CONCERT OVERLOAD: 6/5/11

June 10, 2011

Concert #496 - Blue Rodeo at McCabe's Guitar Shop (February 20, 2009)

Not nearly as popular in the States as in their native Canada, Blue Rodeo can only play smaller venues when they cross the US border and that is actually good for those of us gringos who appreciate their melodic country-rock and great vocal harmonies. Sitting in the second row, along with my friend Jay, I witnessed an excellent evening of music that made me want to dig deep into their large back catalog.

Band Line-up

Jim Cuddy (acoustic guitar & vocals)

Greg Keelor (acoustic guitar & vocals)

Glenn Milchem (drums)

Bob Egan (pedal steel guitar)

Basil Donovan (bass)

Michael Boguski (piano & organ)

Set list

Now & Forever

Cynthia
Bad Timing
Blue House
Disappear
Rebel
Trust Yourself

Crying Over You

3 Hours Away
5 AM (A Love Song)
5 Days In May
Try
Is It You
Rage
Photograph

To Love Somebody

Head Over Heels

Encore
'Til I Am Myself Again

It Hasn't Hit Me Yet

The best songs of the evening: "Cynthia", "Head Over Heels" and "It Hasn't Hit Me Yet", which coincidentally, all come from the same album, "Five Days In July".

Imagine my surprise when, shortly after the show, four songs recorded at this very concert showed up on YouTube. Here they are:

To Love Somebody: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opUMh5ZFpc0

Bad Timing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQwOsb8RqrY

Trust Yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfuZCZ6FcP4&feature=related

Is It You: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCBu-fqPvaQ&feature=related

And one other thing: I can still see the face of bassist Bazil Donovan, who appeared to be totally disconnected from the other five, just sitting there emotionless and utterly bored by the proceedings. I hope he wasn't.

Concerts #387, 428 - Jackshit at The Baked Potato (December 21, 2005 - December 20, 2006)

The Baked Potato is primarily a jazz club, an unlikely venue for me to frequent, yet there I was - and not just once - thanks to the Boys from Cochtotan, a.k.a. Jackshit, a.k.a. Beau, Shorty and Pete, a.k.a. Val McCallum, Dave Faragher and Pete Thomas, a.k.a. the Best Bar Band in LA.

Compared to McCabe's, where Jackshit has played countless times, the Baked Potato offers a somewhat similar intimacy, but there are striking differences between the two venues. McCabe's is alcohol free, while the Baked Potato has a two-drink-minimum policy in effect. They also serve dinners, unlike McCabe's, where chocolate chip cookies are the only solid food your money can buy. Needless to say, the alcohol served at the Baked Potato breeds a more vociferous crowd, but overall still well-behaved. Both venues have good sound and after the show you can meet the band at both places. Still, my venue of choice is McCabe's, as I don't need to drink alcohol in order to fully enjoy a show.

In December 2005 I went with my good friend Art, then in 2006 it was Hans' turn to accompany me. On both occasions we had good seats, we ate dinner and fulfilled our two-drink-minimum obligations.

Both shows were absolutely perfect - the Boys from Cochtotan played their usual songs, had lots of fun and so did we. In December 2005, they played two full sets, so it was only after midnight when Art and I could finally go home to our wives. A year later, in December 2006, the Shit Horns and Syd Straw joined the band for a couple of numbers. I won't even try to describe how good they are - if you wanna know, go see and hear for yourself.

To this day, Jackshit remains an act I just can't get enough of. To date, I've seen them twenty-one times over a relatively short period of only six years. Hard to believe, but absolutely true.

Concerts #454, 497 - Smokey Hormel at McCabe's Guitar Shop (November 17, 2007 - February 21, 2009)

I first saw Smokey Hormel in April 2001 at UCLA's Royce Hall, where he was playing a supporting role in Hal Willner's Harry Smith Project, a large scale event that brought together many big names. It was his outstanding guitar playing that made me take note of his name, so five years later, when McCabe's announced Smokey's headlining gig, I knew exactly who he was.

The two shows I saw at McCabe's were quite similar, as in similarly short. Inexplicably, neither of Smokey's two sets went beyond the 75 minute mark, and as such, they remain to this day some of the shortest shows I've ever seen there. And it's not that he had to do it all by himself - on both occasions, Smokey brought along a few outstanding musicians, some of them with well-established national reputation:

November 17, 2007

Greg Leisz

Richard Greene

Larry Taylor

Joey Waronker

Laura Kass

February 21, 2009

John Doe

Charlie Burnham

David Ralicke

Joey Waronker

My expectations of blistering guitar solos did not materialize. Instead, Smokey featured extensively his own vocals, which were OK, but not stellar. The band members were top-notch, they all had their solo moments.

In spite of the overall negative tone of this write-up, the two shows were not bad - there was plenty of good music and good musicianship, so we went home not unhappy, but definitely wanting more.

Richard Greene

Greg Leisz

Concert #499 - Marcia Ball at the Luckman Arts Center (March 7, 2009)

The Luckman is a great place to see a show. I always buy my tickets as soon as they go on sale, and unlike elsewhere, at the Luckman you get the best seats when you buy early. For this concert, my better half and I had front row seats, not bad.

There were two opening acts. First, the Alex Dixon Band and Lurrie Bell came out. Their set was OK, but nothing special. They were followed by Smokin' Joe Kubek and Bnois King, who were a whole lot better, but sadly, played no more than twenty five minutes - I could have used much more of Kubek's guitar licks - why did they even bother to show up for such a short set?

Marcia's main event was typical Marcia: great vocals, a good mix of uptempo songs and ballads, virtuoso piano playing and good overall fun. There were many songs I didn't know, but it did not matter - the atmosphere was party-like, with one infectious song after another. Other than "Peace, Love and BBQ", I can't remember any specific songs, but we all went home happy, that I recall.

Smokin' Joe Kubek (right) and Bnois King

The Luckman Fine Arts Complex

June 8, 2011

Concert #595 - Neil Innes at McCabe's Guitar Shop (June 5, 2011)

This was my third time to see Neil Innes live and once again I had a ball. It's true, the three shows I've seen were quite similar, but I just can't get enough of something that's good and classy and that's exactly how Neil's shows are: good and classy. His shows may be similar, but by no means identical. This time there was no "Urban Spaceman" and no "How Sweet To Be An Idiot", but there was plenty of other entertaining stuff, from his old mid-sixties numbers "My Brother Makes The Noises For The Talkies" and the semi-raunchy "I'm Going To Bring A Watermelon To My Girl Tonight", to newer topical songs such as "Mr. Eurovision" and "Where Has All The Money Gone", plus Rutle medleys, Monty Python songs, piano playing, bogus commercials, French impersonations, ukulele strumming, one-liners, you get the idea.

There was lots of audience participation and Neil could not have found a more willing audience, myself included. Singing the "Philosophers Song" together with Neil was a thrill and kudos to myself for having practiced the words with diligence so that I could keep up with the Master.

There was end-to-end laughter, but none louder than the Ego Warrior bit, nor the last part of his set, when Neil had the entire audience spell out S-O-D O-F-F, which - you guessed it - led to Neil's retreat from the stage, head bowed down, before coming back for a short encore.

Neil is classy, funny, entertaining, engaging, warm and approachable. Can't wait to see hm again.