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