Concert #584 - Doug MacLeod at McCabe's Guitar Shop (February 18, 2011)

It took me close to two hours to get to McCabe's, as rain made Friday night's traffic a lot worse than it typically is. I got there late, after they opened the door, but somehow I managed to still find a seat in the front row.

The show was opened by Lawrence Lebo, who - in spite of her name - is female. She came out with husband Denny Croy (bass) and was later joined by Phil Parlapiano (accordion) and a guitar player whose name I didn't catch. Lawrence is a good singer, has an interesting repertoire, but there was one huge problem: she just couldn't stop singing. She went on for seventy minutes, as if she were the headliner. Needless to say, I was ready to pull the plug after 35 minutes, but there was no plug to pull ...

It was my third time to see Doug MacLeod live in concert and I don't think I'm done - he is that good. Accompanied by bassist Denny Croy, he put on a very entertaining and engaging show, even though I did not know too many of his songs. But it didn't matter - Doug sang nothing but good songs, most of them with short introductory stories that were heart-warming and humorous.

Here's "Brand New Day", live in Holland:

Lawrence Lebo

Concert #569 - Jon Langford at McCabe's Guitar Shop (September 25, 2010)

Jon Langford is one of the music industry's hidden treasures. Now an American citizen living in Chicago, ex-Welshman Langford's music is hard to classify, as it mixes folk, country, rock and punk rock, all blended into something new and different, something powerful and edgy.

This was my second time to see him. I went to the concert by myself and sat in the front row. Jon came out with violinist Jean Cook, then later they were joined by long-time partner Rico Bell. Together, they put on a great show that included both old and new songs, plus plenty of humor, delivered with Jon's wonderful accent. The highlight of the show was "Nashville Radio", a song I can't get enough of.

Here's a live version of "Nashville Radio", featuring Jon and Jean:

After the show, Jon signed autographs and chatted with his fans. When he signed my newly bought CD, I thanked him for having facilitated my introduction to the wonderful artists of the Bloodshot Records label.