Welcome to CONCERT OVERLOAD, a place for sharing my concert-going experiences. My goal is to say a few words about each and every concert I've ever attended.
CURRENT CONCERT COUNT: 868 (most of them in the Los Angeles area)
This was my fifth time to see Al Stewart in concert and I'm not done. In his mid 60s, Al still sounds great and is thoroughly entertaining.
Assisted by guitar virtuoso Dave Nachmanoff and multi-instrumentalist Marc Macisso, Al Stewart outdid himself with an outstanding show full of humor, bits of presidential history and great music. Al is not one to turn his back on his past, so along with his newer material, we also got to hear some of his gems from the seventies, among them "Year Of The Cat", "Time Passages" and "On The Border". These are all songs with richly-orchestrated originals and to their credit, this trio of musicians - Al, Dave and Marc - managed to recreate the "feel" of the originals to a great extent. I recall two other songs they played that night: "Antarctica"
and "Night Train To Munich".
From L to R: Dave Nachmanoff, Al Stewart and Marc Macisso at McCabe's
Here's Al and Dave playing "Year Of The Cat", "Time Passages" and "On The Border":
Every so often I feel like seeing someone whom I don't really know, musically speaking. What attracted me to Marshall Crenshaw's concert was not only his "cult favorite" status, but also my perception that in him I could quite possibly discover yet another "hidden gem" of the music business, someone whose body of work would be fun to explore. Well, it didn't happen.
From my point of view, this concert had few high points, and it wasn't just because of my runny nose. Simply put, Marshall Crenshaw's sense of melody did not get along with mine. Some of his songs were better than others, but none knocked me out. "Someday Someway" and "Cynical Girl" were among the better ones. He also sang "Sunday Blues", "Marry Anne", "You Are My Favorite Waste Of Time", plus a few songs from Jaggedland, his most recent album.
Marshall used two guitars and played the whole set seated. He talked briefly about Trini Lopez and his idiosyncratic shouts of "Here we go" and "Everybody". The highlight of the show was the last song of the encore, "If I Had A Hammer", delivered pretty much like Trini Lopez's version from the early 60s. This was the second cover song of the evening, the other one was Buddy Holly's"Crying, Waiting, Hoping".
Many years after his mind-blowing concert at McCabe's in 1991, Al Stewart returned to the same venue in the summer of 2002, and - needless to say - I was the first in line. My expectation were high, I was hoping for Peter White to show up once again and deliver yet another great performance, but it wasn't to be: Al played the whole set solo. Yes, the vocals were good, the delivery was great, but there was something missing - Al's strumming just wasn't a good-enough substitute for Peter's finger-picking virtuosity. I went home a bit disappointed.
My next encounter with Al Stewart took place on November 19, 2004, also at McCabe's, where else? This time, Al was accompanied by newcomer Dave Nachmanoff, who did a very good job as Al's sidekick, but once again, I had my mind set on Peter White, so anything else just wasn't good enough for me. They played a typical Al Stewart set, with a bunch of newer songs, the mandatory oldies, the funny chatter and frequent lessons of history, it wasn't bad at all.
Dave Nachmanoff
Then came my fourth Al Stewart concert, on April 24, 2009. I went with Barry and Barbara, two British friends. This time Al had Laurence Juber as his accompanying guitarist. I had not seen Laurence before, but I was very familiar with his great career. The show had an opening act - Laurence Juber himself. He played seven songs, among them "Little Wing", "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and "Every Breath You Take" and he was phenomenally good. After a short break, Al and Laurence took the stage together and what followed was definitely of "Peter White quality". Their interaction was clever, relaxed and funny, which is what you would expect from two old friends and long-time musical partners. They played "On The Border", "Year Of The Cat", "Night Train To Munich" and many other goodies. Al shared a few fun stories involving Lionel Bart and Tommy Steele, plus the usual historic references, as you would expect from the erudite British gentleman that he is. Great show!
Laurence Juber
Watch this live recording of "Night Train To Munich", featuring Al Stewart and Laurence Juber together:
In the summer of 1991, my music-loving niece wanted to catch a live show in LA - she was staying with us for a few weeks - but at the time, she was deep into death metal in general, and Sepultura in particular, so finding a concert of mutual interest appeared to be mission impossible. As far as I was concerned, I just wanted to take her to McCabe's, my favorite venue, fully knowing that the artists typically playing there were definitely not up her alley.
Enter Al Stewart, a musician who had all but disappeared after his fantastic string of radio hits in the seventies. Of all the artists scheduled to appear at McCabe's, Al happened to be my best bet, so I grabbed a pair of tickets and we showed up at McCabe's not really knowing what to expect. Boy, were we in for a treat!
Al Stewart came out with a guitarist by the name of Peter White - at the time, I didn't know who he was, but I certainly know now. The show started with a bouncy "Flying Sorcery", and it took me no time to realize that we were witnessing something truly special. Al and Peter went on to play one of the finest shows I have ever attended, full of great songs, great vocals, humor and Peter's out-of-this-world picking. They played "Fields Of France", "Year Of The Cat", "Josephine Baker" and many other gems.
Peter White
The highlight of the show was "On The Border", a number that kicked off with an epic intro that lasted for about two minutes and brought all of us to a state of near-frenzy. I left McCabe's utterly impressed by the quality of the show and I remember telling my niece "what a shame that the sounds of such an amazing performance just fade away, never to be heard again".
Imagine my surprise, when less than one year later, Al Stewart released a live album documenting his tour with Peter White, with some of the songs recorded right at McCabe's, at the very same concert I had attended!
"Rhymes In Rooms" remains to this day one of my all-time favorite albums, the stand-out track being, of course, "On The Border".
Here's Al Stewart and Peter White playing "On The Border" in 1988:
