It takes someone special to pry the public out of their living rooms and into a dingy bar on a Sunday night (June 15) in Auckland. Jonathan Richman is that special.

Close to 400 fans squeezed into Luna in downtown Auckland, a club that comfortably handles about half that number. Opener Chris Knox set the mood nicely with his quirky songs, but the crowd was impatient for Richman, and who could blame them. The place was so jammed there was barely enough room to make it to the bar.

Richman appeared on stage almost as soon as Knox's set was over, accompanied by drummer Tommy Larkins and his trusty guitar. While Richman is known for his naive lyrics and child-like stage presence, he made it clear early on that he knows how to get what he wants.Before he began his first song he told the audience, in the most charming way of course, that he would not begin until the club turned off the huge video screen projecting his performance to the left of the stage.

During the second tune, the instrumental "Egyptian Reggae" that was an international hit back in the '70s, he stopped mid-tune to admonish the bartenders about making too much noise clanging the bottles. "I don't yell in your ear while you're working" he pleaded.

When he was interrupted again during the next song, "Fender Stratocaster," he stopped again and asked, "Where's that guy that runs this joint?"

A little later, when it seemed like things were getting tense, he again addressed the folks behind the bar asking them to "please hold it down. Sometimes I like to talk to the audience," thus diffusing the situation and getting the audience firmly on his side for the remainder of the evening.

Richman proceeded to give us his own version of the history of rock 'n' roll following the rockabilly twang of "Fender Stratocaster" with his own version of James Brown's "Sex Machine," the audience joining in for the now famous "get on up" response that Bobby Byrd provided on the original.

After a snippet of Brown's "Doin' It ToDeath" Richman took us back to the '50s via the Little Richard inspired vocals of "Rock & Roll Drummer Straight From The Hospy-tel" from his most recent CD, Surrender To Jonathan. He showed his rock 'n' roll heart by paying tribute to Lou & Co with "Velvet Underground" featuring a spot-on impersonation of Reed when he broke in to the VU's "Sister Ray."

Richman continued the journey with a lovely instrumental version of "Blue Moon," Elvis-style while throwing in a few licks from Mickey & Sylvia's "Love Is Strange" and then, to the delight of the crowd, bringing it back to the present with "Your Woman," currently a hit by White Town, itself a throwback to the cheesy keyboard-based songs of the early '80s.

With "My Little Girl's Got A Full-Time Daddy Now," Richman managed to endear himself to the audience without turning the whole place to mush. The song features a simple, doo-wop style melody, a sound Richman goes for on quite a few of his tunes. I'd love to hear him work with a vocal group at some point in his career. He obviously shares his idol Lou Reed's love of '50s vocal groups. Jonathan & The Belmonts anyone?

Richman turned in a thoroughly entertaining, 90 minute set, peppering his deceptively simple songs with delightful guitar solos, enlightening stories and just plain goofy dancing. After the crowd pleasing "Give Paris One More Chance" he left the stage, but was quickly brought back for his latest "hit," "I Was Dancing In A Lesbian Bar" with its Chic-inspired funky guitar. He wrapped things up with "You Must Ask The Heart," the perfect way to make sure the folks go home with that special feeling that only Jonathan Richman can evoke.