Concert #289 - Marianne Faithfull at UCLA's Royce Hall (December 1, 2002)

Lady Luck was definitely on my side when I managed to grab a front row center seat to see the great Marianne Faithfull in concert. I showed up at the venue expecting a world-class performance and Marianne did not disappoint.

Yes, her voice will never be mistaken for that of a coloratura soprano, but few voices are as credible and as expressive as Marianne's. Throw in her mesmerizing stage presence, and what you get is a unique artist with an irresistible draw that one can physically feel, no exaggeration.

Partial set list

(songs marked * are from "Kissin' Time", her then-current album)

I'm Into Something Good*

I'm On Fire*

Like Being Born*

Song For Nico*

Kissin' Time* 

The King At Night

Why Do Ya Do It?

Falling From Grace

Working Class Hero

Broken English

Sliding Through Life On Charm*

Strange Weather (with Bill Frisell on guitar)

The Eyes Of Lucy Jordan

The songs from "Kissin' Time" were good,  but the evenings biggest thrills came from the cabaret-style delivery of her older songs, among which "The Eyes Of Lucy Jordan" stood out.

Band Line-up

Brian McFie (guitar)

Andy May (keyboard)

John Boyle (drums)

Garry John Kane (bass)

All-in-all, I had a great time, and how could I have not? From my dream seat, just a few feet away from Marianne, the whole concert felt like a private performance that was staged just for me. The whole time I did not see, nor hear anything but Marianne. Not a bad way to spend an evening.

Concert #435 - David Broza & Badi Assad at the Royce Hall (March 17, 2007)

This was a rare world-music outing for me. The event took place at UCLA's Royce Hall, in front of about one thousand fans.

The proceedings were kicked off by Brazil's Badi Assad, known equally for her guitar playing and singing ability. She completed her entire set solo, without any support musicians. Among the many songs I did not know, she also performed a few that I was familiar with, such as "Sweet Dreams", the mega-hit of the Eurythmics, and Tori Amos' "Black Dove". She also played the self-penned  "Improvisation", a song that combined guitar playing, eerie shrieks and percussive sounds produced by different parts of her body. I found Badi's performance to be exotic and innovative, but not thoroughly engaging.

Just like Badi Assad, David Broza came out all by himself. A veteran Israeli singer-songwriter, David sang in  Hebrew, English and Spanish and impressed us with his boundless energy, powerful guitar playing and outstanding vocals. His songs were good, too, but none was better than "Ihiye Tov", his first big hit in Israel. Overall, David's music was much closer to my taste.

As expected, the grand finale brought together the evening's two protagonists.

Concert #699 - The Doyle & Debbie Show at McCabe's Guitar Shop (January 31, 2014)

Friday night's concert at McCabe's was yet another proof that YouTube videos and the real world are two different things. The videos I checked out before buying my ticket may have been convincing enough to make me click on the "Buy" button, but they didn't nearly prepare me for the full experience of watching the Doyle and Debbie Show in a live setting. Bruce Arntson and Jenny Littleton, aka Doyle & Debbie, put on an outstanding performance that brought everyone to their feet at the end of the show.

Introduced by Concert Director Lincoln Myerson as a theatrical production, the show was just that, as it came complete with colorful stage decoration, a plot (sort of) and lots of role playing, all built around Bruce Arntson's original country & western compositions. This may all sound like something that could get old pretty fast, but it didn't. The show was very well paced from start to finish and everything about it - the songs, the humor, the delivery - was top notch.

Bruce Arntson and Jenny Littleton, aka Doyle & Debbie, at McCabe's

Bruce Arntson's songwriting is remarkable - everything I heard Friday night sounded as good as anything one would hear on country radio, but don't expect to find Bruce's "When You're Screwing Other Women (Think Of Me)" and "I Ain't No Homo" in any radio station's heavy rotation. Or any other rotation, for that matter. Indeed, the show had plenty of sexual themes and situations, but there was nothing cheap and vulgar there, just lots of fun.

PARTIAL SET LIST

Blue Stretch Pants

I Ain't No Homo

Barefoot And Pregnant

For The Children

When You're Screwing Other Women (Think Of Me)

ABCs Of Love

Fat Women In Trailers

Snowbanks Of Life

Whine Whine Twang Twang

God Loves America Best

Daddy's Hair

If you're like me, you are amused in a loving way by the country music's many clichés. Friday night's show featured a veritable smorgasbord of C&W clichés, cleverly built into each and every song to good comedic effect, with Doyle and Debbie's blatantly over-the-top outfits just adding to the fun.

Jenny Littleton singing "ABCs Of Love" at McCabe's

As I was watching the show, the music of a number of country artists sprang to mind, among them George Jones, Mel Tillis, Jerry Reed and Lee Greenwood, whose "God Bless The USA" was the obvious inspiration behind Doyle and Debbie's utterly funny "God Loves America Best".

The show had many memorable moments. It will be hard to forget Bruce Arntson's frenetic delivery of "Fat Women In Trailers" and especially "Daddy's Hair", which came complete with faux-blood and gun shots. Likewise, Jenny Littleton performance of the witty "ABCs Of Love" will be hard to erase from my memory.

Doyle & Debbie saying goodbye

The stage

Concert Director Lincoln Myerson announcing the show