In recent years, actors like David Duchovny, Billy Bob Thornton, Jack Black, Kevin Bacon, Jeff Goldblum, Donald Glover, Taylor Momsen, Hugh Laurie or, in this case, Kiefer Sutherland have ventured into music with varying degrees of artistic, critical or commercial success. The sincerity of these projects is not in question, but it is not entirely unreasonable to approach a famous actor’s musical side hustle with a degree of suspicion. Even when the results are good, occasionally very good, the whole enterprise can carry the faint odor of privilege, and accusations of vanity projects are rarely completely unfounded.
Sutherland is likely aware of those reservations, and his response is a sensible one: he lets the songs carry the evening. The setlist draws heavily from his forthcoming album
Grey, while also dipping into his earlier records, introducing an unreleased song titled “Love Will Bring You Home,” and making room for a handful of carefully chosen covers.
Garbage’s “I’m Only Happy When It Rains,”
The Marshall Tucker Band’s “Can’t You See,” and
Phil Collins’s “In The Air Tonight” are all filtered through an Americana, heartland rock, and Southern rock lens, complete with pedal steel and occasional twin-guitar flourishes courtesy of CJ Hillman and Ash Wilson.
The evening’s most affecting moment arrives with “See You On The Other Side,” a restrained ballad that strongly suggests Sutherland is addressing the loss of his father, Donald Sutherland. It is handled without excessive pathos or performative sentimentality, and it lands precisely because of that restraint. This honesty and authenticity are what define the whole show: there is no attempt to trade on celebrity, no self-conscious mythology, no wink to the audience; just a singer/songwriter, a kick-ass band, and a bunch of good tunes.
Sutherland carries himself like someone grateful to be there rather than someone expecting applause for simply showing up. At this stage, he has very little left to prove to anyone: the songs make the argument for him.
Sponsored content:
Check out these related articles from the Electric Eye archives:
