Concert #439 - The Knitters at The Getty Center (May 18, 2007)

First-rate concerts that also happen to be free are few and far between. They also tend to sell out quickly, especially at venues as popular as the Getty Center's Harold M. Williams Auditorium. So I kept my eyes on the ball and reserved my tickets the minute they were made available to the public. Literally. I just wasn't going to miss out on a show that brought together three of my favorite musicians, namely Dave Alvin, John Doe and Exene Cervenka, performing together as three fifth of the Knitters, Los Angeles' semi-legendary cow-punk band.

My small group included my Better Half, as well as Bob and Lynne, two dear friends whom I had introduced to Dave Alvin's music a couple of years earlier. We had great seats, about five rows back.

Surprisingly, the evening kicked off not with the full lineup, but only with John Doe and Dave Alvin. The two of them delivered Merle Haggard's "Silver Wings" and one other song before being joined by singer Exene Cervenka, drummer DJ Bonebrake and bassist Jonny Ray Bartel.

Another surprise: we didn't get to hear much of Dave Alvin's great voice. Standing somewhat isolated on the right side of the stage and keeping a relatively low profile, Dave focused primarily on playing his electric guitar and I did enjoy watching him in a role that was so different from my previous all-acoustic encounters with him. Most of the vocal duties were handled by John and Exene, with the latter bringing to stage a distinct punk attitude that must have lingered on from her days with X.

The setlist included both covers and originals. We got to hear the old traditional "Hand Me Down My Walking Cane", "Give Me Flowers While I’m Living" from the repertoire of Flatt and Scruggs, Jimmy Driftwood’s "Long Chain" and "Born To Be Wild", the Steppenwolf's signature song. From X's repertoire we got to hear "New World".

Overall, it was a fun night. The Getty is a great place to see a show, never mind the driving distance to get there.

The entrance to the Harold M. Williams Auditorium

The Harold M. Williams Auditorium

Concert #597 - Jill Sobule & John Doe at McCabe's Guitar Shop (July 9, 2011)

This was the second of two sold-out shows at McCabe's featuring the unlikely pairing of two artists from different generations and different musical backgrounds. Yet Jill Sobule and John Doe got along just fine, as if they had been playing together for a lifetime. It almost felt like watching two old friends jamming in a living room, that's how relaxed and comfortable with each other they appeared to be. It's always the case: when the performers are having fun, so is the audience, and we all had a lot of fun, with great songs and good humor that just kept coming and coming.

The stage, photographed just before the show

Frequently alternating between various stringed instruments, both acoustic and electric, Jill and John played songs from "A Day At The Pass", their current joint album, as well as some of their older material. Jill was in perfect vocal shape and I was delighted to once again hear "Where Is Bobbie Gentry", "Good Life", "Mexican Wrestler" and "San Francisco", among her other songs. Watching her intense delivery from my front-row seat was pure joy - if you have not seen Jill live, you don't know what you're missing. John Doe was equally good. I enjoyed all of his new material, but what I liked the best was his punk-ish delivery of "White Girl", from his days with X.

I typically don't like the use of profanities on stage, certainly not by female performers, but Jill's use of the F-word in her "We Want Our America Back" was nothing short of hilarious.

Throughout the evening, Jill and John were accompanied by bassist Dave Carpenter. Toward the end of the show, local songstress Cindy Wasserman popped in for a song.

What? No roadies? Jill and John setting up before the show.

The set list

Jill Sobule and John Doe at McCabe's (July 9, 2011)

The show was opened by singers Sean Wheleer & Zander Schloss, with the latter doubling up as an able multi-instrumentalist. Although somewhat dissimilar in terms of their musical backgrounds, Sean and Zander combined well to play a listenable set of self-penned songs. Zander's use of the bouzouki added more color to their set.

All-in-all, it was yet another great evening of music at McCabe's.

Alan Kanter (left) and Wayne Griffith, with a combined 75 years of sound engineering experience at McCabe's

Window poster at McCabe's

Concerts #454, 497 - Smokey Hormel at McCabe's Guitar Shop (November 17, 2007 - February 21, 2009)

I first saw Smokey Hormel in April 2001 at UCLA's Royce Hall, where he was playing a supporting role in Hal Willner's Harry Smith Project, a large scale event that brought together many big names. It was his outstanding guitar playing that made me take note of his name, so five years later, when McCabe's announced Smokey's headlining gig, I knew exactly who he was.

The two shows I saw at McCabe's were quite similar, as in similarly short. Inexplicably, neither of Smokey's two sets went beyond the 75 minute mark, and as such, they remain to this day some of the shortest shows I've ever seen there. And it's not that he had to do it all by himself - on both occasions, Smokey brought along a few outstanding musicians, some of them with well-established national reputation:

November 17, 2007

Greg Leisz

Richard Greene

Larry Taylor

Joey Waronker

Laura Kass

February 21, 2009

John Doe

Charlie Burnham

David Ralicke

Joey Waronker

My expectations of blistering guitar solos did not materialize. Instead, Smokey featured extensively his own vocals, which were OK, but not stellar. The band members were top-notch, they all had their solo moments.

In spite of the overall negative tone of this write-up, the two shows were not bad - there was plenty of good music and good musicianship, so we went home not unhappy, but definitely wanting more.

Richard Greene

Greg Leisz

Concert #579 - Jackshit at McCabe's Guitar Shop (December 3, 2010)

My 20th time to see Jackshit live in concert as headliners. This was the first of two consecutive nights at McCabe's, both nights advertised as "Jackshit and Friends". I bought fourteen tickets for the show, a far cry from my previous record of twenty five tickets, but there were quite a few first-timers among the folks I brought with me.

The concert should have been called "Jackshit & Friend", where the "friend" turned out to be John Doe of X fame, also of the Knitters fame. He sang four good songs and was received very well by the crowd. Drummer Charlie "Ringo" Shit popped in for a number or two - he is remarkably good, in spite of his tender age of eight. Rightly so, the boys from Cochtotan believe that somethin' that ain't broke needs no fixin', so their set remained pretty much unchanged from their earlier concerts this year, and I have no problem with that - as long as Polly, the pretty one, shows up.

John Doe (right), with Beau watching

After the show, I bought a poster, which Beau, Shorty, Pete and Charlie all autographed. One day I'll frame it and hang it somewhere in the house.

Note the stylish shirt I'm wearing, bought directly from Cochtotan's General Store.