Concert #592 - The Belle Brigade at McCabe's Guitar Shop (May 20, 2011)

Tuneful. Inventive. Clever. Youthful. Creative. Upbeat. Humorous. All these labels and more apply to the Belle Brigade's appearance at McCabe's last night. Their excellent self-penned songs and harmonious vocals amounted to a very pleasant evening of mostly unknown, but decidedly accessible, material. In spite of the shortness of their set, only 55 minutes, we all went home happy, without feeling shortchanged. There were plenty of uptempo songs, and the slower ones were no sleepers.

Throughout the show I missed the presence of a drummer and so did the band, as they had some trouble starting songs in unison. But such occurrences were handled with humor and were no big deal.

Siblings Barbara and Ethan Gruska, who are the Belle Brigade, happen to be the grandchildren of the legendary composer and conductor John Williams. In their case, the apple did not fall far from the tree - Barbara and Ethan have lots of talent and I'm sure they'll be heard from again and again.

The Belle Brigade at McCabe's

The set list (May 20, 2011)

If pressed to name the best song of the evening, I would pick "Where Not To Look For Freedom".

Opening act Obi Best, essentially singer and pianist Alex Lilly, helped out by keyboardist Aaron Arntz and bassist Bram Inscore, was OK, but not sensational. Alex  Lilly has a great voice and is quite comfortable on stage, but her melodic sense and mine don't jibe.

Signs in the window at McCabe's

Concert #505 - T Bone Burnett & Friends (Peter Case Benefit Concert) at McCabe's Guitar Shop (May 3, 2009)

Only at McCabe's. Where else can you have a front-row center seat and see the heavyweights I got to see on May 3, 2009. But front-row center seats don't come easy - they have to be earned, so there I was at the door, first in line, more than two hours before they allowed people in. My friends may be right after all - I am crazy.

This was the third and final night of Peter Case benefit concerts held at McCabe's. Tickets cost $50, just like for the first two nights

LIST OF PERFORMERS

T Bone Burnett

Richard Thompson

Katie Melua

Eric Idle

Syd Straw

Joe Henry

Geoff Muldaur

Bob Neuwirth

Sam Phillips

Peter Case

Carla Olson

The concert was kicked off by T Bone himself, who played five newer songs. He used two old vintage microphones that stayed on the stage for the entire duration of the concert.

Syd Straw came out with none other than Richard Thompson - it appeared to me that they had been chatting upstairs and when time came for Syd to take the stage, Richard simply tagged along, to Syd's utter surprise.

Syd Straw

Joe Henry's set was very well received - he played two well-crafted songs in his inimitable style.

Joe Henry at McCabe's (photo by Roman Cho)

A yet-to-be-fully-recovered Peter Case, accompanied by a string quartet, played "A Million Miles Away", the biggest hit the Plimsouls ever had. Following that, Peter was joined by Eddie Munoz and David Pahoa, his former Plimsouls bandmates, and together they played "Oldest Story in the World".

Carla Olson, helped out by Eddie Munoz and David Pahoa, played "Now", a song written by Peter Case during his Plimsouls days.

Helped by the same string quartet, Sam Phillips, T Bone Burnett's ex-wife, sang "Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us", and received a huge applause for her outstanding delivery.

Sam Phillips

During the intermission, just as I was standing against the stage, Eric Idle came out to prepare for his upcoming set. Our eyes met, Eric winked at me and I nodded back in approval. That was my chance to quip "Say no more" in response to his wink, but that brilliant idea came to me only after the show. Eric then took the stage and sang two utterly funny songs meant primarily for adult audiences.

Eric Idle

T Bone Burnett came out to introduce Katie Melua, a European mega-star little known in the States, who happened to be in Los Angeles for a recording session with T Bone. I had been very familiar with her music and her stature, so seeing her up-close was the undisputed highlight of the evening. Katie sang the beautiful "Nine Million Bicycles" and I was in heaven.

Katie Melua at McCabe's (photo by Roman Cho)

Here's Katie Melua delivering "Nine Million Bicycles" pretty much like she sang it at McCabe's:

Geoff Muldaur and Bob Neuwirth delivered good sets consisting of two songs each.

Richard Thompson, the final solo performer of the evening, played four songs, among them "The Dimming Of The Day", then everyone came back for the grand finale, which was Hank Williams' "Your Cheatin'  Heart". And so ended an unforgettable night like I may never see again.

Concert #506 - Alela Diane at McCabe's Guitar Shop (May 9, 2009)

 

In my case, a trip from my home to McCabe's and back adds 102 miles to my odometer, which is just another way of saying that I have to make my concert choices carefully. So what made me want to see Alela Diane? Well, it was primarily her "Pirate's Gospel" song and not much else, because I didn't know much else. In other words, I took a chance and ended up going home pretty much empty handed, so to speak.

The show opened with Mariee Sioux, who turned out to be an utter sleeper, essentially one long boring song after another, all sounding the same. Alela's set was definitely better. I liked her voice, but I had a problem with her repertoire, mostly self-penned songs, which lacked inventiveness and variety. And in the end, there was no "Pirate's Gospel", her best known song, which only added to my overall feeling of disappointment. 

Alela was accompanied by a guitarist named Tom Menig, who turned out to be her father. A very young-looking father, who sounded good, too. All-in-all, it was a so-so evening at best, an opinion shared by my friend Steve as well.

Alela Diane with Tom Menig, her father

Concert #507 - Carrie Rodriguez at McCabe's Guitar Shop (May 10, 2009)

My second time to see Carrie, after my highly enjoyable introduction to her music, a couple of years earlier, when she performed alongside Chip Taylor. This time Carrie was the headliner and she did not disappoint. Accompanied by a small band that included Hans Holzen on guitar and Don Heffington on drums, Carrie played songs from "She Ain't Me", her newly-released album, as well as some older material.

I sat in the front row, maybe a bit too close to the band. I liked the catchier songs from the new album, especially the title track and "Absence". From among the older tracks, the powerful "Never Gonna Be Your Bride" stood out. Carrie was quite comfortable in her headlining role and played the guitar and fiddle with great confidence.

The proceedings were opened by Romantica, a Minneapolis-based band led by Irish vocalist Ben Kyle. They played one of the strongest opening sets I had ever seen at McCabe's. Their best song, I thought, was "The National Side".

Romantica's Ben Kyle (center)

Concerts #238, 239, 508 - Jennifer Warnes at the Miner Cook Athenaeum and McCabe's Guitar Shop (February 14, 2001 - May 17, 2009)

Where else but in Southern California can one get to see Jennifer Warnes perform in small venues and not just once, but multiple times?

My first encounter with Miss Warnes took place on February 14, 2001, at the Miner Cook Athenaeum, on the beautiful campus of the Claremont McKenna College. The concert was announced as “An Evening With Jennifer Warnes”, and what an evening it was! In perfect vocal shape, she seemed to enjoy performing for the distinctly intellectual crowd of about two hundred fortunate folks who filled the Athenaeum to capacity. Jennifer sang a few songs from her then-current album, “The Well”, including the title track and the dreamy “The Panther”. Not unexpectedly, there were also four Leonard Cohen songs, but ten years after the event, I can only recall “Ain’t No Cure For Love” and “Coming Back To You”. She was accompanied by an outstanding band that had the following lineup:

Billy Watts, guitar
Skip Edwards, keyboard
David Jackson, bass
Lee Spah, drums
Hani Nasser, percussion
Matt Cartsonis, mandolin
Chris Darrell, mandolin

Ten days later, Jennifer performed at McCabe’s with the very same band and needless to say, I was there, together with my wife, and our good friends Ken and Marilyn. Jennifer's set pretty much mirrored her Claremont gig, which was fine by me. Like many other fans, I was hoping for a Leonard Cohen appearance, but no such luck. A few years later, I found a photograph at www.jenniferwarnes.com that shows Leonard and Jennifer chatting backstage at McCabe’s, so at least I can claim that Leonard Cohen and I were under the same roof for a couple of hours. Here’s the photograph:

Jennifer Warnes and Leonard Cohen at McCabe's (February 2001)

Well, there was no Leonard Cohen, but there was Jackson Browne, who sat quietly in the second row, right next to my wife, who had no clue who her neighbor was. At one point during the show, Jennifer invited Jackson to take the stage and the crowd went bananas, to put it mildly.

Once again, Jennifer dazzled the crowd with her impeccable voice and style. Later in the show, she mentioned her big radio hits, but did not sing any of them, to no one's chagrin.

A few years later, in May 2009, Jennifer Warnes performed once again at the intimate McCabe's, in front of 150 spectators who were lucky enough to grab tickets before they were all gone. I grabbed a couple, here's one of them:

Ticket for Jennifer's appearance at McCabe's in 2009

The concert was the final show of a short West Coast tour, with stops in Vancouver, Seattle and Portland. I sat in the front row, together with my wife. Once again, Jennifer - backed by a group of top-notch musicians - put on a great show. The highlight of the concert was the superb "Song For Bernadette", lyrics by Leonard Cohen and music by Jennifer Warnes herself - regretfully, the lyricist did not make a surprise appearance.

Band Lineup

Jeff Pevar, guitar

Debra Dobkin, percussion

Chris "Kazz" Caswell, keyboards

Steve Postell, guitar

L to R: Jeff Pevar, Debra Dobkin, Chris Caswell, Jennifer Warnes and

Steve Postell at McCabe's (2009)

The concert had a short and decidedly unusual non-musical detour: using a screen lowered from the ceiling, Jennifer presented a tribute to her late mother, complete with photographs and heart-warming stories about her life.

Seeing the great Jennifer Warnes up-close at McCabe's remains one of the high points of my concert-going career.