Concert #757 - Ray Wylie Hubbard at McCabe's Guitar Shop (October 9, 2015)

Last night, it took me eighty minutes of driving to reach McCabe's. This gave me plenty of time to question my sanity, with thoughts such as "why in the world do you need to see someone for the fourth time, especially since you don't often listen to his music". It's true - while I hold Ray Wylie Hubbard in high respect - I don't find his recorded music compelling enough to make we want to hear it time and time again. Somewhat surprisingly, though, ten minutes into the show, I was congratulating myself for having decided to be there.

Unlike in his previous appearances at McCabe's, Ray performed his entire show without sitting down.  Now that's a minor detail that has little to do with his music, one might say, but to me, this made a universe of difference. Indeed, I had never seen him as youthful and as energetic as he appeared to be last night. Ray's voice was strong and expressive, while his guitar playing made much more of an impact on me than anytime before. I also loved his sense of humor - I found myself laughing out loud multiple times during the concert. Ray knows he's special and maybe that is why he described himself as an "acquired taste that's not for everyone".

Ray Wylie Hubbard at McCabe's

Accompanied by drummer Kyle Schneider, Ray played for us self-penned songs culled from various stages of his career, including his current album, "The Ruffian's Misfortune", plus a couple of covers.

Set List

Rabbit

Snake Farm

Mother Blues

Up Again The Wall, Redneck Mother

Mr. Musselwhite's Blues

Name Droppin'

Train Yard

Drunken Poet's Dream

Down Home Country Blues

Count My Blessings

Stone Blind Horses

Cooler 'n Hell

The Messenger

Crazy Mama (J.J. Cale's song)

Wanna Rock & Roll

John The Revelator

Barefoot In Heaven

You Gotta Move (encore) (Mississippi Fred McDowell's song)

Ray Wylie Hubbard at McCabe's

Ray's show had many highlights, among them "Mother Blues" and the rousing extended medley that consisted of "Wanna Rock & Roll", "John The Revelator" and "Barefoot In Heaven". The sell-out crowd responded with a well-deserved standing ovation. For his one-song encore, Ray brought out an unidentified singer with whom he delivered Mississippi Fred McDowell's "You Gotta Move", which, not unexpectedly, got the crowd standing up yet again.

Special kudos go to Kyle Schneider, whose tasteful drum-playing contributed a lot to the success of the evening.

Ray Wylie Hubbard (with unidentified help) at McCabe's

Kyle Schneider at McCabe's

In summary, I had a fabulous time last night at McCabe's and I'm pretty sure that Ray's path and mine will intersect again sometime in the future.

The merch table

The stage

 

Concert #756 - Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela at the Purpose Church (October 8, 2015)

This was a rare classical music outing for me. The event was part of the LA Phil's Immortal Beethoven Festival and featured a world-renowned orchestra, Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, the same musical institution that also produced Gustavo Dudamel, the LA Phil's current conductor.

The concert took place in the stunning main building of Pomona's historic Purpose Church, previously known as Pomona First Baptist Church. I went with my Better Half and our good friends Deborah and Joe. The program consisted of two of Beethoven's better-known works, namely the Egmont Overture and Symphony No. 7.

Conducted by the highly energetic Joshua Dos Santos, the orchestra impressed me quite a bit, in spite of the relatively young age of the musicians.

By the way, the concert was free.

Joshua Dos Santos conducting Beethoven's Symphony No. 7

Standing ovation

Pomona's Purpose Church