Concert #596 - Chip Taylor at McCabe's Guitar Shop (June 19, 2011)

Chip Taylor is a class act. What makes me say that? Well, a classy musician would meet his fans before the show and shake a few hands. Chip Taylor did that. A class act would introduce his band before they played a single note. Chip did that, too. There.

Once again, Chip Taylor put on an outstanding show, with humor and great songs, new and old, and lots of captivating stories, mostly from his younger days. Yes, he did drop more than just a handful of names, but not in a self-aggrandizing way. Carole King, Gerry Goffin, Chet Atkins, Merle Haggard and even my beloved Bert Kaempfert got mentioned, but the night belonged to "Rock and Roll Joe", the generic name given by John Platania and Chip Taylor to the "unsung heroes of rock n' roll", the musicians whose guitar licks and drum beats have been heard by zillions, but remained anonymous behind the superstars they were supporting.

Concert announcement in the window at McCabe's

The bare-bone concert announcement posted in the window at McCabe's gave no clue as to the massive talent that was about to take the stage inside. Chip came out with John Platania, best known as Van Morrison's longest serving guitarist, bassist Tony Mercadante and - huge surprise !! - the young and gifted Kendel Carson. John, Kendel and Chip had just released their latest collaboration, an album titled "Rock And Roll Joe", so appropriately, they went on to play the album in its entirety. Except for "I Can't Let Go", the old Hollies hit from the 1960s, the album featured all new material, written primarily by John, Kendel and Chip. The whole thing sounded good from start to finish.

Chip Taylor's set list

With the new album behind them, it was time for Chip's biggest hits, "Angel Of The Morning" and "Wild Thing", played in quick succession, followed by Chip's more recent "Charcoal Sky". Next, Kendel took center stage (not literally) to perform "Ten Lost Men" and "Oh Baby Lie Down", both from "Alright Dynamite", her second album. The show ended with Chip's "I Wasn't Born In Tennessee".

The highlight of the show? Hard to tell. Maybe Kendel's beautiful voice. Or John's guitar playing. Or Chip's songs. Or all of the above.

After the show, I had once again the pleasure of shaking hands and chatting for a minute or two with Chip Taylor, who, stunningly, remembered me from over a year ago. Wow.

Chip Taylor shaking hands with fans before the show

John Platania, Chip Taylor & Kendel Carson at McCabe's (June 2011)

John Platania, Chip Taylor & Kendel Carson at McCabe's (June 2011)

Spotted among the crowd: guitar legend Albert Lee

Chip Taylor meeting Albert Lee, with John Platania also present

Chip Taylor and Albert Lee chatting up the ladies

Kendel Carson blending with the crowd after the show

My brand new CD, autographed by Chip Taylor

Concert #493 - Fred Eaglesmith at McCabe's Guitar Shop (January 24, 2009)

When McCabe's announces new shows, I usually know right away whether I'm interested or not. But there are quite a few instances when I debate within myself for weeks before I decide what to do. Fred Eaglesmith's concert was a good example of the latter and in his case, the decision was to go. It turned out it was a good decision.

Only superficially familiar with his music, I didn't know what to expect. I could have been in for a long night of monotonous songs delivered with an eyebrow-raising voice, but somewhat surprisingly, Fred grabbed me from the get go with his songs and humor and kept me engaged until the lights went on.

I can't name any of the songs he played that night, but his chatter and utter self-confidence are hard to forget and his music was good, too. I liked his live performance a lot more than his studio recordings that I had sampled in the days before the concert. So I definitely got my money's worth, but was he good enough to make we want to drive 102 miles to see him once again at McCabe's in faraway Santa Monica? I think he was.

The concert was opened by singer-songwriter-producer-instrumentalist Marvin Etzioni, a.k.a. the Mandolin Man. His set was OK, but not huge.

Marvin Etzioni

Concert #494 - Jim Kweskin at the Coffee Gallery Backstage (January 31, 2009)

The Coffee Gallery in Altadena is a decent venue to see a show. It holds only forty-nine seats - how can such a tiny place survive? - yet for many years now, the coffee shop's backroom has been a good home for the many deserving artists who cannot fill large arenas and stadiums.

My Better Half and I had seats just a few steps from the stage, but then again, every seat there is just a few steps from the stage. Jim came out with a small band, their set was definitely passable, albeit somewhat monotonous. The songs they played were not bad, but there was nothing fiery about the delivery nor was there electricity in the air, so when Jim announced a short intermission, my wife and I looked at each other and we both said "Time to go home". So home we went, without feeling disappointed, nor shortchanged. Simply put, one fifty-minute set was good enough.

Here's Jim Kweskin at the Coffee Gallery, just a few months after the show I attended:

Concerts #128, 495 - David Lindley at the Little Bridges and McCabe's Guitar Shop (Late 1993/Early 1994 - February 14, 2009

It was either late 1993 or early 1994 when I first saw David Lindley solo. The concert took place in David's home town of Claremont, California, in a beautiful church-like auditorium simply known as the "Little Bridges", not to be confounded with the nearby "Bridges Auditorium", a much larger venue. As expected, he played a variety of string instruments with great virtuosity, but elected to performed lots of song that I wasn't familiar with, so as far as I was concerned, his concert never took off. He was accompanied by Jordanian percussionist Hani Nasser, with whom David has toured and recorded extensively.

Claremont's Little Bridges

Fifteen years later, I caught him again, this time at McCabe's in Santa Monica. Once again I witnessed a good performance delivered by a master of his many instruments, but somehow the whole package did not bring me to my feet.

 Stage set-up at McCabe's (January 2009)

I don't think I will be motivated enough to go to yet another David Lindley solo concert, but I will definitely welcome him as a guest at someone else's gig.

Concert #496 - Blue Rodeo at McCabe's Guitar Shop (February 20, 2009)

Not nearly as popular in the States as in their native Canada, Blue Rodeo can only play smaller venues when they cross the US border and that is actually good for those of us gringos who appreciate their melodic country-rock and great vocal harmonies. Sitting in the second row, along with my friend Jay, I witnessed an excellent evening of music that made me want to dig deep into their large back catalog.

Band Line-up

Jim Cuddy (acoustic guitar & vocals)

Greg Keelor (acoustic guitar & vocals)

Glenn Milchem (drums)

Bob Egan (pedal steel guitar)

Basil Donovan (bass)

Michael Boguski (piano & organ)

Set list

  Now & Forever 

Cynthia
  Bad Timing
  Blue House
Disappear
  Rebel
  Trust Yourself

Crying Over You 

3 Hours Away
5 AM (A Love Song)
5 Days In May
  Try
Is It You
  Rage
  Photograph

To Love Somebody

Head Over Heels

Encore
'Til I Am Myself Again

It Hasn't Hit Me Yet

The best songs of the evening: "Cynthia", "Head Over Heels" and "It Hasn't Hit Me Yet", which coincidentally, all come from the same album, "Five Days In July". 

Imagine my surprise when, shortly after the show, four songs recorded at this very concert showed up on YouTube. Here they are:

To Love Somebody:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opUMh5ZFpc0

Bad Timing:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQwOsb8RqrY

Trust Yourself:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfuZCZ6FcP4&feature=related

Is It You:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCBu-fqPvaQ&feature=related

And one other thing: I can still see the face of bassist Bazil Donovan, who appeared to be totally disconnected from the other five, just sitting there emotionless and utterly bored by the proceedings. I hope he wasn't.

Concerts #387, 428 - Jackshit at The Baked Potato (December 21, 2005 - December 20, 2006)

The Baked Potato is primarily a jazz club, an unlikely venue for me to frequent, yet there I was - and not just once - thanks to the Boys from Cochtotan, a.k.a. Jackshit, a.k.a. Beau, Shorty and Pete, a.k.a. Val McCallum, Dave Faragher and Pete Thomas, a.k.a. the Best Bar Band in LA.

Compared to McCabe's, where Jackshit has played countless times, the Baked Potato offers a somewhat similar intimacy, but there are striking differences between the two venues. McCabe's is alcohol free, while the Baked Potato has a two-drink-minimum policy in effect. They also serve dinners, unlike McCabe's, where chocolate chip cookies are the only solid food your money can buy. Needless to say, the alcohol served at the Baked Potato breeds a more vociferous crowd, but overall still well-behaved. Both venues have good sound and after the show you can meet the band at both places. Still, my venue of choice is McCabe's, as I don't need to drink alcohol in order to fully enjoy a show.

In December 2005 I went with my good friend Art, then in 2006 it was Hans' turn to accompany me. On both occasions we had good seats, we ate dinner and fulfilled our two-drink-minimum obligations.

Both shows were absolutely perfect - the Boys from Cochtotan played their usual songs, had lots of fun and so did we. In December 2005, they played two full sets, so it was only after midnight when Art and I could finally go home to our wives. A year later, in December 2006, the Shit Horns and Syd Straw joined the band for a couple of numbers. I won't even try to describe how good they are - if you wanna know, go see and hear for yourself.

To this day, Jackshit remains an act I just can't get enough of. To date, I've seen them twenty-one times over a relatively short period of only six years. Hard to believe, but absolutely true.