I wish we weren’t doing.” I’m not sure how serious this was!
He kept things with “Lately I’ve Let Things Slide,” as well as “Love Starvation,” “Jet Pack Boomerang,” and “Tokyo Bay,” before taking a break while Los Straitjackets did a few of their instrumentals. Their frontman noted it was his daughter’s 24th birthday.
When Nick came back, he sang “Trombone,” “Blue on Blue,” “Somebody Cares,” and “Ragin’ Eyes.” He closed the main set with “I Knew The Bride,” a song he recorded in Rockpile, his collaboration with fellow British rocker Dave Edmunds.
For the evening’s encore, Los Straitjackets did an instrumental cover of ’60s proto-metal band Blue Cheer’s “Venus.” Nick then came back out, and they sent the audience home with “When I Write The Book,” another song from his Rockpile days.
Well into his 70s, Lowe’s voice still sounds great, and Los Straitjackets do a great job spicing things up. The real star, of course, is the songs; Lowe his written many classics and is still putting out great material.
Here are some pictures of Nick Lowe & Los Straitjackets performing live at The Hamilton Live on July 25, 2026. All pictures copyright and courtesy of Steve Satzberg.
