Concert #664 - Al Stewart at McCabe's Guitar Shop (January 26, 2013)

I have learned over the years not to expect any surprises from an Al Stewart concert, as any of his appearances are pretty much like the ones before. So how come that I keep going back every time he plays McCabe's? The answer is simple: I just can't stay home and deny myself the pleasure of spending an evening in the company of this witty British gentleman who also happens to make great music. Never mind that he's in his high sixties - he still sounds like Al Stewart and his exquisite sense of humor is as good as ever. And with a body of work as vast as his, I will always get to hear a couple of obscure gems and learn a thing or two about folks as disparate as Brian Jones, Warren Harding and Carl Dobkins, Jr.

Last night's show at McCabe's kicked off with a three-song set delivered by Dave Nachmanoff, Al's long-time collaborator. With instantly likeable songs such as "Fragile Thing" and "Certain Distance", Dave received a good reception from the sold-out crowd.

Al Stewart's set started with a bouncy rendition of "House Of Clocks" and from that moment on, it was one great song after another. Also one funny remark after another, as Al was in a particularly funny mood last night.

Al Stewart (right) and Dave Nachmanoff at McCabe's

Al and Dave are one heck of a team. Always in tune both musically and humor-wise, they clearly enjoyed each other's company and their fun contaminated everyone present. Dave contributed a few epic guitar solos, the ones I liked the best were the extended intro to "On The Border" and the outro that concluded "Gina In The Kings Road". Ever since my first encounter with Dave Nachmanoff in 2004, I have witnessed his growth from a simple sideman to a true partner who now possesses his own musical credibility. Kudos to him.

The set list

By the way, O.T.B. in the set list stands for "On The Border", Y.O.T.C. is "Year Of The Cat", both played last night, but we didn't get to hear P.O.V., which stands for "Palace Of Versailles".

After a short intermission, the show resumed with three more songs by Dave. Al opened his second set with "Warren Harding", complete with a few comments about the intellect of current and past US presidents. "Katherine Of Oregon", "Midas Shadow" and "Soho (Needless To Say)" were my favorites from the second half of the show.

Nothing was going to stop Al from having fun. In response to Dave's formulaic introduction "And without any further ado, here's Mr. Al Stewart", Al took the stage and, with a smile on his face, said "I want more ado". Minutes later, while casually mentioning Lonnie Donegan, Al launched into an impromptu (but sadly abbreviated) rendition of "Rock Island Line", arguably Lonnie's best-known song. Later yet and jokingly, of course, Al took credit for having pioneered the genre of rap, a claim he substantiated with a few lines from "Soho" delivered rap-style, to the amusement of the audience.

For their encore, Al and Dave first played "Sheila Won't Be Coming Home", a song co-written by Dave and Al, followed by a Peter White instrumental composition with lyrics added "after the fact" by Al Stewart. Both sounded great.

All in all, my small group of friends had a great time and so did I.

Last night's Al Stewart concert, the seventh one I have attended, came twenty-two years after I first saw him live, also at McCabe's. Back in 1991, I remember thinking that Al Stewart was old. Since then, my perception of age has changed dramatically, thanks primarily to the longevity of countless musicians, among them Al Stewart himself.

Al Stewart autographing merchandise after the show

Dave Nachmanoff at the merch table

Al Stewart fans lining up at McCabe's

Concert #613 - Al Stewart at McCabe's Guitar Shop (November 12, 2011)

This was my sixth time to see Al Stewart and he's still on my "Must be seen again" list. It all started exactly twenty years ago, when I went to McCabe's with my teenaged niece not because I thought much of Al, but only because there was nothing better being offered at McCabe's during her visit. As it turned out, the concert was a total knock-out. Al came out with Peter White and together they just blew me away.

Twenty years on, the self-proclaimed "King of Historical Folk Rock" is still a highly entertaining artist whose shows combine great songs, stellar guitar playing, good humor and British-accented intellectual talk, all delivered in a relaxed manner, without any pretensions. At 66, his voice is pretty much unchanged and so are his idiosyncratic vocal inflections. Everything about Al screams experience and professionalism and overall, I just can't think of an artist who's more likeable than he is.

In terms of guitar playing, Al is essentially a strummer, with rare and rather brief incursions into finger picking, so to a huge extent, his shows rely on the support he gets from guitar virtuosos such as Peter White and Laurence Juber. Trouble is, these folks have their own careers, so they are seldom available to play, let alone tour, with Al.

Enter Dave Nachmanoff, a lesser known guitar player, who in 2004 made me frown in disappointment when he was announced as Al Stewart's new accompanist. Dave was certainly good enough then, but at that time I could not have imagined what a phenomenally great guitar player he would soon become. Last night at McCabe's, Dave's intros, solos and outros were nothing short of masterful, to such an extent that he made me stop wishing for Peter or Laurence, and that's no small feat. And he's got humor, too, thus perfectly complementing the equally jocular Al.

Dave Nachmanoff, guitarist extraordinaire

Last night, Al and Dave came out with a predetermined set list, but they did take a few requests and initiated a few digressions of their own, such as "Running Man", from Al's "24 Carrots" album.

The set list (guess what Y.O.T.C. stands for)

As always, "On The Border" was among the concert highlights, and so were "A Child's View Of The Eisenhower Years" and "Night Train To Munich". I also liked "Flying Sorcery", a song that appears as "Flying Sauce" on Al's set list. 

While playing the most recognizable riff from Henry Mancini's "Theme From Peter Gunn", Al talked briefly about Duane Eddy, one of his early influences.

Dave Nachmanoff & Al Stewart at McCabe's (November 2011)

Part-time bassist Mike Lindauer provided a few moments of levity, as he was coming and going without fully knowing when exactly he was needed to be there - this actually fit quite well with the loose tone of the show.

Dave Nachmanoff was given the opportunity to showcase some of his own songs, among which "Sheila Won't Be Coming Home", with some lyrics by Al Stewart, was the best.

Dave Nachmanoff & Al Stewart (with John Wicks in the background)

 John Wicks, formerly of the Records, took the stage a couple of times to provide backup vocals, then together with Al and Dave, sang his own hit "Starry Eyes".

John Wicks (left), with Dave Nachmanoff and Al Stewart

Al Stewart & Dave Nachmanoff reviewing the set list before the show

Yours Truly & Al Stewart at McCabe's

Dave and Al's abandoned guitars, just before the encore

 

Concert #542 - Al Stewart at McCabe's Guitar Shop (February 13, 2010)

This was my fifth time to see Al Stewart in concert and I'm not done. In his mid 60s, Al still sounds great and is thoroughly entertaining.

Assisted by guitar virtuoso Dave Nachmanoff and multi-instrumentalist Marc Macisso, Al Stewart outdid himself with an outstanding show full of humor, bits of presidential history and great music. Al is not one to turn his back on his past, so along with his newer material, we also got to hear some of his gems from the seventies, among them "Year Of The Cat", "Time Passages" and "On The Border". These are all songs with richly-orchestrated originals and to their credit, this trio of musicians - Al, Dave and Marc - managed to recreate the "feel" of the originals to a great extent. I recall two other songs they played that night: "Antarctica"
and "Night Train To Munich".

From L to R: Dave Nachmanoff, Al Stewart and Marc Macisso at McCabe's

Here's Al and Dave playing "Year Of The Cat", "Time Passages" and "On The Border":

Concerts #273, 349, 502 - Al Stewart at McCabe's Guitar Shop (Summer of 2002 - April 24, 2009)

Many years after his mind-blowing concert at McCabe's in 1991, Al Stewart returned to the same venue in the summer of 2002, and - needless to say - I was the first in line. My expectation were high, I was hoping for Peter White to show up once again and deliver yet another great performance, but it wasn't to be: Al played the whole set solo. Yes, the vocals were good, the delivery was great, but there was something missing - Al's strumming just wasn't a good-enough substitute for Peter's finger-picking virtuosity. I went home a bit disappointed.

My next encounter with Al Stewart took place on November 19, 2004, also at McCabe's, where else? This time, Al was accompanied by newcomer Dave Nachmanoff, who did a very good job as Al's sidekick, but once again, I had my mind set on Peter White, so anything else just wasn't good enough for me. They played a typical Al Stewart set, with a bunch of newer songs, the mandatory oldies, the funny chatter and frequent lessons of history, it wasn't bad at all.

Dave Nachmanoff

Then came my fourth Al Stewart concert, on April 24, 2009. I went with Barry and Barbara, two British friends. This time Al had Laurence Juber as his accompanying guitarist. I had not seen Laurence before, but I was very familiar with his great career. The show had an opening act - Laurence Juber himself. He played seven songs, among them "Little Wing", "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and "Every Breath You Take" and he was phenomenally good. After a short break, Al and Laurence took the stage together and what followed was definitely of "Peter White quality". Their interaction was clever, relaxed and funny, which is what you would expect from two old friends and long-time musical partners. They played "On The Border", "Year Of The Cat", "Night Train To Munich" and many other goodies. Al shared a few fun stories involving Lionel Bart and Tommy Steele, plus the usual historic references, as you would expect from the erudite British gentleman that he is. Great show!

Laurence Juber

Watch this live recording of "Night Train To Munich", featuring Al Stewart and Laurence Juber together: