Concert #857 - The Brother Brothers at McCabe's Guitar Shop (January 13, 2019)

To no one's surprise, my first concert of the new year took place at McCabe's Guitar Shop and it was a good one.

It didn't take long for Adam and David Moss, collectively known as the Brother Brothers, to conjure up favorable comparisons with the likes of the Everly Brothers and Simon & Garfunkel. Indeed, their vocal harmonies are some of the finest I have ever heard and I'm not exaggerating. Moreover, they write good songs, play multiple instruments, have likeable personalities, so they do have most of what it takes to put on a good show.

The Brother Brothers at McCabe's

Playing without a predetermined set list, Adam and David delivered many songs from "Some People I Know", their recently released debut album. The ones I liked the best were "Red And Gold", "Banjo Song" and Peter Rowan's "Paper Bride". Not on the album, but sounding equally good, were "Bird In A Tree" and "Notary Public".

The Brother Brothers at McCabe's

The duo's two-song encore consisted of David Houston's "I Told Them All About You" and Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You". Both sounded great.

Overall, Adam and David impressed me quite a bit. I have nothing negative to say about their performance, but as I was driving home, I thought that the inclusion of an uptempo medley of a few Everly Brothers hits would have brought the house down. 

The Brother Brothers at McCabe's

Connor & Arianne Vance, the evening's opening act, played a short set that, in one word, can be described as pleasant. Their best number was "We Are Not The Jet Set", originally recorded by John Prine & Iris DeMent a couple of decades ago. Connor is well-known to me as the Dustbowl Revival's devilishly good fiddler. 

Connor & Arianne Vance at McCabe's

Connor & Arianne Vance's set list

Concerts #855 & 856 - Jackshit at McCabe's Guitar Shop (December 14-15, 2018)

This year I caught two of the band's three Christmas shows and, just like all the other fans of this incredible trio, I did not mind shelling out the big bucks, just to make sure that I won't be left out. Reflecting the ever-growing popularity of the band in general and their Christmas shows in particular, ticket prices have been creeping up in recent years, so that their most recent price hike did not come as a total surprise.

Gone are the days when a $15 ticket would get you seated for a Jackshit concert. This time around, the cheapest tickets had a face value of $60, while the VIP tickets set us back by a whopping $100. By the way, the VIP ticket holders received priority seating.

VIP ticket (2018)

The shows were phenomenal. Val McCallum, Davey Faragher and Pete Thomas amazed us once again with their musical skills, intensity and humor. Their unannounced guests were equally good. On December 14 we got to see guitar legend Albert Lee and also mandolin virtuoso George Doering, along with his singing wife, Jo Ellen. It was pure joy watching how well Albert and Val played off of each other, with mutually admirative looks on their smiling faces. Albert played "I'm Ready", "Spellbound", "Tear It Up" and "Leave My Woman Alone", four songs associated with Fats Domino, Paul Kennerley, Johnny Burnette and Ray Charles, respectively.

Jackshit and unannounced guest Albert Lee (right)

Albert Lee at McCabe's

George & Jo Ellen Doering played Bo Diddley's "You Can't Judge A Book By The Cover", "The Letter" (the biggest hit of the Box Tops) and Ralph Stanley's "Gonna Paint The Town".

George & Jo Ellen Doering at McCabe's

Val McCallum at McCabe's

 

Davey Faragher having fun at McCabe's

Rock & Roll Hall-of-Famer Pete Thomas at McCabe's

On December 15, the band was joined by Grammy-winner Dave Alvin, whose all-electric set was exceptionally good. Surprisingly, his set included Joe South's "Games People Play", in addition to four of his own compositions, see set list below. The Doerings also appeared - they performed the same three songs we heard the night before.

Dave Alvin (right) & Davey Faragher at McCabe's

Dave Alvin's set list

Dave Alvin at McCabe's

Set List - December 14, 2018

Stella McCallum, Val's daughter, delivered a gentle rendition of "Blackbird", the Beatles song. She was accompanied by her dad on acoustic guitar.

Val & Stella McCallum at McCabe's

Val McCallum & George Doering at McCabe's

Even though new songs do get added with some regularity, the repertoire of the band remains a somewhat slow-changing thing and that is quite understandable, considering Val, Davey and Pete's busy recording and touring schedules. I'm particularly happy that "Ugly And Slouchy" and its brilliant rock & roll medley is back in heavy rotation.

Let's just hope that this fantastic trio will continue to function for many more years.

 

The stage

Val McCallum's gear

Concert #854 - John Prine at the Westgate Theater, Las Vegas (December 12, 2018)

I first said goodbye to John Prine in 1998, when I learned about his cancer diagnosis and the irreversible damage suffered by his vocal cords as a result of the medical treatment that saved his life. Then, in 2013, he was diagnosed with lung cancer - how much worse could it get, I asked myself. But John Prine is a survivor, if there ever was one and, long story short, John is alive and well, still writing great music, still recording and still touring in support of what may just be his best album ever - I'm talking about his highly listenable latest release, "Tree Of Forgiveness", a piece of work that is stunningly good.

Being thoroughly impressed by the quality of his latest album, I did something I had not done in my four decades of attending concerts: I left my home state and drove to Las Vegas, Nevada, to see John Prine there. As it turned out, I was well-rewarded for my effort.

The concert took place at the Westgate Theater, located inside of what used to be the Las Vegas Hilton, located right next to the city's humongous Convention Center. Playing in front of an audience of over one thousand fans, John and his band delighted me with a heart-warming show that included many old and new songs that I knew, plus a few that I did not. In spite of being visibly affected by his long history of medical problems and in defiance of his age, John did not cut any corners, as proven by his surprisingly long set list and I'm pretty sure that no one expected him to be on the stage for one hour and fifty minutes, without a break.

John Prine at the Westgate Theater

THE SET LIST

Six O'clock News

Knocking On Your Screen Door

Bruised Orange

Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore

Caravan Of Fools

Crazy Bone

The Lonesome Friends Of Science 

Grandpa Was A Carpenter

Hello In There

Boundless Love

Summers End

I Have Met My Love Today

Ain't Hurtin' Nobody

Angel From Montgomery

Dear Abby

That's The Way That The World Goes Round

The Oldest Baby In The World

Sam Stone (with John Paul White)

God Only Knows

Lake Marie

ENCORE

When I Get To Heaven

Paradise (with John Paul White)

The evening was not short on highlights, but the one song that drove me absolutely nuts was "When I Get To Heaven". In sharp contrast with Leonard Cohen's cryptically dark view of his own impending death, as expressed in his final album, John Prine's afterlife plans involve much simpler "concepts", such as cocktails, cigarettes, pretty girls, nightclubs and guitars, or as he put it, "this old man is goin' to town"!
 
Overall, John sounded pretty much like on his most recent studio recording. Twice during the concert, though, his voice faltered a bit, but each time he recovered.

Listening to John Prine's exceptionally versatile band was a joyous experience. Here's the band's line-up:
 

Jason Wilber - Lead guitar, vocals
David Jacques - Upright & electric bass, vocals
Kenneth Blevins - Drums
Fats Kaplin - Fiddle, pedal steel, mandolin, electric guitar, vocals

The were all great. Kenneth Blevins' understated drumming was pure perfection.

The evening's opening act was Grammy-winner John Paul White, of the Civil Wars fame. Bookended by two famous cover songs - Frank Ifield's "I Remember You" and ELO's "Can't Get It Out Of My Head" - John Paul's set consisted of his own compositions which were all new to me. No doubt, he has a fantastic voice, but his vocal acrobatics, particularly those on "I Remember You", did not resonate well with the folkie in me. It was a totally different story later in the evening, when John Prine brought him out again - this time, John Paul adjusted his singing style to that of the headliner and I loved every minute of what he did.

With so many songs of the highest quality, all delivered with John Prine's sense of humor and charm, this concert will be hard to forget. 

John Prine & John Paul White at the Westgate Theater

John Prine at the Westgate Theater

John Paul White at the Westgate Theater

John Prine's final bow

The stage before the show

The stage after the show

The Westgate Theater

The theater entrance

Concert #853 - Mary Gauthier at McCabe's Guitar Shop (December 8, 2018)

It is not uncommon for songwriters to reach their creative peak during their younger years, but that is definitely not the case with Mary Gauthier. A self-described late bloomer, she started writing songs at the age of thirty-five and has been blooming, so to speak, ever since.

Last night's show at McCabe's once again highlighted her incredible songwriting as well as her ability to deliver her compositions in an understated, yet highly effective manner. Indeed, Mary speaks and sings gently, yet manages to hold her audience captive from the minute she takes the stage until the lights go back on. Quite often, she covers topics that are both heart-warming and thought-provoking, as best exemplified by the songs of her Grammy-nominated most-recent album, "Rifles & Rosary Beads". Prefaced by spoken introductions, Marry sang for us five songs from that outstanding album and each of them were very well received by the crowd. The ones I liked the best were "Stronger Together" and "Iraq".

Mary Gauthier at McCabe's

In addition to some of her older gems, such as "Our Lady Of The Shooting Stars" and "Mercy Now", Mary also sang the brand new "Thank God For You", a song that, due to its happy message, stood out from the rest to such an extent that it elicited a humorous remark from Mary herself. "I Try Not To Think About Time" was yet another excellent song that was new to me.

Mary came out with two outstanding musicians whose contribution to the success of the evening cannot be overstated. Jaimee Harris, an outstanding singer in her own right, provided backup vocals, played the guitar and delighted the crowd with her lead vocal performance on "Red Rescue", a song she wrote herself.

Hailing from Italy, Michele Gazich played the violin, viola and piano with great skill. He could have ruined the evening for me with an excessively screechy and whiny violin, but instead, he produced sounds that were rich and warm. I also loved his body language and - by the way - his first name is pronounced Mee-Keh-Leh, with emphasis on the second syllable.

SET LIST

I Try Not To Think About Time

Our Lady Of The Shooting Stars

Thank God For You

Last Of The Hobo Kings

Another Train

The War After The War

Bullet Holes In The Sky

Soldiering On

Iraq

Stronger Together

Red Rescue (Lead vocal: Jaimee Harris)

Mercy Now

This Land Is Your Land (Encore)

Mary Gauthier at McCabe's, with Michele Gazich and Jaimee Harris

Mary Gauthier & Jaimee Harris at McCabe's

Mary Gauthier & Michele Gazich at McCabe's

For the evening's one-song encore, Mary and Jaimee sang Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land", with the entire audience joining in. I went home totally happy. Let's all hope now that the next time we catch Mary in concert she is introduced as "the Grammy-winning Mary Gauthier".

Michele Gazich at McCabe's

The end of the show

The final bow

The stage

Mary, Jaimee & Michele at the merch table

The merch table

Concert #852 - Birds Of Chicago at McCabe's Guitar Shop (November 30, 2018)

Friday night I attended yet another great show at my favorite venue.

In this blog, with very few exceptions, opening acts get mentioned in the closing paragraphs of my write-ups. Daniel Rodriguez is one such exception. As he took the stage, I braced myself for a long and boring set, but it took him no more than a few minutes to grab my full attention. What stood out first and foremost to these ears was his songwriting - there was a lot of variety in his songs and not one of his numbers could be labeled as "filler material". I was most impressed with "Dolores", the final song of Daniel's set, and also with "Take Me As I Am". He's also a skilled guitar player and a decent singer and have I mentioned his good looks? Quite deservedly, he received one of the longest and loudest applause ever given to an opening act at McCabe's. I would have loved to hear a few more of his songs.

Daniel Rodriguez at McCabe's

The Birds of Chicago, the evening's headliners, put on a show that was both entertaining and heart-warming. It was their first time at McCabe's and singer Allison Russell wasted no time to acknowledge the reputation of the venue, with the same kind of words I have heard so may times there: "It's a great honor for us to be on this stage".

With their dissimilar voices, Allison Russell and TJ Nero complemented each other to great effect. Except for Hoagy Carmichael's "Stardust', delivered by Allison in French, we heard one great original song after another. With a set as consistently solid as theirs, it is impossible to pick a highlight, but "American Flowers", the catchy show-ending number, is still ringing in my ears.

Allison Russell & TJ Nero at McCabe's

Ten years have passed since I first saw Allison in concert, when she was touring with the acclaimed Po' Girl, a band that also included Awna Teixeira. Allison was a great singer then, but has evolved even more since then. Friday night she stole the show with her exquisite vocals, which could go from powerful to gentle in a heartbeat. Her clarinet solos were also very special, as was her banjo playing, and she did it all while having fun in the process - she smiled and quite often laughed out loud during the show, in a contagious display of joie de vivre.

Allison Russell at McCabe's

With the Birds of Chicago's regular bass player being unavailable, the band called up Andy Stack, a guitarist based in upstate New York, and what a quality addition that was! A top-notch guitar player, Andy provided an understated, but highly effective accompaniment to the duo of Allison and TJ.

Allison Russell & Andy Stack at McCabe's

Andy Stack with the Birds of Chicago at McCabe's

For the evening's one-song encore, Allison called Daniel Rodriguez back to the stage for the singing of "American Flower", which turned into a sing-along that involved the entire audience. All-in-all, it was a fabulous evening of great music and as I walked out, I spotted Jackson Browne heading home as well.

The end of the show, with Daniel and Andy joining Allison & TJ

The final bow

The set list of the Birds of Chicago

Daniel Rodriguez's set list

The stage

The listening room

Birds of Chicago T-shirts for sale at McCabe's