Concert #858 - Loudon Wainwright at McCabe's Guitar Shop (January 19, 2019)

In his seventy-second year of existence, Loudon Wainwright has remained the same incredible performer who picks you up the moment he takes the stage and never lets you go. With his trademark mix of humorous and thought-provoking songs and chatter, he touches me like few other artists. His Saturday night appearance at McCabe's was my twentieth time to see Loudon live and - spoiler alert - I went home absolutely elated by the quality of his performance.

With his voice and wit virtually intact, Loudon kicked off the proceeding with "A Little Piece Of Me" and "Grey In LA". What followed was a good mix of newer songs as well as old favorites, such as "The Swimming Song", "Cardboard Boxes", and the hilarious "Grammy Song", which he delivered interspersed with equally funny readings from "Liner Notes", his first and so far only book. Other songs that I really enjoyed hearing again: "White Winos" and "Be Careful There's A Baby In The House".

Loudon Wainwright at McCabe's

Two songs stood out from among those few numbers that were new to me: "Love Gifts" and "Presidents' Day", the latter generating quite a bit of laughter in the room. Late in the show, Loudon surprised me with the singing of Richard Thompson's "Down Where The Drunkards Roll", which sounded great. By the way, Loudon and Richard are good friends.

Loudon also played two numbers on the piano, "Kick In The Head", a song he wrote in the seventies and the much more recent "Song In C".

Needless to say, Loudon also sang and spoke about his father, grandfather and a few other Wainwrights, so there wasn't anything revolutionary in his show but that suited everyone just fine. I loved everything Loudon did and, as I said, I went home extremely happy. 

Loudon Wainwright at McCabe's

Loudon Wainwright playing the piano at McCabe's

The stage

Sign in the window at McCabe's

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.

The Many Faces of Loudon Wainwright - Photo 1

The Many Faces of Loudon Wainwright - Photo 2

The Many Faces of Loudon Wainwright - Photo 3

The Many Faces of Loudon Wainwright - Photo 4

The Many Faces of Loudon Wainwright - Photo 5

The Many Faces of Loudon Wainwright - Photo 6

The Many Faces of Loudon Wainwright - Photo 7

The stage

The stage, viewed from a different angle

Concert Director Lincoln Myerson letting people in

Fans lining up for the late show

Concert #481 - McCabe's 50th Anniversary Concert at UCLA's Royce Hall (October 2, 2008)

I caught wind about this concert many months before it actually took place and from the very beginning, all I wanted was to lay my hands on a pair of great tickets, even if I had to pay a little extra to get them  - after all, this was supposed to be the Concert Of The Year. Well, in the end, "the little extra" turned out to be $550 for a pair of third row seats, bought from a scalper operating legally as a "ticket agency". Bastards!

I had never paid as much for two tickets and I hope I never will, but in this case, I just had to do it, as my other attempts to get good seats via UCLA Live and directly from McCabe's yielded sub-par results. And there was yet another reason for my insane spending: I went to the concert with a European guest, a huge music connoisseur himself, and I just had to offer him the best possible experience and indeed, I also wanted the very best for myself.

And what an experience it was ... for about four hours we watched a parade of many different musicians who had one thing in common: sometime during their careers, they had all performed at McCabe's. With one notable exception, that is. I'm not talking about Los Lobos, as they had actually played there decades earlier, before anyone knew who they were, opening for Flaco Jimenez. The exception was Chrissie Hynde, who somehow managed to talk herself into the line-up, and I'm glad she did. Accompanied by virtuoso guitarist James Walbourne, Chrissie-the-Intruder performed two songs from her then-new album "Break Up The Concrete" and she was definitely one of the highlights of the evening.

And speaking of highlights: Odetta's powerful rendition of "House Of The Rising Sun" did not seem to be coming from a seventy-eight year old wheelchair-bound woman who was only two months away from the end of her life, then later, during the evening's grand finale, she once again impressed us with her strong vocals on "This Land Is Your Land".

Odetta, with Lincoln Myerson, Jackson Browne and Jennifer Warnes (photo by Sherry Rayn Barnett)

For an outstanding photo gallery showing most of the evening's protagonists, please visit Sherry Rayn Barnett's page at http://www.myspace.com/sherrybarnettphotography/photos

LIST OF PERFORMERS

Richard Thompson

Jennifer Warnes

Odetta

Los Lobos

Blind Boys Of Alabama

Loudon Wainwright

Peter Rowan

David Lindley

Peter Case

Bonnie "Prince" Billy & Matt Sweeney

Ditty Bops

Dan Hicks

Savoy-Doucet Cajun Band

Ricky Jay

Chrissie Hynde

Jackson Browne

Rosanne Lindley

Van Dyke Parks

Kami Thompson

Michael Jerome (drums)

Debra Dobkin (percussion)

David Keyes (keyboards, with Odetta)

Taras Prodaniuk (bass)

James Walbourne (guitar, with Chrissie Hynde)

Eric Andersen (grand finale only)

Richard Thompson led the house band that also included drummer Michael Jerome, bassist Taras Prodaniuk, and percussionist Debra Dobkin. Throughout the evening, Richard kept a relatively low profile, but at one point he did step up to deliver a great version of "1952 Vincent Black Lightning". I  would have liked to hear more from RT, but it wasn't to be.

LIST OF MC's

Nancy Covey

Lincoln Myerson

John Chelew 

Bobby Kimmel

Most of the MC'ing was handled by Nancy Covey and she did a good job. Surprisingly, the current Concert Director at McCabe's, Lincoln Myerson, was given only a secondary role.

McCabe's is a rather modest venue and, appropriately, there were no fancy stage decorations at UCLA's Royce Hall, only a few guitars and folding chairs hanging on the back wall of the stage, all of them borrowed from McCabe's, of course. It wasn't particularly pretty, but it did bring to UCLA the "look and feel" of McCabe's, and when I say "feel", I mean the pain experienced by anyone who has ever sat on those metal chairs for more than 30 minutes!

Folding chairs and acoustic guitars hanging on the back wall of the stage

The Ditty Bops sang two songs of their own, then later they turned into Dan Hicks' Hot Licks. Together, they sang Dan's "I Scare Myself".

The Blind Boys Of Alabama performed "Amazing Grace", but with a twist: they sang it to the tune of "House Of The Rising Sun".

Peter Rowan sang his gorgeous "Midnight Moonlight". 

After having been introduced by Lincoln Myerson, Bonnie "Prince" Billy surprised me with an excellent performance that made me want to see him as a headliner.

Jennifer Warnes sang Arlo Guthrie’s “When a  Soldier Makes It Home" and one other song.

Playing a slide guitar, David Lindley duetted with his daughter Rosanne. They were OK. Later in the evening, David came out once again to play with Jackson Browne.

Jackson Browne (left), with David Lindley

Kudos go to Loudon Wainwright, who showed up after his own headlining gig in Santa Barbara. He managed to reach UCLA shortly after 11 PM, sang one song, then joined everyone else for the grand finale.

A touch of nepotism was in the air, as Richard Thompson and David Lindley brought along their singing daughters, Kami and Rosanne, respectively. They were OK, but I would have preferred to see some of the quintessential McCabe's artists who had delighted me over the years, such as Peter Himmelman, Dave Alvin, Michelle Shocked, Chris Smither or John Hammond. I guess whoever said "You can't have it all" was right ...

The grand finale was grand, indeed. Most performers came out for their final salute to McCabe's and they all had they brief solo moments, as they sang, "Hard Times (Come Again No More)" and "This Land Is Your Land". Van Dyke Parks went down into the crowd with his accordion. Jennifer Warnes asked for Eric Anderson to join the celebration and he did. A beaming Odetta was there as well, and so were all of the evening's emcees. Modestly, Richard Thompson remained in the background with his outstanding house band. The crowd was on its feet and I immediately knew that I was part of something special, something one would normally see on TV but rarely get to experience in person.

The Grand Finale, as it began

The Grand Finale, with everyone on stage

The Grand Finale

The Grand Finale - Jackson Browne, Jennifer Warnes & Loudon Wainwright (far right)

The Grand Finale - Eric Anderson, Jennifer Warnes, etc.

The Grand Finale - Van Dyke Parks

And now for a few negatives and there weren't many of those. I was less impressed with the sets delivered by the Savoy-Doucet Band (not my style) and Peter Case, who chose to perform two long songs that I don't believe were among his best. Jackson Browne sang three songs that sounded quite boring to me. Magician Ricky Jay's card-throwing act was nothing special and definitely out of place.

But it's not right to end my write-up on a negative note. Without a doubt, the show was one of the very best I have ever witnessed, and I did witness a few.

Backstage: Taras Prodaniuk, Jennifer Warnes & Jackson Browne

Backstage: McCabe's founder Gerald McCabe, with Nancy Covey

Backstage: McCabe's founder Gerald McCabe, with Jennifer Warnes

 

Concert #502 - Loudon Wainwright & Friends (Peter Case Benefit) at McCabe's Guitar Shop

This was the first of three sold-out concerts organized at McCabe's to benefit Peter Case, whose medical expenses had amounted to much more than his wallet could bear. Tickets cost $50 per night, a small amount to pay for a good cause, not to mention the chance to see a plethora of great musicians who offered their time and talent to help out a fellow musician in need.

Announced as "Loudon Wainwright III & Friends", the evening sold out ina couple of days.

LIST OF PERFORMERS

Loudon Wainwright III

Van Dyke Parks

Inara George

Phranc

George Gerdes

Peter Case

Leland Sklar

Grant Geissman

The concert kicked off with Van Dyke Parks and Inara George, who played a few songs from their earlier collaborative effort, Inara's "An Invitation" album. Not bad for a short set, but not my cup of tea for a full evening.

Inara George & Van Dyke Parks

Phranc's set was short, but quite good. She sang one of my favorite Phranc songs, "I Like You", then she followed up with "I'm A Peter Case Lover", a paraphrase of her own "Live Lover".

Phranc

Loudon Wainwright brought out a somewhat reluctant Peter Case, at his first public appearance after his open heart surgery in January 2009. Looking understandably weak and out of shape, Peter brought the house down with his version of Blind Willie McTell's "Broke Down Engine Blues".

Peter Case

Loudon's long-time friend and collaborator George Gerdes popped in for a couple of songs, while the legendary Leland Sklar and guitarist Grant Geissman provided accompaniment during much of the evening.

Leland Sklar

The show was closed, as expected, by Loudon Wainwright. It was my seventeenth time to see him live in concert, which probably explains why I can't remember a single song he played that night. But he was his usual good self, that I know.

All-in-all, it was a fun evening, with a few great artists coming and going in quick succession, which kept all of us fully engaged until the lights went on.

Concert poster in the window at McCabe's (with unwanted street reflections)

Concert #529 - Loudon Wainwright & Richard Thompson at the Royce Hall (November 13, 2009)

Loudo and RT - a pairing made in heaven, if there ever was one. I first started hearing rumors about a possible tour involving the two in 2008. Then the announcement came and a few months later I was holding in my hand a priceless ticket that entitled me to sit in the third row, dead center. That was a well-deserved reward for a true fan of both artists - at that point in time, I had seen them for a combined total of thirty-five times (seventeen times Loudon, eighteen times Richard).

Their tour had a fabulous name: "Loud and Rich". I can imagine how much fun they had spending time together, after having been good friends and musical collaborators for so many years.

Loudon opened the show with a fairly long set, seventy minutes in all. I was in the mood for an evening of "Loudon's Best", but it was Loudon who called the shots and he chose to showcase some of his newer material. He had just written a series of songs about the country's ailing economy and financial collapse. "I plan to cash in", said Loudon, then he went ahead and played "Cash For Clunkers". He also played a few songs from his "Charlie Poole Project" album, which later brought him his first and only Grammy.

Loudon sang "Unfriendly Skies", a very funny song about an airline employee named Suzie who had mistreated his Martin guitar at the Durango airport. Also in Loudon's set list: "Half Fist", "Dead Man" and "White Winos". Richard joined him on stage for Loudon's last two songs, one of them was "If I Lose".


After the intermission, out came Richard Thompson, with better-than-ever vocals and powerful and precise guitar playing. Among other songs, he played "Cold Kisses", "Time Will Break You" from "Cabaret Of Souls", "Crawl Back" and "1952 Vincent Black Lightning". Later in the set, Loudon joined Richard for a few more songs together: "Down Where The Drunkards Roll", Bob Dylan's "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere", Leiber & Stoller's "Smokey Joe's Cafe" and finally "At The End Of A Long, Lonely Day" from the repertoire of Marty Robbins. At one point, Loudon broke one of his guitar strings and while he was busy with his problem, Richard played a few bars from "Mr. Sandman", which was his humorous and very musical way of faking a yawn.