March 5, 2014

Concert #703 - Lucinda Williams at McCabe's Guitar Shop (March 1, 2014)


This was Lucinda's second stop on her World Tour of Los Angeles 2014 - good for Los Angeles, not so good for the rest of the world. The event marked my second time to see Lucinda in concert, but only the first time as a headliner.

Carrying an acoustic guitar, Lucinda took the stage all by herself and opened with "Passionate Kisses", arguably her best-known song. For the second song, she was joined by guitarist Stuart Mathis, a long-time member of the Wallflowers, followed one song later by bassist David Sutton, then finally by drummer Butch Norton. These guys were absolutely fabulous - as much as I enjoyed listening to Lucinda, what really floored me was the band. I sat directly in front of Stuart and his amplifier. Watching him play from just a couple of feet away and getting to hear every note he played with outstanding clarity was something truly special. At times, his playing literally hijacked me, as I found myself following his parts with an attention level usually reserved to lead vocalists.

Lucinda was in great vocal form and kept getting better with every song. She pretty much followed her predetermined set list, although we did not get to hear "Still I Long For Your Kiss". I was very impressed with her newer compositions, especially "West Memphis", "Everything But The Truth" and "Burning Bridges". The evening had many high points, among them "Overtime", a Lucinda Wiliams song covered by Willie Nelson, "Lake Charles", a song about an old friend killed by his own lifestyle, and "Side Of The Road", a twenty-five year old self-penned gem. "Concrete And Barbed Wire" sounded great, too. In addition to her own material, Lucinda threw in a couple of compositions by Dan Penn and JJ Cale, but I do not recall their titles.

Lucinda Williams and Stuart Mathis at McCabe's
Lucinda with her electric guitar
Lucinda's focus was on her music. She did speak to us in-between most of her songs, but she kept her stories short and to the point. The concert ended at 11:30 PM, so we all got our money's worth. By the way, tickets did not come cheap: at 55 bucks each, Lucinda's gig was one of the priciest ever at McCabe's.

Lucinda's set list
Lucinda Williams at McCabe's

I can't call myself a connoisseur of Lucinda's music, nor can I claim that I listen to her albums all the time. But seeing Lucinda in a live setting is a different thing altogether. The same raw voice that has a lesser appeal to me on a CD, is the real deal for me when she's on stage. In that respect, Lucinda is quite a bit like Marianne Faithfull.
Lucinda enjoying Stuart Mathis' guitar work
Lucinda thanking the crowd
Once again I must mention the quality of Lucinda's band. Butch, David and especially Stuart were out of this world - watching them play was pure joy. I'd love to see them again sometime.

Stuart Mathis at McCabe's
The evening kicked off with the outstanding Kenneth Brian Band, a self-described ensemble of country rock. They sounded great and they looked the part, too. Kenneth possesses a voice that is perfect for the kind of music they play. I liked their overall sound, essentially a pleasant mix of electric and acoustic guitars. I was unfamiliar with their music, yet every song they played sounded familiar without being derivative and even though I would have liked them to rock a little harder, their best song turned out to be "Fall On Me", a slower ballad. The band was joined for a few songs by the attractive Lillie Mae Rische, who played the fiddle and soloed on her own "Wash Me Clean".

Kenneth Brian (left) and Travis Stephens at McCabe's
The Kenneth Brian Band & Lillie Mae Rische at McCabe's
The Kenneth Brian Band's set list
Sound Engineer Robin Danar in action
Stuart Mathis' guitars

Lucinda's guitars
The stage
The merch table
T-shirts for sale

Concert poster

March 2, 2014

Concert #702 - Eleni Mandell at McCabe's Guitar Shop (February 28, 2014)


Casual music fans, most likely, have not heard of Eleni Mandell and that's their loss. Friday night at McCabe's, about one hundred fans in the know were treated to a truly wonderful evening of quality songwriting and outstanding vocals, the kind one does not get to hear too often. Eleni's set did not include a lot of up-tempo scorchers, but I thoroughly enjoyed the laid-back feeling that emanated from her slower songs, and when I say slower, I certainly don't mean sleepers, as there weren't any of those.

The set kicked off with Allen Toussaint's "It's Raining", a gorgeous number first recorded by Irma Thomas decades ago. This may have been the evening's only song not written by Eleni herself and what followed was a veritable cavalcade of fine songs, with no throw-aways among them. It's not often that a songwriter's melodic sense and mine are in perfect alignment, but that was definitely the case with Eleni's compositions that she sang for us Friday night.

Then there was her voice. Smooth and warm, always precise and always full of feeling, Eleni's vocal abilities are something to behold. Her sultry and seductive delivery of "Magic Summertime" was one of the show's many highlights, along with "Little Joy", "Home", "Put My Baby To Bed" and the delightfully funny "Chinese Food On Christmas Eve".

Eleni Mandell at McCabe's
PARTIAL SET LIST
Girls
Little Joy
Wishbone
Home
It's Raining
Weding Ring
Magic Summertime
Put My Baby To Bed
Anyone Like You
Snake Song
Chinese Food On Christmas Eve
Afternoon
Moonglow, Lamp Low
I've Got A Tender Heart
Salt Truck
Artificial Fire
Yellow Lights
Maybe Yes

Eleni Mandell at McCabe's

Mixing songs from her printed list with audience requests, Eleni brought us in a humorous way into her world, and by the time the show was done, we were all well acquainted with her children, grandmothers and ex-boyfriends.

Throughout the show, Eleni was accompanied by bassist Ryan Feves, a talented and likeable musician who contributed a lot to the success of the show.

Ryan Feves at McCabe's
With Miley Cirus, Lady Gaga and the like dominating the music news, it looks like it's mission impossible for someone as talented as Eleni to reach a wider audience, but that is something she definitely deserves.

Opening the proceedings was Vikesh Kapoor, a young singer-songwriter of considerable talent. To be successful in his field, one must compose good tunes, write intelligent lyrics, sing well, be at least a decent guitar player and have a great personality. Vikesh did very well in all of these categories. His set was relatively short, seven songs in all, and they were all good. To these ears, "Down By The River", "Bottom Of The Ladder" and "The Ballad Of Willy Robbins" were the best of the lot. At times, Vikesh reminded me of a young Bob Dylan, and that is quite a compliment.

Vikesh Kapoor at McCabe's
Vikesh Kapoor at the end of his set
Vikesh Kapoor and Eleni Mandell "duetting" at the merch table
Concert poster
Concert poster
The evening of the show - rain pouring down on McCabe's