Concert #289 - Marianne Faithfull at UCLA's Royce Hall (December 1, 2002)

Lady Luck was definitely on my side when I managed to grab a front row center seat to see the great Marianne Faithfull in concert. I showed up at the venue expecting a world-class performance and Marianne did not disappoint.

Yes, her voice will never be mistaken for that of a coloratura soprano, but few voices are as credible and as expressive as Marianne's. Throw in her mesmerizing stage presence, and what you get is a unique artist with an irresistible draw that one can physically feel, no exaggeration.

Partial set list

(songs marked * are from "Kissin' Time", her then-current album)

I'm Into Something Good*

I'm On Fire*

Like Being Born*

Song For Nico*

Kissin' Time* 

The King At Night

Why Do Ya Do It?

Falling From Grace

Working Class Hero

Broken English

Sliding Through Life On Charm*

Strange Weather (with Bill Frisell on guitar)

The Eyes Of Lucy Jordan

The songs from "Kissin' Time" were good,  but the evenings biggest thrills came from the cabaret-style delivery of her older songs, among which "The Eyes Of Lucy Jordan" stood out.

Band Line-up

Brian McFie (guitar)

Andy May (keyboard)

John Boyle (drums)

Garry John Kane (bass)

All-in-all, I had a great time, and how could I have not? From my dream seat, just a few feet away from Marianne, the whole concert felt like a private performance that was staged just for me. The whole time I did not see, nor hear anything but Marianne. Not a bad way to spend an evening.

Concert #435 - David Broza & Badi Assad at the Royce Hall (March 17, 2007)

This was a rare world-music outing for me. The event took place at UCLA's Royce Hall, in front of about one thousand fans.

The proceedings were kicked off by Brazil's Badi Assad, known equally for her guitar playing and singing ability. She completed her entire set solo, without any support musicians. Among the many songs I did not know, she also performed a few that I was familiar with, such as "Sweet Dreams", the mega-hit of the Eurythmics, and Tori Amos' "Black Dove". She also played the self-penned  "Improvisation", a song that combined guitar playing, eerie shrieks and percussive sounds produced by different parts of her body. I found Badi's performance to be exotic and innovative, but not thoroughly engaging.

Just like Badi Assad, David Broza came out all by himself. A veteran Israeli singer-songwriter, David sang in  Hebrew, English and Spanish and impressed us with his boundless energy, powerful guitar playing and outstanding vocals. His songs were good, too, but none was better than "Ihiye Tov", his first big hit in Israel. Overall, David's music was much closer to my taste.

As expected, the grand finale brought together the evening's two protagonists.

Concert #699 - The Doyle & Debbie Show at McCabe's Guitar Shop (January 31, 2014)

Friday night's concert at McCabe's was yet another proof that YouTube videos and the real world are two different things. The videos I checked out before buying my ticket may have been convincing enough to make me click on the "Buy" button, but they didn't nearly prepare me for the full experience of watching the Doyle and Debbie Show in a live setting. Bruce Arntson and Jenny Littleton, aka Doyle & Debbie, put on an outstanding performance that brought everyone to their feet at the end of the show.

Introduced by Concert Director Lincoln Myerson as a theatrical production, the show was just that, as it came complete with colorful stage decoration, a plot (sort of) and lots of role playing, all built around Bruce Arntson's original country & western compositions. This may all sound like something that could get old pretty fast, but it didn't. The show was very well paced from start to finish and everything about it - the songs, the humor, the delivery - was top notch.

Bruce Arntson and Jenny Littleton, aka Doyle & Debbie, at McCabe's

Bruce Arntson's songwriting is remarkable - everything I heard Friday night sounded as good as anything one would hear on country radio, but don't expect to find Bruce's "When You're Screwing Other Women (Think Of Me)" and "I Ain't No Homo" in any radio station's heavy rotation. Or any other rotation, for that matter. Indeed, the show had plenty of sexual themes and situations, but there was nothing cheap and vulgar there, just lots of fun.

PARTIAL SET LIST

Blue Stretch Pants

I Ain't No Homo

Barefoot And Pregnant

For The Children

When You're Screwing Other Women (Think Of Me)

ABCs Of Love

Fat Women In Trailers

Snowbanks Of Life

Whine Whine Twang Twang

God Loves America Best

Daddy's Hair

If you're like me, you are amused in a loving way by the country music's many clichés. Friday night's show featured a veritable smorgasbord of C&W clichés, cleverly built into each and every song to good comedic effect, with Doyle and Debbie's blatantly over-the-top outfits just adding to the fun.

Jenny Littleton singing "ABCs Of Love" at McCabe's

As I was watching the show, the music of a number of country artists sprang to mind, among them George Jones, Mel Tillis, Jerry Reed and Lee Greenwood, whose "God Bless The USA" was the obvious inspiration behind Doyle and Debbie's utterly funny "God Loves America Best".

The show had many memorable moments. It will be hard to forget Bruce Arntson's frenetic delivery of "Fat Women In Trailers" and especially "Daddy's Hair", which came complete with faux-blood and gun shots. Likewise, Jenny Littleton performance of the witty "ABCs Of Love" will be hard to erase from my memory.

Doyle & Debbie saying goodbye

The stage

Concert Director Lincoln Myerson announcing the show

Concert #698 - Willy Mason at McCabe's Guitar Shop (January 17, 2014)

Friday night I went to McCabe's to see and hear Willy Mason and Tom Brosseau, two younger artists I knew little about. Unfortunately, the evening did not start well for me. Being bothered by a bad cough and not wanting to disturb the other spectators, I left the room very early during Tom's opening set and from that point on, I watched the show from the side, from where I could easily step away in case of another cough attack.

No doubt, Willy Mason has got talent. I liked his guitar playing - not flashy, yet effective  - and I liked his singing as well. At times, his vocals reminded me of Mark Knopfler, sort of. Willy's songwriting is also good, even very good - I can't say I heard a single bad song during his entire set. But taken as a whole, Willy's show was a bit deficient in the "variety" department, with most songs delivered in the same vocal style and pretty much the same tempo.

A few songs stood out at the first listen, among them "I Got Gold", "Restless Fugitive" and "Tic Tac Toe", a funny little ditty written by Willy's father.

Willy Mason at McCabe's

Critically acclaimed  singer Jesca Hoop joined Willy for the singing of four songs. I would have liked for Jesca to take the vocal reigns for at least one song, maybe perform one of her own numbers, but her role was limited strictly to harmonizing. Of the four songs they sang together, I liked "Talk Me Down" the best.

Willy Mason and Jesca Hoop at McCabe's

Tom Brosseau's opening set revealed a talented and highly likeable performer, whose seemingly effortless singing style appealed to me very much. What a pitty that, while he was delivering most of his fine set, I was coughing my heart out in the venue's restroom ...

Tom Brosseau at McCabe's

The stage

Concert poster

Sign in the window at McCabe's (showing an incorrect date)

Concert #696 - The Seattle Symphony at the Benaroya Hall (Seattle) (December 28, 2013)

My final concert of the year turned out to be a rare incursion into the world of classical music, and just as rare, the event took place away from our home turf of Southern California. We often travel to America's North-West to spend time with the Seattle Branch of our family, so attending a concert there was bound to happen, sooner or later. Interestingly enough though, my first-ever concert in Seattle did not take place at the Triple Door, where most of my favorite musicians tend to appear, but at the Benaroya Hall's Mark Taper Foundation Auditorium, just a short walk away. Our thanks go out to Todd and Lynn, who gifted us their tickets and, in doing so, gave us an evening that would be hard to top.

My Better Half and I had seats in a box located directly above the right side of the stage. From there, we had an unobstructed and up-close view of each and every member of the orchestra. On top of that, my initial expectations of bad sound turned out to be totally unfounded - in spite of being seated on the side of stage, I did experience the full force of the orchestra while being able to clearly hear every single instrument during their respective solos.
 

Our box is marked "HERE"

The auditorium, as seen from our box

The evening started with Brahms' "Variations On A Theme Of Joseph Haydn", a piece of music consisting of  multiple parts, each providing a new and different approach to Haydn's native theme. In terms of melody and rhythm, this piece had plenty of variety and although I had not heard it before, I found it to be thoroughly enjoyable.

Excerpt from the concert program

The second part of the event consisted of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, a piece of music I knew decently well.

Excerpt from the concert program

Hearing Beethoven's 9th live was quite an experience. The music hit me real hard, especially the often-heard "Ode To Joy" as well as the other parts that I knew. The Seattle Symphony Chorale impressed me quite a bit with their power and precision. I also enjoyed focusing on the timpani and wind instrument players.

The singers 

Nathalie Paulin (sopran)

Angela Niederloh (mezzo-soprano)

Brendan Tuohy (tenor)

Charles Robert Stephens (baritone)

The guest conductor of the evening was Carlos Kalmar, the long-time music director of Portland's Oregon Symphony. We had never seen a conductor in action from such a favorable angle, so we certainly enjoyed sitting where we sat. Also, being so close afforded us a good view of his intense face - observing his many facial expressions was a special treat for us.

Conductor Carlos Kalmar

The end of the concert

The venue during intermission

Orchestra members getting ready 

The Benaroya Hall (Downtown Seattle)

The main lobby during intermission

The classical music events that I had attended in Los Angeles in recent years had a lukewarm effect on me, to put it mildly. By comparison, the Seattle concert was a total blast, in all respects - fabulous seats, excellent sound, great music, a fine performance and free tickets - 2013 could not have had a better ending!

Concert #697 - The Gene Taylor Blues Band at McCabe's Guitar Shop (January 4, 2014)

My first concert in the new year turned out to be a good one. Playing without a set list in front of a sellout crowd, Gene Taylor and his band put on an entertaining show that did not lack in the energy nor in the decibel departments.

Band line-up
Gene Taylor (keyboards & vocals)
Dave Alvin (electric guitar & vocals)
Bill Bateman (drums)
John Bazz (upright bass)

Fans of the Blasters will immediately recognize the decades-long association between these four musicians, and it was precisely that long history of playing together that enabled them to deliver a tight set with minimal rehearsal time - "we rehearsed for minutes", Dave actually quipped with a dead-pan look on his face.

Gene Taylor at McCabe's

For me, the highlights of the concert were the band's extended instrumental parts, particularly Dave's electric guitar solos and Gene's boogie-woogie style playing. Dave's guitar on Earl Hooker's "Earl's Rhumba" was absolutely superb.

Dave Alvin at McCabe's

Gene handled most of the vocals, with Dave taking over the singing duties on a couple of songs, among them Johnny Guitar Watson's very listenable "Gangster Of Love". I also liked Gene's delivery on "Rainin' In My Heart" and "Jambalaya", two classic songs from the repertoires of  Slim Harpo and Fats Domino, respectively.

Last night was my twentieth time to see Dave Alvin live, either as a headliner, band member or someone's guest. He seems to be the kind of artist who gets better with age, so I'm sure that my current Dave-count is not nearly final.

Clocking in at about seventy-five minutes, the band's set was not particularly long, but with the stage chatter kept down to a minimum, we got to hear plenty of music and as a result, I went home happy. By the way, the band came back for a second show at 10 PM.

Gene Taylor thanking the crowd

The stage

The merch table

Concert poster