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 #737 - Iain Matthews at McCabe's Guitar Shop (January 31, 2015)

This was my third time to see Iain Matthews perform live on stage. The concert was very good in all respects, but what impressed me the most was Iain's voice. In his sixty-ninth year of existence, Iain did look his age, while his voice remained pretty much unaffected by the passage of time. I was truly touched by his soulful and passionate delivery of his mostly delicate songs and I'm not exaggerating when I say that there aren't many singers out there, regardless of age, who possess voices as nuanced as Iain's.

Sadly, the show was attended by no more than fifty or sixty folks. I cannot explain why an artist as good as Iain Matthews cannot draw a larger crowd in the Los Angeles area.

Iain Matthews at McCabe's

Iain came out with Dutch pianist and composer Egbert Derix and what a fabulous addition he turned out to be. From my seat, I could clearly see Egbert's fingers and facial expressions, which only added to my enjoyment of the evening. With only minimal eye contact, Iain and Egbert played together in perfect sync and harmony, just like two twin brothers - Egbert's delicately played intros and solos were the perfect accompaniment to Iain's gentle vocals.

Egbert Derix at McCabe's

As expected, Iain's set list consisted of quite a few songs he co-wrote with Egbert: "Restless Wings", "The Emperor's New Clothes", "When Buddha Dials Your Number", the gorgeous "Pebbles In The Road", "1944", "When The Floyd Were On The Prowl" and "Waves".

We also got to hear four well-chosen covers, namely John Martyn's "The Man In The Station", Fairport Convention's "Sloth", Tom Waits' "Closing Time" and Joni Mitchell's "Woodstock", the latter serving as the evening's one-song encore. All covers sounded great.

The set list

Given Iain's consistently solid performance from start to finish, I will refrain from picking a show highlight.

Iain Matthews tuning his guitar

Iain Matthews addressing the crowd

Iain Matthews and Egbert Derix at the end of the show

The evening was kicked off by Brian Lopez, a Tucson-based singer-songwriter of considerable talent. Overall, he was good enough to keep my mind focused on his performance for the entire duration of his thirty-minute set. Brian has a decent voice and an interesting singing style, but I can't say that his melodic sense and mine are always in perfect alignment. 

Brian Lopez at McCabe's

The stage

 

Concert #710 - Iain Matthews at the Coffee Gallery Backstage (May 5, 2014)

What a difference a concert made ... less than a week ago, Iain Matthews was someone I liked and respected, but nothing more. Then came last Friday's concert at McCabe's, when Iain knocked my socks off with a performance that had all the ingredients that make me melt: a great voice, a soulful delivery of tuneful songs, skilled guitar playing, captivating lyrics, good humor and, to top it all off, humility. His show was so good that I just had to see him again, and that is what brought me Monday night to the Coffee Gallery in Altadena, an intimate venue with just forty-nine seats.

Much to my disbelief, I counted only twenty-six people in the attendance, undoubtedly the smallest concert crowd I have ever seen. But the size of the audience did not stop Iain from delivering yet another great set, twenty songs in all, and all the elements that had impressed me so much at McCabe's were there in full force. In terms of the set list, there was some overlap between the two concerts, something that did not bother me at all. On the contrary, I enjoyed very much hearing "Alone Again Blues" and "Funk And Fire" once again. I also enjoyed the eight songs not played at McCabe's, among which "To Be White", "God's Empty Chair" and Richard Thompson's "From Galway To Graceland" stood out. The a-cappella style delivery of the latter was an absolute gem.

Iain Matthews at the Coffee Gallery

The set list

Southern Breezes

Something Mighty

The Limburg Girl and The Traveling Man

Rosa's Song (The Back Of a Bus)

Power

To Be White

God's Empty Chair

From Galway To Graceland

Funk And Fire

The Letter (1944)

The Emperor's New Clothes

Time Zone Cowboy

In Paradise

God Looked Down

Alone Again Blues

These Days

Ghost Changes

Evening Sun

 Encore

Joy Mining

Can't Buy Me Love

Iain Matthews enjoying himself at the Coffee Gallery

One of Iain's past collaborators, Richard Stekol, an accomplished musician himself, provided able accompaniment on electric guitar for half an hour or so. His subdued playing was a good addition to the show.

After the concert, I had the pleasure of exchanging a few words with Iain and got to shake his hand, too. I went home happy, carrying with me his "Joy Mining" album, purchased from Iain himself. 

Iain Matthews and Richard Stekol

Iain Matthews tuning his guitar

Set list - sheet 1

Set list - sheet 2

The stage