Concert #794 - Peter Rowan at McCabe's Guitar Shop (March 3, 2017)

This was my fifth live encounter with Peter Rowan, an event that came exactly twenty-two years after I first saw him - surprise, surprise - also at McCabe's. Yes, years have past, Peter is now in his mid-seventies, still recording, still touring and I felt that I just had to be there to see him, quite possibly, for one final time.

His Friday night show at McCabe's cannot be described as a high-energy event. Not that anyone was expecting it to be. Accompanied by yet another famous septuagenarian, Jack Casady, Peter delivered a fairly long set, ninety minutes in all, and that was only his early show - as he was wrapping up his set, people were lining up out in the street to attend his 10 PM show.

Peter Rowan (right) and Jack Casady at McCabe's

My hopes of hearing a retrospective of Peter's long recording career did not materialize. Instead, Peter played for us his latest album, "Dharma Blues", in its entirety. The music wasn't bad, but there were just too many songs there that I didn't know. By the way, the album was produced by the late John Chelew, who - prior to becoming a producer - was a successful concert director at McCabe's Guitar Shop.

Peter Rowan at McCabe's

Peter opened his set with "Have You Seen My Aloha", a song that served as his vocal tune-up. In addition to the songs from "Dharma Blues", he also sang "The Ballad Of Ruby Ridge", Elizabeth Cotten's "Freight Train", a few snippets from "Mule Skinner Blues" and "Panama Red".

Seated right next to Peter, the legendary Jack Casady played his oversized acoustic bass guitar with great competency.

Jack Casady at McCabe's

Late in the show, Peter brought out Katie Skene, a young singer and guitarist who made a good impression on the audience. She sang backup vocals, played the guitar and soloed on Bessie Smith's "Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out".

Peter Rowan & Katie Skene at McCabe's

The show ended just as I hoped it would: accompanied by Jack and Katie, Peter sang "Midnight Moonlight", his signature song and to me, that was the highlight of the evening.

The sheet left behind on the stage only lists the songs from "Dharma Blues". Surprisingly, Peter's last name is not spelled correctly.

Dharma Blues song list

The stage

Concert #793 - Griffin House at McCabe's Guitar Shop (February 10, 2017)

This was my first time to see Griffin House in concert. The event took place on a Friday night, at the end of a long and tiring week. Indeed, at that point in time, what I needed was a massive adrenaline shot, something I often get while listening to live music. Well, there wasn't much adrenaline emanating from the stage, as Griffin delivered his entire set by standing still right in front of his microphone stand, a place he never left for the entire duration of his show.

Okay, so Griffin may not be the world's most dynamic performer, but in all other respects, his show was totally fulfilling. His compositions, even the ones I had not heard before, were instantly accessible. Starting with "Games", the show opener, and ending with "Liberty Line", his one-song encore, he delighted us with quality songs that came in quick succession, one after the other. The ones I liked the best were "I Remember (It's Happening Again)", "A Painting By Hieronymus Bosch" and "The Way I Was Made".

Griffin House at McCabe's

I'm relatively new to Griffin House's music, but based on his performance at McCabe's, I'm placing him alongside Slaid Cleaves, John Gorka, Richard Shindell and Ellis Paul, right up there among America's finest singer-songwriters.

Griffin House at McCabe's

Griffin House chatting with his fans at McCabe's

The stage

The merch table