Concert #478 - Country Joe McDonald at McCabe's Guitar Shop (Sept 26, 2008)

This was my first and only time to see Country Joe McDonald in concert. The show was announced as "Country Joe McDonald's Tribute to Woody Guthrie", so naturally, most of the set list was dedicated to material written by the legendary troubadour.

The songs were good, especially the ones we all knew, but I can't say that I was taken by Country Joe's performance - he appeared to be a bit apathetic, as if having to go through a boring daily routine. And then he read quite a bit from a book that may have been a Woody Guthrie biography, if I'm not mistaken. I had a problem with the reading part - when you go to a concert, you go for the music, not to sit there for many long minutes listening to someone reading from a book. I could have accepted a paragraph or two, but he just went on and on ...

The evening's best moment may have been "I Feel Like I'm Fixing To Die Rag", possibly the only non-Guthrie song of the concert, when most of the sell-out crowd joined in. Not unexpectedly, "This Land Is Your Land", quickly turned into a sing-along as well.

There's a Country Joe double CD out there, recorded live in San Francisco on May 12, 2007, that has many of the songs performed at McCabe's. Appropriately titled "A Tribute To Woody Guthrie", the collection features the following numbers:

Disc 1

1. "This Land is Your Land" Woody Guthrie 2. Introduction — Country Joe 3. "Every Time His Songs are Sung" Barry Lee Marris 4. Root beer story from Bound for Glory by Woody Guthrie 5. "Talking Dust Bowl" Woody Guthrie 6. "Do Re Mi" Woody Guthrie 7. "Going Down the Road" Woody Guthrie 8. Car story from “Woody Sez” 9. "Let's Go Riding in My Car" Woody Guthrie 10. Cookies speak louder than words — letters by Malvina Reynolds and Woody Guthrie 11. Erotic writing — Woody Guthrie 12. "Woman at Home" Country Joe (music), Woody Guthrie (words)

Disc 2
1. "Capi/Commie" Joady Guthrie; Sayings by Woody Guthrie; “Old Paint the Horse with a Union Label” — author unknown 2. "Ladies Auxiliary" Woody Guthrie 3. "Union Maid" Woody Guthrie 4. About lynchings — Woody Guthrie 5. "Slip Knot"/"Vigilante Man" Woody Guthrie 6. "Pastures of Plenty" Woody Guthrie 7. "Roll On Columbia" Woody Guthrie 8. "New York City" Country Joe (music), Woody Guthrie (words) 9. "Tom Joad" Woody Guthrie 10. "Oklahoma Hills" Jerry Guthrie and Woody Guthrie 11. Oklahoma where it all began — Worden McDonald 12. "So Long It’s Been Good to Know Ya" Woody Guthrie 

Concert #479 - Eric Andersen at McCabe's Guitar Shop (September 27, 2008)

This was my first time to see Eric Andersen in concert as a headliner. I went to McCabe's with an out-of-town friend whom I really wanted to impress with a great performance at my favorite venue. Long story short, we both went home quite disappointed.

The fact that we idolize many of our favorite musicians does not prevent them from catching colds or being indisposed, for whatever reason, just like you and I. On that night, Eric was definitely not well - he didn't look good, had no energy, no spark and definitely no voice. His compositions weren't bad, but there's nothing else positive that I can say about his concert.

In a nut-shell, I witnessed a subpar performance at a venue where subpar performances are a rarity. Would I want to see Eric again? Probably not, but my respect for Eric as a songwriter has remained intact, which explains why I still find myself listening to his music quite often.

Concert #613 - Al Stewart at McCabe's Guitar Shop (November 12, 2011)

This was my sixth time to see Al Stewart and he's still on my "Must be seen again" list. It all started exactly twenty years ago, when I went to McCabe's with my teenaged niece not because I thought much of Al, but only because there was nothing better being offered at McCabe's during her visit. As it turned out, the concert was a total knock-out. Al came out with Peter White and together they just blew me away.

Twenty years on, the self-proclaimed "King of Historical Folk Rock" is still a highly entertaining artist whose shows combine great songs, stellar guitar playing, good humor and British-accented intellectual talk, all delivered in a relaxed manner, without any pretensions. At 66, his voice is pretty much unchanged and so are his idiosyncratic vocal inflections. Everything about Al screams experience and professionalism and overall, I just can't think of an artist who's more likeable than he is.

In terms of guitar playing, Al is essentially a strummer, with rare and rather brief incursions into finger picking, so to a huge extent, his shows rely on the support he gets from guitar virtuosos such as Peter White and Laurence Juber. Trouble is, these folks have their own careers, so they are seldom available to play, let alone tour, with Al.

Enter Dave Nachmanoff, a lesser known guitar player, who in 2004 made me frown in disappointment when he was announced as Al Stewart's new accompanist. Dave was certainly good enough then, but at that time I could not have imagined what a phenomenally great guitar player he would soon become. Last night at McCabe's, Dave's intros, solos and outros were nothing short of masterful, to such an extent that he made me stop wishing for Peter or Laurence, and that's no small feat. And he's got humor, too, thus perfectly complementing the equally jocular Al.

Dave Nachmanoff, guitarist extraordinaire

Last night, Al and Dave came out with a predetermined set list, but they did take a few requests and initiated a few digressions of their own, such as "Running Man", from Al's "24 Carrots" album.

The set list (guess what Y.O.T.C. stands for)

As always, "On The Border" was among the concert highlights, and so were "A Child's View Of The Eisenhower Years" and "Night Train To Munich". I also liked "Flying Sorcery", a song that appears as "Flying Sauce" on Al's set list. 

While playing the most recognizable riff from Henry Mancini's "Theme From Peter Gunn", Al talked briefly about Duane Eddy, one of his early influences.

Dave Nachmanoff & Al Stewart at McCabe's (November 2011)

Part-time bassist Mike Lindauer provided a few moments of levity, as he was coming and going without fully knowing when exactly he was needed to be there - this actually fit quite well with the loose tone of the show.

Dave Nachmanoff was given the opportunity to showcase some of his own songs, among which "Sheila Won't Be Coming Home", with some lyrics by Al Stewart, was the best.

Dave Nachmanoff & Al Stewart (with John Wicks in the background)

 John Wicks, formerly of the Records, took the stage a couple of times to provide backup vocals, then together with Al and Dave, sang his own hit "Starry Eyes".

John Wicks (left), with Dave Nachmanoff and Al Stewart

Al Stewart & Dave Nachmanoff reviewing the set list before the show

Yours Truly & Al Stewart at McCabe's

Dave and Al's abandoned guitars, just before the encore