CONCERT OVERLOAD

October 31, 2017

Concert #811 - Sarah Jarosz at McCabe's Guitar Shop (october 21, 2017)

Last weekend, I saw Grammy-nominee Sarah Jarosz in concert for the second time. In many respects, this show wasn't very different from the one I caught in the summer of 2016, also at McCabe's, and that's not a bad thing at all. Once again, Sarah impressed me with her beautiful voice, outstanding singing ability, as well her gift for putting together a set list that kept everyone's attention focused on her offering.

As soon as the show ended, I turned to my friend Steve and asked him the question that had been bugging me the whole evening - I asked him whether he could name the genre that best described Sarah's music. Well, it turned out that Steve, not unlike me, wasn't able to come up with a good answer. Indeed, Sarah's style defies easy categorization, but now that I have had some time to think about it, I have come up with a decent name for what she does: it's "Retro-New-Grass", of course!

Sarah Jarosz at McCabe's

Sarah took the stage with Nashville-based guitarist Anthony Da Costa and an upright bass player, Jeff Picker, the same outstanding picker (sorry, I just couldn't resist) who accompanied Sarah in 2016. Together, this great trio delivered a quality set that mixed cover songs with some of Sarah's own compositions. The covers were all exceptionally good, especially Tom Petty's "Time To Move On", Bob Dylan's "Ring Them Bells" and Martha Scanlan's "Raven". I had never heard of Martha, but let me tell you, her song was arguably the evening's best moment.

Many times during the show, the various stringed instruments used by Sarah and Anthony produced an intensely processed sound that was quite a departure from what I would consider "conventional". This is not criticism, just a statement of facts. Look at these photos and you'll see what I mean:

Sarah's gear

Anthony's gear

The show also had plenty of moments that sounded 100% conventional, even to the ears of the purest of the purists, and I'll confess that those were my favorite moments of the evening.

Other than the songs I mentioned above, I also liked "House Of Mercy"and "Take Me Back", both culled from "Undercurrent", her most recent album, and her gorgeous "oldie", "Build Me Up From Bones".

The show was a sellout and there was no opening act. Overall, it was a great evening that I would like repeated.

Sarah Jarosz & Jeff Picker at McCabe's

Sarah Jarosz at McCabe's

Tuning time

Anthony Da Costa at McCabe's

Jeff, Sarah & Anthony at McCabe's

The final bow

The set list

The stage

The backwall of the stage

Merchandise

October 22, 2017

Concert #810 - Shawn Mullins at McCabe's Guitar Shop (October 15, 2017)

In 2013, when I first saw Shawn Mullins in concert, he surprised me with a show that had it all - intensity, good songs, strong vocals and great guitar playing - and since then I had been wanting to simply relive that experience. Well, it took a few years, but last Sunday I finally had my second encounter with Shawn and let me tell you from the get-go, he did not disappoint.

The evening started without an official introduction: with the lights still on, Shawn took the stage to announce an opening set by his musical cohort, Radoslav Lorkovic. Originally from Croatia, Radoslav is a high-caliber piano player who can also sing and play the accordion. I had seen him before - in 2008, he accompanied the great Odetta, also at McCabe's - and I distinctly remember Odetta taking pride in pronouncing his name without having to read it from a hand-written note.
Radoslav's opening set put on display his versatile piano playing skills, but was maybe one song too long.

Shawn took the stage just before 9 PM, which is a bit late for a Sunday show. With his unmistakable voice and intense delivery, he sang mostly his own songs, but threw in two covers as well: "The House Of The Rising Song" and "The L&N Don't Stop Here Anymore", a song I first heard with Michelle Shocked, then later with Johnny Cash. Shawn's self-penned songs were very good, some had good hooks, but none quite as catchy as the refrain of "Lullaby", his major hit from years ago. The songs I liked the most were "California", "Beautiful Wreck" and "Shimmer".

Throughout the concert, Shawn was accompanied by Radoslav - or Rad, as Shawn called him - and a bassist whose name I sadly did not catch. Rad played the piano, accordion and keyboards. Overall, it was a good show.

Shawn Mullins at McCabe's

Shawn directing Radoslav to the piano

Shawn & Radoslav at McCabe's

High intensity on the stage

Shawn Mullins at McCabe's

Shawn and his bassist (name?) at McCabe's

The set list

The stage

T-shirt for sale

October 15, 2017

Concert #809 - Jon Langford's Four Lost Souls at McCabe's Guitar Shop (October 1, 2017)

I first got acquainted with Jon Langford and his then-band, the Mekons, in 1989. Since then, I have been passionately following not only his solo career, but also his various side-projects, such as The Waco Brothers and Pine Valley Cosmonauts. His current ensemble, curiously named Jon Langford's Four Lost Souls, came to my favorite venue two weeks ago and based on their performance there, I'm happy to say that, even though Jon has just turned sixty, little has changed - his music is as listenable and captivatingly quirky today as it was twenty-five years ago. His idiosyncratic melodic sense is still there and his songs, with their mix of country, folk, rock and punk, are still difficult to categorize.

Jon came out a few minutes after 8 PM with the other three Lost Souls, namely guitarist John Szymanski and singers Bethany Thomas and Tawny Newsome, and together they put on a thoroughly enjoyable show that had a relaxed feel to it, with lots of humor, laughter and most of all, great music. Their set included most songs from their latest album, unsurprisingly titled "Four Lost Souls" - I liked all songs, but "Snake Behind Glass", "Half Way Home" and "Poor Valley Radio" managed to stand out. John turned out to be a devilishly good guitar player, while Bethany and Tawny sang lead and backup vocals with confidence and competence.

Jon's set ended with two of his older songs, "Drone Operator" and "Pill Sailor", and also a surprising cover, Danny O'Keefe's "Good Time Charlie's Got The Blues". Overall, I had a heck of a good time at McCabe's watching this truly unique artist.

The stage at 8:10 PM

The stage at 8:15 PM

Jon Langford (right) and John Szymanski at McCabe's

Tawny Newsome (left) & Bethany Thomas at McCabe's

Jon & Tawny

Jon Langford at McCabe's

The set list

Tawny & Bethany at McCabe's

John, Tawny & Jon, after the show

The stage

The concert room

October 1, 2017

Concert #808 - Loudon Wainwright III at McCabe's Guitar Shop (September 9, 2017)

This was my nineteenth time to see Loudon in concert, but only the first time since 2009. Even though quite a few years have passed since then, Loudon appeared to be pretty much the same as he was then. OK, so maybe he's not kicking out his legs as often as before and his face contortions are a bit less frequent, but the voice remained unmistakably his and so did his act, with that unique mix of humor, seriousness and the occasional touch of darkness. His energy level appeared to be high, even though he may have been holding back a bit for the evening's late show. I caught the early show, and by the way, both were sell-outs. At one point during his first set, when he mentioned his second show, Loudon quipped "I don't do anything twice a night anymore, except maybe go to the bathroom".

In addition to his own songs, Loudon's set included a few covers, which were all duly credited to their respective authors. As he always does, he augmented the musical part with a few funny stories, such as the one about his childhood encounter with Liza Minnelli. And anyone who has ever seen Loudon in concert knows that family members are often talked and sung about and this show was no exception. Particularly funny was his latest jingle, "Meet The Wainwrights", a song Loudon wrote for "The Wainwright Family Adventure" Alaskan tour.

Overall, I had a heck of a good time reconnecting with Loudon and I can't wait for his return to McCabe's.

Set List (nearly complete)
(all songs by Loudon Wainwright III, unless noted)

Natural Disaster

Dilated To Meet You

Meet The Wainwrights

The Picture

Ever Since The World Ended (Mose Allison)

It's Love And I Hate It

Westchester County

Between (Loudon Wainwright II)

Grey In LA

Primrose Hill

I Knew Your Mother

Half Fist

Daughter (Peter Blegvad)

April Fool's Day Morn

Oedipus Rex (Tom Lehrer)

Loudon Wainwright at McCabe's

The following photos, titled "The Many Faces Of Loudon Wainwright", are taken from "Meet The Wainwrights", the YouTube video recently posted by Wayne Griffith, the long-serving Sound Engineer at McCabe's.