Concert #806 - Dead Rock West at McCabe's Guitar Shop (August 11, 2017)

Most folks don't know much about Dead Rock West, so let me tell you who they are. Occasionally described as a hidden treasure, they are a duo consisting of Frank Lee Drennen and Cindy Wasserman, are based in Los Angeles and specialize in a hard-to-define genre that mixes various different styles, so - for the sake of convenience - let's just call it Americana with an increased decibel level. Here are the highlights of this sold-out event:

- Cindy Wasserman's voice and singing style
- The outstanding vocal interaction between Cindy and Frank
- The quality of the band that took the stage in support of Cindy and Frank
- Their catchy songs, most of them culled from "More Love", their brand new album

Even though the duo's set list had far more originals than covers, I found their offering quite accessible, as most of the self-penned songs were catchy and engaging even at first blush. Their choice of covers deserves kudos as well - I particularly liked "Gone Gone Gone" and "Price Of Love", both from the repertoire of the Everly Brothers and "Ain't No Grave", an old song that keeps popping up with regularity.

Consisting of Geoff Pearlman (guitars), Phil Parlapiano (keys), Taras Prodaniuk (bass) and D.J. Bonebrake (drums), the band that accompanied Cindy and Frank was nothing short of sensational. I happened to be seated in a perfect position to observe the hands and faces of D.J. and Taras, two musicians I had seen many times before, and what a treat it was to be able to watch such a world-class rhythm section in action from just a few steps away!

Now let the photos do the talking.

The Dead Rock West at McCabe's

Cindy Wasserman at McCabe's

Frank Lee Drennen at McCabe's

Frank Lee Drennen & Geoff Pearlman at McCabe's

Phil Parlapiano at McCabe's

Taras Prodaniuk at McCabe's

The set list

The stage

Concert #805 - Paula Cole at McCabe's Guitar Shop (July 7, 2017)

I must confess that I stopped following Paula Cole's career in the late nineties, so last Friday I went to McCabe's expecting something in the vein of her early hits. Well, I got to hear her early hits, but unexpectedly, I also got my first exposure to Paula's vocal acrobatics that instantly brought to mind Yma Sumac's multi-octave voice. Generally speaking, I'm not a fan of such extreme vocal deliveries, but witnessing her singing in a live setting wasn't the end of the world either. Moreover, the concert had many thoroughly enjoyable moments, so that when the show ended, I was one of those who stood up to give the three musicians on the stage a well-deserved standing ovation.

Paula came out with guitarist Chris Bruce and drummer/percussionist Jay Bellerose, two musicians who were nothing short of fabulous. Their interplay, with or without Paula's piano, produced some of the evening's finest moments. I was particularly impressed with Jay's tasteful style of playing, he is truly one of the best drummers I have ever seen.

Paula Cole at McCabe's

Paula kicked off her set with three covers - I really liked her rendition of "Ode To Billy Joe", delivered pretty much in a traditional way. Her self-penned songs, among which I only knew "Where Have All The Cowboys Gone" and "I Don't Want To Wait", sounded a bit uneven to these ears, but one of them, "Feelin' Love" was an absolute knockout, even at first blush.

The concert ended the way it started, with a few covers, namely Prince's "When Doves Cry" and Dolly Parton's "Jolene". Both sounded great.

Paula Cole at McCabe's

Jay Bellerose at McCabe's

The set list

Chris Bruce, Paula Cole & Jay Bellerose at McCabe's

The stage

The piano

Paula Cole merchandise

Concert #804 - The Barefoot Movement at McCabe's Guitar Shop (June 24, 2017)

The Barefoot Movement deserve a lot better than just a few bullet items in lieu of a more extensive write-up, but right now bullet items is all I have time for.

• The band's line-up: Noah Wall (vocals, fiddle, banjo), Tommy Norris (mandolin, vocals), Alex Conerly (guitar, vocals) and Katie Blomarz (upright bass, vocals).

•  This was my first encounter with the band and I truly hope that our paths will intersect again in the future.

• The Barefoot Movement are an exceptionally likeable band - Saturday night they delighted me with two generous sets that amounted to almost two hours of music.

• I enjoyed the band's high energy, good humor and most of all, their great music.

• Their set included lots of self-penned songs, augmented with a few interesting covers.

•  Some of the covers they played: the traditional "Wade In The Water", "Any Major Dude Will Tell You" from the repertoire of Steely Dan, Buddy Holly's "It Doesn't Matter Anymore" and "Fire", Jimi Hendrix's old gem.

• The band also delivered a rousing medley consisting of the unlikely pairing of Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train" and "I Get Around", the mega-hit of the Beach Boys.

• The band's original songs sounded quite good to me, even at first blush.

The evening kicked-off with one of the briefest opening sets ever, two songs in all, delivered by Dan Hannaford, an Australian singer-songwriter currently recording in Los Angeles. Both "You Can't Preach Peace With A Gun In Your Hand" and "High Horse" can be described as melodically simple, but their message, forcefully delivered by Dan, will be hard to forget. I will definitely be looking for the studio recordings of this talented musician.

Here are a few photos I took before, during and after the concert:

Noah, Katie & Alex at McCabe's

Noah Wall at McCabe's

Tommy & Noah at McCabe's

The bare feet of the Barefoot Movement

Dan Hannaford at McCabe's

Set list #1

Set list #2

The stage

Concert #803 - The Dustbowl Revival at the Scripps College (June 19, 2017)

My busy life prevents me from writing a full review of the concert, so instead, here are a few random comments:

• The revivalists came out with their well-established octet formation, as pictured above
• A surprisingly large crowd was at hand 
• The weather was absolutely divine
• The band played two generous sets that amounted to almost two hours of music
• The band's performance was very well received by the crowd
• Their set list borrowed heavily from their just-released new album
• "Dan's Jam" and "John The Revelator" were two of the very few "oldies" that they played
• Some of their best new numbers: "Gonna Fix You", "Honey I Love You", "Call My Name"
• This was my fourteenth time to see the band live

Now let a few photos do the talking:

Some of the revivalists at the Scripps College

The Dustbowl Revival at the Scripps College

The Dustbowl Revival at the Scripps College

Liz Beebe & Zach Lupetin at the Scripps College

Ulf Bjorlin & Matt Rubin

Zach Lupetin

Liz Beebe

The Dustbowl Revival at the Scripps College

The crowd during intermission

Dancers

The merch table

Concert #802 - Jackshit at McCabe's Guitar Shop (May 21, 2017)

Even though this was my thirty-seventh time to see Jackshit in concert, I'm a totally normal person (or so I think), but clearly, I'm not able to control this primal instinct of mine, this inner voice that keeps telling me "Go, Gabe go" every time my favorite band is announced to play at McCabe's. So Sunday evening I went again and I'm super-happy that I did, as the Boys from Cochtotan delivered a set that was two-hours long, possibly their longest set ever at McCabe's and once again I was amazed by the talents of these incredible musicians.

Sunday's show was not radically different from the many others I have covered on this blog, so let me just throw out a few random thoughts that, I hope, summarize the show:

• The band played many of the songs that form the backbone of their repertoire: "Christine's Tune", "Ghost Riders In The Sky", "Drinkin' Or Drivin'", "Long Black Veil", "2x4", "Pretty Polly", etc.

• There was no "Bull Rider"

• For the first time ever, Johnny Horton's "I'm Comin' Home" was not the closing number of the set, but we still got to hear it, as the band's one-song encore.

• Recent additions to the band's repertoire: David Bowie's "Ashes To Ashes", The Sweet Inspirations' "Chained", Richard Thompson's "1952 Vincent Black Lightning", Wynn Stewart's "Big, Big Love", the Band's "Time To Kill" and "Goddamn Lonely Love" from the repertoire of the Drive-By Truckers.
  

• Shorty's bird-calling skills have remained undiminished over the years.

• Beau's guitar playing on "You'd Better Get Right" was out of this world.

• "Ugly And Slouchy" and its incredible Rock & Roll Medley is the embodiment of what Jackshit is all about: variety, intensity, humor and most of all, fantastic musicianship.

• The band did not bring out any unannounced guests, which they quite often do. 

• Courtesy of Wayne Griffith, the veteran sound engineer at McCabe's, we once again enjoyed the perfect sound my favorite venue is known for.

Val McCallum at McCabe's

Davey Faragher at McCabe's

Pete Thomas at McCabe's

The set list

Val McCallum feeling the music at McCabe's

One of the many pleasures of attending concerts at McCabe's is meeting folks with whom I share common musical interests. Sunday night I bumped again into Stacey and Cindy, two exceptionally friendly ladies, whom I had met once before, also at McCabe's.

Music fans Stacey & Cindy

The stage

Val's guitars