John Hiatt: Depending on the dosage, John Hiatt’s knack for goofball humor can either add to his songs’ charms or suffocate them, and during the first half of his 90-minute performance at the Riviera on Sunday night the Indianapolis native-turned Tennessee songwriter might as well have been wearing big floppy shoes and a red rubber nose.
It didn’t help that Hiatt and his backing trio played at a volume more suited for Metallica than his rootsy, thoughtful rock. Hiatt’s vocals suffered in particular, as the overamplification emphasized his growls, bellows and trills as he oversang “Sure Pinocchio” and “Ethylene.”
This hyperactivity extended to his gawky dancing during a lengthy bass solo and his interrupting “Little Head” to preach a passage from Romans.
Fortunately, a crystalline rendition of the heartbreaking ballad “Icy Blue Heart” seemed to settle him down, leading to strong, straightforward renditions of rockers such as “Graduated” and “Tennessee Plates” that were animated without becoming cartoonish.