Concert #766 - Jackshit at McCabe's Guitar Shop (December 11, 2015)

Once again I couldn't resist and took the fifty-mile drive from home to my favorite venue to catch my favorite band, on the least-favorite time of the week, Friday night, when the notoriously bad Los Angeles traffic is at its worst. It took me almost two hours to reach my destination, but unsurprisingly, I was fully rewarded by Beau, Shorty and Pete, the three boys from Cochtotan.

Beau was on fire and so were Shorty and Pete. Nothing unusual here, as their delivery is always stellar. As expected, we had some unannounced musical guests, which quite predictably, turned out to be Jackson Browne and Dave Alvin.

Introduced as Dark Shit, Dave Alvin was quick to state his correct name, No Shit, spelled K-N-O-W Shit, as he put it. He then went on to sing three songs: "California Bloodlines", one of John Stewart's gems, the self-penned "Johnny Ace Is Dead" and the traditional "East Virginia". The latter sounded fabulous and so was Dave's guitar playing - watching him trade licks with Beau was truly special.

Dave Alvin at McCabe's

The evening's second guest, Jackson Browne, a.k.a Brown Shit, sang "Yabba Dabba Do", "Call It A Loan", "Running On Empty", "Take It Easy" and "Our Lady Of The Well".

Val McCallum, a.k.a Beau, and Jackson Browne at McCabe's

The evening's highlight was the band's encore, "Ugly And Slouchy", which quickly turned into a fast-paced rock-n-roll medley that was absolutely first-rate. I also loved Shorty's vocals on the Who's "The Seeker", a song that featured Ringo Shit on drums (Ringo Shit is Charlie Faragher, Dave's son).

Bassist Dave Faragher, a.k.a. Shorty, at McCabe's

The evening kicked off with the Brothers Gage, Alex and Brody, two young kids who came out of the blue. Their rendition of "House Of The Rising Sun", complete with great harmonica playing and surprisingly good vocals, was very well received by the crowd. Later in the show, the Shit Horns also made an appearance.

The Brothers Gage at McCabe's

The set list (loosely followed)

The stage

Concert #765 - Kinky Friedman at McCabe's Guitar Shop (December 5, 2015)

As far as I'm concerned, there's no such thing as overdosing on Kinky Friedman. Last night was my fourth time to see the Kinkster live and, even though he did recycle some of his older lines, the whole evening delighted me at least as much as it did ten years ago at the Skirball Center, when I first saw him in a live performance. I just can't get enough of his songs, humor, personality and stage presence - heck, I even love it when he reads out loud from his books, something I typically have no patience for.

Introduced as the "Governor of the Heart of Texas", Kinky took the stage dressed in his trademark black outfit, complete with a cowboy hat and a large cigar which remained unlit throughout the show. Performing without a predetermined set list, Kinky kicked off the proceedings with Woody Guthrie's "Pretty Boy Floyd", followed by a mish-mash of covers and self-penned songs intertwined with multiple humorous stories and jokes delivered in his inimitable style, with little regard to political correctness. At the respectable age of seventy-one, Kinky is still fully capable to entertain on multiple levels, music being just one of them.

Kinky Friedman at McCabe's

The Set List

Pretty Boy Floyd (Woody Guthrie)

I'm The Loneliest Man I Ever Met

Get Your Biscuits In The Oven and Your Buns In The Bed

Western Union Wire

Silver Eagle Express

Waitret, Please Waitret (with Mojo Nixon & Van Dyke Parks)

Tie My Pecker To My Leg (Mojo Nixon solo)

Ride 'Em Jewboy

Yellow Rose Of Texas (Van Dyke Parks piano solo)

The Navigator (read by Kinky from his "Heroes of a Texas Childhood")

They Ain't Makin' Jews Like Jesus Anymore

A Christmas Card From A Hooker 

Lady Yesterday

My Sh*t's F***ed Up (Waren Zevon song)

Pickin' Time (Johnny Cash original)

As I expected, Kinky had a few unannounced guests, and I got super-excited when Mojo Nixon took the stage. Mojo's "Elvis Is Everywhere" is one of my favorite songs from the eighties, but sadly, he went for "Tie My Pecker To My Leg", a song that has little in common with good taste. 

Kinky Friedman and Mojo Nixon at McCabe's

Mojo Nixon at McCabe's

Just before Kinky came out, singer-songwriter-producer Brian Molnar delivered an impressive short set of his own that ended with a rousing rendition of Hank Williams' "Wait For The Light To Shine".

Brian Molnar at McCabe's

The evening was kicked off by Michael Simmons, Kinky's old friend and collaborator, who sang three songs. The one I liked the best was "I Guess I'll Smoke Another Cigarette". Don Heffington kept the beat throughout Michael's set.

Michael Simmons (left) and Joe Cirotti

Providing support to Kinky, Brian and Michael, guitarist Joe Cirotti impressed me quite a bit with his exquisite playing. Particularly impressive was his role as Kinky's accompanist toward the end of the evening.

The often-seen Van Dyke Parks popped in for some piano playing, including a solo playing of "Yellow Rose Of Texas". The crowd gave him a loud welcome.

Van Dyke Parks at McCabe's

Overall, I had a heck of a good time with Kinky and his guests and I'm pretty sure I will catch him again before too long.

The stage

Kinky Friedman mingling with fans after the show

Concert poster

Concert #764 - Iain Matthews, Christine Collister & Au Pair at the Morgan-Wixson Theater (November 21, 2015)

This concert brought me for the first time ever to the Morgan-Wixson Theater in Santa Monica, a venue located on Pico Boulevard, just four blocks away from McCabe's Guitar Shop. Funny thing: I have attended over four hundred shows at McCabe's, without knowing that the Morgan-Wixson Theater even existed. I arrived at the venue very early, so I got to watch the sound check for all of the evening's protagonists and that was an experience in itself.

Christine Collister's sound check

The concert kicked off with an excellent set delivered by Au Pair, a harmonious duo consisting of two musicians I had not been familiar with. Individually taken, Gary Louris and Django Haskins are good singers, but when they pool their voices together, they become great singers. Their songs, most likely self-penned, sounded quite good, especially "Baby On Trial" and "One Armed Candy Bear", the title track of their first and, so far, only album. I would love to see them again, preferably at McCabe's.

Au Pair at the Morgan-Wixson Theater

After a long intermission, Iain Matthews took the stage and it didn't take him long to knock me out: his set-opening a-cappella delivery of "Just One Look At You" was absolutely divine, and so were all the other numbers he performed during his solo set: his own "Alone Again Blues", "God Looked Down", "A Lamb In Armor", "Joy Mining" and "Horse Left In The Rain", plus two covers, Steve Young's "Seven Bridges Road" and Jackson Browne's "These Days". His soulful and passionate singing affected me very much, as he always does. It is hard to believe that someone who is in his seventieth year of existence can still sound as good as he does. By the way, this was my fourth time to see Iain perform live, a clear sign that I'm a fan.

Iain Matthews at the Morgan-Wixson Theater

I first saw Christine Collister in 1998, when she opened for Loudon Wainwright in Pasadena and I have been keeping an eye on her career ever since. Still, her appearance last Saturday at the Morgan-Wixson Theater was a good reminder as to how great a singer she is. Her delivery of "River Deep, Mountain High" will be hard to forget, as were all the other covers she sang for us, some performed solo, others with Iain: Chris Smither's "Love Me Like A Man", Ike & Tina Turner's "River Deep, Mountain High", Emmylou Harris' "Boulder To Birmingham", Bette Midler's "Rose", Jackson Browne's "For A Dancer", Gerry Goffin & Carole King's "Goin' Back" and the set-ending "She's Leaving Home", the Lennon-McCartney gem. Christine's voice just seems to be getting better with age

Christine Collister having fun at the Morgan-Wixson Theater

Christine Collister & Iain Matthews at the Morgan-Wixson Theater

Iain and Christine also sang "Lemonade Lady" and "Pack Up Your Sorrows", two outstanding songs culled from Iain's tribute album to the music of Richard Farina, released earlier this year under the Plainsong artist name.

Credit must also be given to the four-piece house band, they were quite good: guitarist Willie Aron, bassist David Jenkins, keyboard-player Jordan (last name?) and a drummer whose name I didn't catch.

The evening ended with Cristine Collister and the crowd singing "Happy Birthday" to Paul Rock, the organizer of this outstanding event.

Christine Collister honoring concert organizer Paul Rock (right)

The concert hall

The stage

 

Concert #762 - Rhett Miller at McCabe's Guitar Shop (November 20, 2015)

This was Rhett Miller's first-ever gig at the famous McCabe's Guitar Shop in Santa Monica. It was also my first time to see Rhett in action, at any venue. Things did not start well for me - his first few songs did not connect with me at all. There was nothing wrong with Rhett's intensity and pace, but it appeared to me that there were some irreconcilable differences between his melodic sense and mine - the gap was so big that I started contemplating an early exit, something that rarely crosses my mind at McCabe's. Needless to say, I did not leave and little by little, things started to get better for me - about thirty minutes into the show, Rhett started to win me over not only with his diabolical pace, boundless energy and pleasant personality, but also with songs that started to sound better and better to these ears, as the show progressed.

Rhett Miller at McCabe's

Rhett was not particularly talkative, although he did squeeze in a few stories that typically involved persons of the female persuasion. His concert can be summed up as a fast-paced race with the goal of performing as many songs as possible, even if it meant starting a new number while the crowd was still applauding the previous one. Clearly, Rhett was not saving his energy for the late show and he must be commended for that.

I suppose we heard nothing but self-penned songs, with one notable exception, Tom Petty's "American Girl", which turned out to be the evening's only song I knew. After only one listen, three numbers caught my ears and, with Google's help, I was able to find their titles: "Most In The Summertime", "Barrier Reef" and "Open Road", the latter two being the undisputed highlights of the evening.

The set list

Rhett Miller at McCabe's

I can't say that I went home as a totally satisfied customer. It is true, I did get introduced to a dynamic performer whose live show had good moments, but the bottom line is that one listen just wasn't enough for most of his songs to knock me out. Having said that, I have no choice but admit that the ball is in my court: I must give Rhett Miller's music more attention than I did in the past. 

The final bow

Rhett's guitar case

Concert #761 - Suzy Bogguss at McCabe's Guitar Shop (November 14, 2015)

Suzy Bogguss at McCabe's? Now that's something that was inconceivable in the 80s and 90s, when she was playing much larger venues, while selling millions of albums. Things have changed a bit since then, but in some respects, they remained the same: Suzy still records new music and she's quite often on the road.

Accompanied by my Better Half and two good friends, Joe and Deborah, I went to McCabe's last week with high expectations, that - as it turned out - were fully met. Suzy Bogguss delighted us with an exceptionally well-paced show that included some of her older hits as well as a good handful of numbers culled from her most recent albums, "American Folk Songbook" (2011) and "Lucky", her 2014 tribute to Merle Haggard's songwriting.

Suzy Bogguss at McCabe's

Suzy Bogguss at McCabe's

 The Set List

Drive South (John Hiatt)

Shenandoah

Today I Started Loving You Again (Merle Haggard)

Someday Soon (Ian Tyson)

Outbound Plane

Letting Go

Hey Cinderella

Wayfaring Stranger

I Want To Be A Cowboy Sweetheart (Patsy Montana)

Let's Chase Each Other Around The Room (Merle Haggard)

Eat At Joe's (Matraca Berg)

I Always Get Lucky With You (Merle Haggard)

Just Like The Weather

Aces (Cheryl Wheeler)

Night Rider's Lament (Garth Brooks)

The Running Kind (Merle Haggard)

Red River Valley

Suzy came out with guitarist Craig Smith and bassist Charlie Chadwick, who accompanied her throughout the show. Both were outstanding, especially Craig Smith whose tasteful guitar solos were very well received by the crowd and I absolutely adored his delightfully thick Scottish accent.

Suzy Bogguss, with Charlie Chadwick and Craig Smith

Suzy Bogguss and Craig Smith at McCabe's

Overall, it was a fabulous evening. It was obvious to all that Suzy enjoyed herself and so did we. I liked her voice, her yodeling was top-notch and I don't think I could have come up with a better set list.

While the show was consistently good from start to finish, I'd say the most moving moment was Suzy's encore, her heartfelt rendition of "Red River Valley", the traditional song I first heard decades ago as "Red River Rock", an uptempo instrumental performed by Johnny & The Hurricanes.

The end of the show

The concert's sound was handled by Doug Criner, Suzy's husband, assissted by Wayne Griffith, McCabe's' regular sound engineer.

The stage

Concert poster

Concert #760 - Mary Fahl at McCabe's Guitar Shop (November 13, 2015)

I first saw Mary Fahl's name in print a couple of months ago, when her concert was added to the calendar of my favorite venue. My instant reaction was Mary Who?, and I probably wasn't the only one to say that. Still, I bought my tickets almost immediately, after watching no more than one or two persuasive YouTube videos.

Friday night I witnessed one the finest shows one could ever catch at McCabe's: Mary's performance left me mesmerized and in awe of an artists who supplements her incredible vocal prowess with a pleasant personality, humility, good looks and a sense of humor. The timbre of Mary's voice is something to behold and I do disagree with author Ann Rice, one of Mary's best fans, who feels that  Mary's voice has an androgynous quality to it - to these ears, Mary's vocals are decidedly female, but of a unique nature.

Mary Fahl at McCabe's

A self-proclaimed "unabashed francophile", Mary Fahl opened her show with a few words about the day's tragic events in Paris, followed by a heartwrenching rendition of "La Vie En Rose", the world-famous French song first recorded by Edith Piaf in the 1940s. The show continued with a mix of numbers culled from Mary's solo repertoire, her days as the front-woman of the October Project and a handful of outstanding covers. I loved everything I heard, so I won't even try to single out any highlights.

The hand-written set list does not show Nina Simone's "Wild Is The Wind", Mary's own "Like Johnny Loved June" and "Exiles (The Wolves of Midwinter)" and Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now", which were performed by Mary at various points during the show.  We also heard a short snippet from Blind Willie Johnson's "The Soul Of A Man".

The set list

The show ended with Mary summarizing her own appearance at McCabe's as "pure delight", which happen to be precisely the words I would use to describe the time I had watching Mary Fahl perform.

Mary Fahl at the end of her show

Mary Fahl getting ready to meet fans and sign autographs

The stage

The merch table