Concert #703 - Lucinda Williams at McCabe's Guitar Shop (March 1, 2014)

This was Lucinda's second stop on her World Tour of Los Angeles 2014 - good for Los Angeles, not so good for the rest of the world. The event marked my second time to see Lucinda in concert, but only the first time as a headliner.

Carrying an acoustic guitar, Lucinda took the stage all by herself and opened with "Passionate Kisses", arguably her best-known song. For the second song, she was joined by guitarist Stuart Mathis, a long-time member of the Wallflowers, followed one song later by bassist David Sutton, then finally by drummer Butch Norton. These guys were absolutely fabulous - as much as I enjoyed listening to Lucinda, what really floored me was the band. I sat directly in front of Stuart and his amplifier. Watching him play from just a couple of feet away and getting to hear every note he played with outstanding clarity was something truly special. At times, his playing literally hijacked me, as I found myself following his parts with an attention level usually reserved to lead vocalists.

Lucinda was in great vocal form and kept getting better with every song. She pretty much followed her predetermined set list, although we did not get to hear "Still I Long For Your Kiss". I was very impressed with her newer compositions, especially "West Memphis", "Everything But The Truth" and "Burning Bridges". The evening had many high points, among them "Overtime", a Lucinda Wiliams song covered by Willie Nelson, "Lake Charles", a song about an old friend killed by his own lifestyle, and "Side Of The Road", a twenty-five year old self-penned gem. "Concrete And Barbed Wire" sounded great, too. In addition to her own material, Lucinda threw in a couple of compositions by Dan Penn and JJ Cale, but I do not recall their titles.

Lucinda Williams and Stuart Mathis at McCabe's

Lucinda with her electric guitar

Lucinda's focus was on her music. She did speak to us in-between most of her songs, but she kept her stories short and to the point. The concert ended at 11:30 PM, so we all got our money's worth. By the way, tickets did not come cheap: at 55 bucks each, Lucinda's gig was one of the priciest ever at McCabe's.

Lucinda's set list

Lucinda Williams at McCabe's

I can't call myself a connoisseur of Lucinda's music, nor can I claim that I listen to her albums all the time. But seeing Lucinda in a live setting is a different thing altogether. The same raw voice that has a lesser appeal to me on a CD, is the real deal for me when she's on stage. In that respect, Lucinda is quite a bit like Marianne Faithfull.

Lucinda enjoying Stuart Mathis' guitar work

Lucinda thanking the crowd

Once again I must mention the quality of Lucinda's band. Butch, David and especially Stuart were out of this world - watching them play was pure joy. I'd love to see them again sometime.

Stuart Mathis at McCabe's

The evening kicked off with the outstanding Kenneth Brian Band, a self-described ensemble of country rock. They sounded great and they looked the part, too. Kenneth possesses a voice that is perfect for the kind of music they play. I liked their overall sound, essentially a pleasant mix of electric and acoustic guitars. I was unfamiliar with their music, yet every song they played sounded familiar without being derivative and even though I would have liked them to rock a little harder, their best song turned out to be "Fall On Me", a slower ballad. The band was joined for a few songs by the attractive Lillie Mae Rische, who played the fiddle and soloed on her own "Wash Me Clean".

Kenneth Brian (left) and Travis Stephens at McCabe's

The Kenneth Brian Band & Lillie Mae Rische at McCabe's

The Kenneth Brian Band's set list

Sound Engineer Robin Danar in action

Stuart Mathis' guitars

Lucinda's guitars

The stage

The merch table

T-shirts for sale

Concert poster

Concert #702 - Eleni Mandell at McCabe's Guitar Shop (February 28, 2014)

Casual music fans, most likely, have not heard of Eleni Mandell and that's their loss. Friday night at McCabe's, about one hundred fans in the know were treated to a truly wonderful evening of quality songwriting and outstanding vocals, the kind one does not get to hear too often. Eleni's set did not include a lot of up-tempo scorchers, but I thoroughly enjoyed the laid-back feeling that emanated from her slower songs, and when I say slower, I certainly don't mean sleepers, as there weren't any of those.

The set kicked off with Allen Toussaint's "It's Raining", a gorgeous number first recorded by Irma Thomas decades ago. This may have been the evening's only song not written by Eleni herself and what followed was a veritable cavalcade of fine songs, with no throw-aways among them. It's not often that a songwriter's melodic sense and mine are in perfect alignment, but that was definitely the case with Eleni's compositions that she sang for us Friday night.

Then there was her voice. Smooth and warm, always precise and always full of feeling, Eleni's vocal abilities are something to behold. Her sultry and seductive delivery of "Magic Summertime" was one of the show's many highlights, along with "Little Joy", "Home", "Put My Baby To Bed" and the delightfully funny "Chinese Food On Christmas Eve".

Eleni Mandell at McCabe's

PARTIAL SET LIST

Girls

Little Joy

Wishbone

Home

It's Raining

Weding Ring

Magic Summertime

Put My Baby To Bed

Anyone Like You

Snake Song

Chinese Food On Christmas Eve

Afternoon

Moonglow, Lamp Low

I've Got A Tender Heart

Salt Truck

Artificial Fire

Yellow Lights

Maybe Yes

Eleni Mandell at McCabe's

Mixing songs from her printed list with audience requests, Eleni brought us in a humorous way into her world, and by the time the show was done, we were all well acquainted with her children, grandmothers and ex-boyfriends.

Throughout the show, Eleni was accompanied by bassist Ryan Feves, a talented and likeable musician who contributed a lot to the success of the show.

Ryan Feves at McCabe's

With Miley Cirus, Lady Gaga and the like dominating the music news, it looks like it's mission impossible for someone as talented as Eleni to reach a wider audience, but that is something she definitely deserves.

Opening the proceedings was Vikesh Kapoor, a young singer-songwriter of considerable talent. To be successful in his field, one must compose good tunes, write intelligent lyrics, sing well, be at least a decent guitar player and have a great personality. Vikesh did very well in all of these categories. His set was relatively short, seven songs in all, and they were all good. To these ears, "Down By The River", "Bottom Of The Ladder" and "The Ballad Of Willy Robbins" were the best of the lot. At times, Vikesh reminded me of a young Bob Dylan, and that is quite a compliment.

Vikesh Kapoor at McCabe's

Vikesh Kapoor at the end of his set

Vikesh Kapoor and Eleni Mandell "duetting" at the merch table

Concert poster

Concert poster

The evening of the show - rain pouring down on McCabe's

  

Concert #701 - Justin Townes Earle at McCabe's Guitar Shop (February 14, 2014)

Acoustic music and loud coughing is not a good combination. Friday night at McCabe's, the acoustic music was delivered by Justin Townes Earle, while I struggled to suppress an insuppressible cough that had been bugging me for weeks. Sadly, I did not last long. It all became too painful and too futile, so I had to beat a retreat after only seven songs. This write-up will be short.

Justin took the stage half a minute after his name was announced. Why the delay? "I had to pee" was his humorous justification, then he launched into "Memphis In The Rain", followed by "Ain't Glad I'm Leaving". Next came "Single Mothers" and Billy Joe Shaver's "Georgia On A Fast Train". He sounded good and I liked his guitar playing very much.

Justin Townes Earle at McCabe's

I stuck around just long enough to hear "Ain't Waitin'", "Mama's Eyes" and "One More Night In Brooklyn". Two minutes later I was back in my car, heading home in a somber mood while coughing my brains out.

Justin Townes Earle at McCabe's

Justin is quite a talent. The songs he writes are very good and he knows how to deliver them. The seven songs I managed to catch were not repetitive at all and neither was his guitar playing. He is definitely someone who can entertain a crowd all by himself, for the full duration of a long concert.

The stage

Concert #282 - Brian Wilson & Friends at UCLA's Royce Hall (October 6, 2002)

Announced as "Brian Wilson & Friends", this was the fifth annual Carl Wilson Foundation benefit concert, organized at UCLA's Royce Hall. From the moment I saw the concert announcement I knew that a few notable "friends" would show up, and they did.

Over the years, I have had relatively good luck getting decent seats at UCLA. For this concert I sat about seven or eight rows back from the stage, dead center. Not bad.

The most notable friend turned out to be Eric Clapton. He was featured extensively in the second half of the show. First, accompanied by Brian Wilson's band, Eric played  "Stormy Monday" and "Layla", then a bit later he took the stage during Brian's headlining set and once again for the encore.

Brian Wilson (left) & Eric Clapton at UCLA (photo by Adrees Latif)

Led by Mark McGrath, Sugar Ray, the band, delivered a short set that included "Every Morning" and "Fly", their catchy radio hit. They ended the set with "Do It Again", the old Beach Boys song, performed with the participation of Carnie and Wendy Wilson (Brian's daughters and two-thirds of the successful trio appropriately named Wilson Phillips).

Earlier in the evening, In Bloom, a three-piece band that included Justyn Wilson and Carl B. Wilson, the sons of Carl and Dennis Wilson, respectively, delivered a short set that wasn't bad, but did not stand out either. They were followed by their cousins Carnie and Wendy Wilson, who sang "Til I Die" and "This Whole World", but they weren't done - they came back after the intermission to provide back-up vocals for Brian and some of the guest stars.

Brian Wilson's band consisted of the Wondermints, an LA-based power-pop band, reinforced with a few musicians among whom the talented Jeff Foskett stood out. Jeff played the guitar and sang lead as well as back-up vocals on a number of Beach Boys covers. Jeff's singing, especially his falsetto voice, was remarkably good. The band did a great job recreating the many different sounds of the Beach Boys.

Brian's headlining set benefited from the participation of a number of guests: Eric Clapton helped out on "Good Vibrations" and "Warmth Of The Sun", while daughters Carnie and Wendy provided harmony vocals on "God Only Knows". Matthew Sweet and Billy Hinsche sang the lead vocals on "Sail On Sailor", with Brian singing back-up and I was quite impressed with Matthew's singing. The three members of In Bloom came back to sing lead on "Time To Get Alone" and "Forever", the latter being Dennis Wilson's best-known song. Brian's set also included "Help Me, Rhonda", "Wonderful" and "Heroes And Villains".

Other contributors included Van Dyke Parks, who, together with Matthew Sweet, performed "Ride", a tune written by the Wondermints, the accompanying band. Van Dyke also performed a couple of songs from "Orange Crate Art", an album released jointly by Brian and Van Dyke in 1995.

The encore brought together all of the earlier performers, plus Bill Medley, Jackson Browne and America's Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell, who apparently couldn't just sit idle and watch. Seeing these legendary artists on stage alongside Eric Clapton, Brian Wilson and all the others gave me a massive thrill. Together, they played "Barbara Ann", "Surfin' USA" and "Fun, Fun, Fun", with Eric looking the happiest of them all.

After all the guests left the stage, Brian and Jeff Foskett played Carl Wilson's "Heaven" in what turned out to be the final song of an evening that was both unforgettable and exhausting.

Concert T-shirt

 Brian Wilson's band 

Jeff Foskett (guitar, vocals)

Darian Sahanaja (keyboard, vibraphone, vocals)

Nick "Nicky Wonder" Waluska (guitar, vocals)

Probyn Gregory (guitar, French horn, trumpet, vocals)

Scott Bennett (keyboards, vibes, percussion, vocals)

Paul Mertens (saxophone, flutes, harmonicas)

Mike D'Amico (percussion)

Taylor Mills (vocals)

Bob Lizik (bass)

Jim Hines (drums)

The following photos are taken from:

http://www.carlwilsonfoundation.org/walk02/concert02b.htm

(copyright holders: M. Dowdle Head and Rene Diaz)

If requested, I will remove all photos without delay.

Brian Wilson with daughters Wendy (left) and Carnie at UCLA

Carnie Wilson (left) and Wendy Wilson at UCLA

Eric Clapton (left) & Jeff Foskett at UCLA

In Bloom at UCLA

Sugar Ray's Mark McGrath at UCLA

Darian Sahanaja of the Wondermints at UCLA

Matthew Sweet (left) and Billy Hinsche at UCLA

Van Dyke Parks at UCLA

 

Concert #700 - The Dustbowl Revival at Boulevard Music (February 8, 2014)

Last night was my sixth time to see the Dustbowl Revival in concert in slightly less than two years, a clear sign that I can't stay away from their seated shows in the Los Angeles area. This time I caught them at Culver City's Boulevard Music, a venue located a mere fifty-one miles from my home.

The band came out as an octet that included Zach Lupetin (vocals, guitar), Liz Beebe (vocals, washboard), Daniel Mark (mandolin), Connor Vance (violin), Matt Rubin (trumpet), Ulf Bjorlin (trombone), Josiah Mory (upright bass) and Josh Heffernan (drums). 

Overall, last night's show was not different from the previous ones, and that is not a negative. Once again, the band put on a quality show in all respects: great pace from beginning to end, excellent song selection, soulful vocals, good humor, outstanding musicianship, a smorgasbord of different styles of music and full democracy, with each band member given sufficient time to strut their stuff. The band was given a well-deserved standing ovation by the one-hundred-strong crowd. 

The Dustbowl Revival live at Boulevard Music

The show kicked-off with one of my favorite songs, Western Passage, with violinist Connor Vance playing the part of the acoustic guitar handled so well in the past by Ray Bergstrom. Good songs kept coming one after the other. As always, they threw in a couple of new ones, something I always welcome, even though that is typically done at the expense of songs I would have loved to hear. Last night we didn't get the hear "Dan's Jam", nor "Swing Low", but we were treated to great renditions of  the seldom-played "Nobody's Fault But Mine" and "The Ballad Of Judas Iscariot".

Partial Set List

Whiskey In The Well

Lampshade On

Soldier's Joy

Western Passage

Lowdown Blues

John The Revelator

Nobody's fault But Mine

Ain't My Fault

New Cherokee Shuffle

No Anchor Fag

Double Down

The Ballad Of Judas Iscariot

Before The Train Rolls Away

Falling Down

Down By The Riverside

Daniel, Liz, Josh and Zach at Boulevard Music

Bassist Josiah Mory

Just like in my earlier blog entries, I must say that I admire Zach Lupetin for what he has achieved with his band. I've seen a few concerts in my life, but I can't think of too many acts capable of being as entertaining as the revivalists, as well as cover as wide a musical territory as they do. I'm also amazed by how well the band has survived the inevitable changes of personnel.

Zach Lupetin during the intermission

The Boulevard Music is not a bad place to see a live show. The place is intimate, the sound is good and the crowd is there for the music and nothing else.

Concert organizer Gary Mandell

The concert room

The stage