How often do you hear a song that expresses a soul’s deepest, darkest wish? How often do two people share a stage with each other’s deepest, darkest wish? The answer is ‘always’ when watching JP, Chrissie, and the Fairground Boys. When I read that young Welsh musician JP Jones met rock legend Chrissie Hynde by gutsily approaching her at a party, I was struck by the beautiful simplicity of their meeting. Their album borne out of their ill-fated romance is called Fidelity!, and it’s an open book on their relationship. Last night I saw JP, Chrissie and the gang perform at the House of Blues, and I felt like a voyeur observing their intimate exchange of words to music. They were both dressed in fitted white shirts, and both wore chunky silver necklaces around their necks. His voice was an endless dark stretch of weathered gravel road; hers just as young and exposed as it ever has been. They faced each other often, only their guitars and a few feet between them. When he sang solo, she mouthed the words. She’s still rock star skinny and glamorous, and the unabashed adoration in his eyes was just as genuine as their bittersweet duets.

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Leave Me If You Must’ was one of the saddest three minues of music I’ve ever heard,  JP putting down his guitar so that he could better serenade her with his Johnny Cash-style vocal inflections. When he sang  “I wish that you could see me in a future life or in a former time” he looked at her pointedly. She stared back, deadpan, faintly shaking her head. He introduced ‘Courage’ as “the saddest song we’ve ever written” only to be quickly corrected by Chrissie in a whispered aside. “Oh I’m sorry, the second saddest song,” he admitted sheepishly. ‘Courage’ was a toast to one another’s fortitude in pursuing a difficult relationship, and the energy between them was palpable. The saddest song turned out to be ‘Perfect Lover’, a tune that laid it all out in plain language. The unselfconsiously vulnerable world which they both inhabit is startling:

I found my perfect lover but he’s only half my age

He was learning how to stand when I was wearing my first wedding band

I found my perfect lover but I have to turn the page

But I want him in my kitchen and standing on my stage

 

 

While it was hard to look away from JP and Chrissie‘s powerful charisma together, their supporting band The Fairground Boys (named for Chrissie and JP‘s mutual love of fairs) was a solid band in their own right. The guitarist wailed on his instrument in a way that pointed to a serious interest in Pink Floyd. At one point, a member of the audience yelled “Drum solo!”, and Chrissie immediately turned to the drummer, awaiting his reply. He grinned, did a quick fill, and then stopped anti-climactically. The band turned back to the audience, and he suddenly did another quick, loud fill that made the band whip back around to stare at him, the audience laughing. Chrissie wryly introduced the bass player as “Italian, so he doesn’t understand much English, but he does appreciate applause”. The band was incredible, but it was clear that this was really about the two people pouring their hearts out to one another onstage. For the last uptempo ballad, there was a moment where Chrissie leaned forward towards JP, and he held out his hand to cup her chin briefly as they sang the last song together to wild applause. I left the show with sad clown makeup, my eyes having run over with the wealth of emotions swirling around the room. Everyone knows the tale of the star-crossed lovers, but nobody lives and breathes it like Chrissie and JP. For more information on their next leg of the tour, please visit their Myspace page. Their 11-song album Fidelity! was released in August, and it’s now available on iTunes.