This was my third time to see Iain
Matthews perform live on stage. The concert was very good in all respects, but
what impressed me the most was Iain's voice. In his sixty-ninth year of
existence, Iain did look his age, while his voice remained pretty much
unaffected by the passage of time. I was truly touched by his soulful and
passionate delivery of his mostly delicate songs and I'm not exaggerating when
I say that there aren't many singers out there, regardless of age, who possess
voices as nuanced as Iain's.
Sadly, the show was attended by no more than fifty or sixty folks. I cannot explain why an artist as good as Iain Matthews cannot draw a larger crowd in the Los Angeles area.
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| Iain Matthews at McCabe's |
Iain came out with Dutch pianist and
composer Egbert Derix and what a fabulous addition he turned out to be. From my
seat, I could clearly see Egbert's fingers and facial expressions, which only
added to my enjoyment of the evening. With only minimal eye contact, Iain and
Egbert played together in perfect sync and harmony, just like two twin brothers
- Egbert's delicately played intros and solos were the perfect accompaniment to
Iain's gentle vocals.
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| Egbert Derix at McCabe's |
As expected, Iain's set list
consisted of quite a few songs he co-wrote with Egbert: "Restless
Wings", "The Emperor's New Clothes", "When Buddha Dials
Your Number", the gorgeous "Pebbles In The Road", "1944",
"When The Floyd Were On The Prowl" and "Waves".
We also got to hear four well-chosen
covers, namely John Martyn's "The Man In The Station", Fairport
Convention's "Sloth", Tom Waits' "Closing Time" and Joni
Mitchell's "Woodstock", the latter serving as the evening's one-song
encore. All covers sounded great.
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| The set list |
Given Iain's consistently solid
performance from start to finish, I will refrain from picking a show highlight.
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| Iain Matthews tuning his guitar |
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| Iain Matthews addressing the crowd |
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| Iain Matthews and Egbert Derix at the end of the show |
The evening was kicked off by Brian
Lopez, a Tucson-based singer-songwriter of considerable talent. Overall, he was
good enough to keep my mind focused on his performance for the entire duration
of his thirty-minute set. Brian has a decent voice and an interesting singing
style, but I can't say that his melodic sense and mine are always in perfect
alignment.
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| Brian Lopez at McCabe's |
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| The stage |
