Concert #583 - Colin Hay at the Broad Stage (January 29, 2011)

Boy, was I wrong ... for years I'd been aware of Colin Hay's many appearances at various small clubs in the LA area, Largo in particular, but to me, Colin Hay was nothing but a has-been whose time has long passed. But then, a couple of years ago, my son Danny and our friend Ralph exposed me to "Beautiful World", which sort of opened my curiosity to look into Colin's newer material. That's how I discovered "Are You Lookin' At Me", an excellent album released in 2007. I also heard the "Man At Work" album, Colin's re-recordings of his Men At Work hits, all sounding very good. Since then, I'd been on the lookout, hoping to catch him live at a good venue.

Last night's show at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica was sensational, and I had the pleasure of watching it from the front row, center, together with my wife and our good friends Ralph, Laura, Wayne and Maria.

The sound was good, the crowd behaved well, so I'll definitely go back to the venue, even though tickets are a bit pricey there.

The show was opened by Anais Mitchell, whose first song, from her Hadestown folk opera, was good, but none of her other songs caught my attention. But she was very well received by the crowd, which surprised me a bit.

Colin is an accomplished performer, a true professional, capable of holding a good size crowd in the palm of his hands, and he does it with just an acoustic guitar, great humorous stories and even better songs. He's a decent guitar player as well.

Playing in front of a full house, Colin switched back and forth between his solo material and Men At Work classics, with many funny stories in-between.

He played "Who Can It Be Now", with some help from the audience, "Overkill", "Down Under", "Beautiful World", "Waiting For My Real Life To Begin", "Oh, California" and many others. Definitely one of the best one-man shows you will ever see. Colin Hay deserves much more recognition than he actually gets. If you have a chance to see him live, go see him.

Here's "Are You Lookin' At Me", live in studio:

Concert #582 - Tom Paxton at McCabe's Guitar Shop (January 22, 2011)

I had seen Tom Paxton a few times before, but I went back to McCabe's mostly because I wanted to sing "The Last Thing On My Mind" with him one more time.

Tom came out with string performer Fred Sokolow, they played together a set of decent length, with quite a few good stories between songs. I was hoping that Tom would bring out an unannounced guest, someone big, but it didn't happen. Tom's voice was strong and he made no mistakes at all. It appears to me that he has no intentions of slowing down.

During the intermission, I photographed the set list, which consisted of nothing but abbreviations - I guess he had sung these songs before.

Toy, Wine and RB are "The Marvelous Toy", "Bottle Of Wine" and "Ramblin' Boy", respectively.




LT is "The Last Thing On My Mind", while LT Parody is a fan-written thing that appears on Tom's "Live At McCabe's" album and it goes like this:

Well I met this young girl at a folk club,

Like you do, like you do.

So I bought her a drink and we chatted,

Wouldn’t you, wouldn’t you.

And then after the show she invited me home,

And she said we were two of a kind,

Then she played me every record

That Tom Paxton ever made,

And you know that was the last thing on my mind.

Immediately after the intermission, Fred Sokolow sang one his own songs, a good one, then Tom rejoined him on stage. It was a good concert overall and yes, "The Last Thing On My Mind" did turn into an instant sing-along in which I was an active participant.

Tom Paxton at the end of the show 

Concert #581 - Hair at the Pantages Theater (January 5, 2011)

I was seventeen when I first heard the music from Hair, the American tribal-love-rock musical. That was in 1967. Now it's 2011. You do the math.

I bought my tickets over the Internet and it wasn't cheap. With fees, I paid almost $200 for two seats eight rows from the stage. During the check-out process, a note popped up warning potential buyers of "20 seconds of full nudity in a non-sexual context, presented in dim lighting". My first thought was "$200 bucks and dim lighting? You kiddin' me?"

The Pantages, just before showtime

It was only my second time at the Pantages, many years after I saw Johnny Cash there. It's not a bad place to see a show, if you sit close enough to the stage. I stayed away from buying front row seats, after having seen on YouTube how the artists mingle with the audience. It turned out that my eighth row seat wasn't enough to protect me from becoming part of the show. Was it my lack of hair that endeared me to the big black actor with the huge Afro? I'll never know what he saw in me, but he walked straight up  to me and deposited a real kiss on my left cheek. True story. Can I now claim that I was in Hair?


The show started with the curtain coming crashing down onto the stage, immediately followed by the opening song, "Aquarius". The show was engaging, interesting, different, occasionally moving, but it did not give me the natural high I often experience at concerts. With so many great songs, I couldn't help but remark that Hair had some filler stuff as well. The actors were all over the place, with frequent incursions into the seating area, occasionally even climbing over the heads of the viewers. I didn't like that. Overall, the singing was good, but some had better voices than others. As far as the nudity was concerned, I can confirm that it was both total and frontal. Also extremely innocent. It's hard to see how anyone could get offended by what I saw.

The stage, photographed during the intermission

The grand finale was, of course, "Let The Sunshine In", performed by the entire cast. Then it was all over.

The curtain-less curtain call

Concert #580 - Randy Newman's Harps And Angels at the Mark Taper Forum (December 22, 2010)

My first time at the Mark Taper Forum. What an excellent show! A talented cast of six artists delivered a highly entertaining revue of thirty five of Randy's best known songs, accompanied by a great band that remained hidden throughout the show. With music that good, there was no need for special effects, nor for a fancy stage production. The songs did the talking, and they kept coming, one after the other, it was great.

Among the performers, there were two I knew quite well: Michael McKean and Katey Sagal. That's Michael and Katey of "Spinal Tap" and "Married With Children" fame, respectively. I wasn't familiar with the other four performers, but they were all very good, especially Broadway artist Adriane Lenox and the gorgeous Storm Large, whose rendition of "I Think It's Going To Rain Today" will be hard to forget.

 
My Better Half and I had front row seats, almost at the center of the round stage. The whole show felt like a private performance, it was so intimate. The sound was very good and, better yet, we were left alone, as the artists did not bother anyone, they just minded their music. 

 From rear left, clockwise: Ryder Bach, Storm Large, Michael McKean, Katey Sagal, Matthew Saldivar, Adriane Lenox

 

 

Concert #579 - Jackshit at McCabe's Guitar Shop (December 3, 2010)

My 20th time to see Jackshit live in concert as headliners. This was the first of two consecutive nights at McCabe's, both nights advertised as "Jackshit and Friends". I bought fourteen tickets for the show, a far cry from my previous record of twenty five tickets, but there were quite a few first-timers among the folks I brought with me.

The concert should have been called "Jackshit & Friend", where the "friend" turned out to be John Doe of X fame, also of the Knitters fame. He sang four good songs and was received very well by the crowd. Drummer Charlie "Ringo" Shit popped in for a number or two - he is remarkably good, in spite of his tender age of eight. Rightly so, the boys from Cochtotan believe that somethin' that ain't broke needs no fixin', so their set remained pretty much unchanged from their earlier concerts this year, and I have no problem with that - as long as Polly, the pretty one, shows up.

John Doe (right), with Beau watching

After the show, I bought a poster, which Beau, Shorty, Pete and Charlie all autographed. One day I'll frame it and hang it somewhere in the house.

Note the stylish shirt I'm wearing, bought directly from Cochtotan's General Store.

Concert #578 - Richard Thompson's "Cabaret Of Souls" at the Royce Hall (November 19, 2010)

You don't often mention "RT" and "disappointment" in the same sentence, but on this occasion, I did. After about one hour and twenty five minutes of decent music, the performers reached the end of the show, they took a few bows, smiled and waived at the cheering crowd, left the stage, came back, more bows, more waiving, left again, then the lights went on and it was all over ... What? No encore?? Are you kidding me??? After not even 90 minutes of music??? It took me two hours of tough driving to get to UCLA on a wet Friday night, so yes, I was disappointed, to put it mildly.

RT was surrounded by well-known musicians - Harry Shearer, Judith Owen, Debra Dobkin, David Piltch and Pete Zorn - plus the Idyllwild Arts Academy Orchestra, all wearing costumes, fancy hairdos and plenty of face paint. The whole atmosphere was totally different from any of my many previous encounters with Richard. The music was good, but not great and Richard kept a relatively low profile throughout the evening.

Judith Owen

Some of the best moments of the evening belonged to long-time RT collaborator Judith Owen. The Idyllwild string orchestra was very good as well. Harry Shearer, Judith's husband, was the narrator of the show, so he didn't sing much.

I would have loved to have RT come back with at least some of the performers and do a couple of his classic songs, but it wasn't to be.

Harry Shearer

Concert #577 - Janiva Magness at McCabe's Guitar Shop (November 13, 2010)

Another perfect show at McCabe's, another perfect evening with Janiva Magness. This was her last concert of the year, delivered with the same energy and intensity as always. The show started with two blues numbers played by her fabulous band. With the crowd warmed up, Janiva took the stage and sang Nina Simone's "Feeling Good", from her most recent album, titled "The Devil Is An Angel Too". Before the show was over, she went through most songs from the album, which happens to be her best, in my opinion.

Janiva at McCabe's

Just like on previous occasions, Janiva did announced how old she was - obviously, she is proud of her age, and she should be - she sounds good, looks good and she gives it all when she's on stage.

The highlight of the show was, once again, Delbert McClinton's "You Were Never Mine", a song that Janiva has made her own.


A former foster child herself, Janiva spoke briefly about foster parenthood, a cause she is actively supporting.

Janiva's band was exceptionally good. Here's the full lineup:  

Zach Zunis (guitar)

Gary Davenport (bass)

Jim Alfredson (Hammond B3 and keys)

Matt Tecu (drums)

Zach Zunis

Janiva & Gary Davenport

Concert #576 - Cheryl Wheeler at McCabe's Guitar Shop (November 5, 2010)

I first saw Cheryl Wheeler back in 1999 and I liked her. Since then, she had been back at McCabe's many times, but until November 2010 I had not gone back to see her again. This time she had Jill Sobule as her opening act, and such a double bill was too good to resist.

My two favorite Jill Sobule songs are "Where Is Bobbie Gentry" and "A Good Life", so imagine my joy when Jill opened the show with these very songs. Her set was very good, full of humor and good songs.

Here's a 2009 live rendition of "A Good Life"

Cheryl Wheeler's show was as expected - good overall, but not the kind you wanna go back to see again and again. She's definitely a first-rate storytellers, full of wit and intelligence. Her stories were compelling, albeit a bit long, the songs were good and so was her singing and guitar playing. She spoke and sang about God, cats, same-sex marriage, Ghandi & Buddha, and her partner, as seen from the vantage point of a lesbian atheist. The crowd responded well to her show. Just like in 1999, she sang the "Potato" version of the "Mexican Hat Dance".

Concert #575 - The Secret Sisters at McCabe's Guitar Shop (October 29, 2010)

At my respectable age, I seldom go out to catch a show that starts just before midnight. But then I seldom have the chance to see the Secret Sisters in a small intimate venue - these young ladies won't be playing small intimate venues for long.

It was yet another unbelievable concert at McCabe's. It all started with one of the best opening acts I'd ever seen there, the Americans. They came out at 11:15 PM, played some great rockabilly, six songs in all. Watch this YouTube video to get acquainted with the Americans:

Laura and Lydia Rogers, a.k.a. the Secret Sisters, came out at 11:50 PM and played just about one hour. They had been on their feet since early in the morning, but their performance was strong. With only one album out, they sang the majority of the songs from the album, which - needless to say - I knew very well, and it was great. Laura played an acoustic guitar - she's not much of a guitarist, and she's the first one to tell you so.

There is no difference between their studio and live sound, which is a tribute not only to their singing ability, but also to T Bone Burnett's production. Their harmonies are divine, their voices are perfect and so is their fledgling repertoire. Among the highlights: "Do You Love An Apple", "House Of Gold" and the self-penned "Tennessee Me". I would have liked to hear "Somethin' Stupid", but you can't have it all.

Here's how "House Of Gold"sounded at McCabe's:

The Secret Sisters on stage at McCabe's

After the show, the Sisters mingled with the crowd and signed autographs. My better half and I grabbed two posters, which Laura & Lydia signed for us.

The Secret Sisters getting ready to sign autographs

Our autographed posters

Concert #574 - Trashcan Sinatras at McCabe's Guitar Shop (October 24, 2010)

The Trashcan Sinatras. Not your typical McCabe's act, yet they did play there, I swear. With only 150 seats in the house, the concert sold out, as expected, but it took a couple of weeks before the "Sold Out" sign showed up.

I went to the concert by myself and sat in the front row. I can't say they were not good, yet as a whole, the show lacked variety and it became boring after a while. The highlights were, of course, "Obscurity Knocks" and "Only Tongue Can Tell", their catchy hits from the early 1990s. Without these songs I would have gone home decidedly unhappy, as I didn't know any other song, nor was I very impressed by their repertoire.

Here are the Trashcan Sinatras live, only a few day after I saw them:

Concert #573 - Jackshit at McCabe's Guitar Shop (October 23, 2010)

Another great Jackshit concert at McCabe's. This time I took with me 25 friends, at least half of them were first-timers. Everyone loved the concert, many told me that they wanted to see them again. The show was a sellout.

Here's the set list, which I fraudulently photographed after the show, I suppose it's Beau's handwriting:

Regular shitheads would immediately notice their newer songs, such as "Out Of Time", the Rolling Stones oldie, "Drinkin' And Drivin", another obscure song from the repertoire of the equally obscure Pat MacDonald (of Timbuk 3 fame), "Candy Man", the Roy Orbison classic, the traditional "False Hearted Lover" and Jimmie Vaughan's "Boom Boppa Boom".

Pete

At one point during the concert, Pete Thomas pretended to get mad at the band, threw his drumsticks down in disgust and left the stage.
Show over? It seemed that way ... Enter eight-year-old Charlie "Ringo" Shit, who just "happened" to be backstage - he sat in for Pete on "Candy Man" and got a huge ovation from the crowd. The kid has definitely got talent. A pacified Pete came back after "Candy Man" and resumed his regular drumming duties.

Shorty

The highlight of the show was Lee Dorsey's "Get Out Of My Life, Woman", featuring Shorty's exquisite bass playing. Another high point was "Hold That Critter Down", with Pete soloing on his acoustic guitar.

The encore: Beau, Pete & Shorty doing "Hold That Critter Down"

The Mrs. and I - first in line at McCabe's