Last weekend, UCLA Live presented legendary banjo picker Earl Scruggs and his band at Royce Hall in a well attended, if not sold out show.  As banjo players go, there simply hasn’t been one more influential than Scruggs throughout his long career.   Scruggs is now 87 years old and suffice it to say that he vaulted the instrument’s popularity from a mainstay in southern folk music to iconic status in bluegrass music throughout the world.    If one thinks of the most well-known banjo songs, the Beverly Hillbillies’ “Ballad of Jed Clampett,” and “Foggy Mountain breakdown” from Bonnie and Clyde usually surface very quickly.   These songs put Scruggs’ three finger banjo picking style in the ears of millions of people on a very regular basis.

After the band had walked unassumingly onstage, Scruggs and his banjo were escorted to center stage and the show began. To his right was son Randy on flat picked guitar and to his left was son Gary on electric bass, vocals, and basically doing emcee duties for the evening.   Earl Scruggs has always surrounded himself with outstanding players onstage and Saturday night’s show was no exception as his six-piece band deftly delivered the set. The band also included Grand Ole Oprey fiddler and all around journeyman Hoot Hester, longtime Scruggs drummer John Gardner, Dobro man Jimmy Stewart, and Keith Sewell on hot licks Telecaster guitar.

Earl Scruggs

At its core the bluegrass format features crisp musicianship so that each voice can be heard clearly using instruments that contrast and stand out next to each other.  In this case, the rhythm section was actually rather Spartan with Gardner using brushes on a minimalist drum kit.  The drums never got truly loud, they just nudged the band to keep the music skipping along.    The bass thudded along with a padded tone, evoking a standup bass or at times an old-time, wash-basin rig of rural origins. One could even make the case that this band had a four piece rhythm section.  The drums and bass meshed beautifully with the added tone of Randy’s acoustic guitar and Stewart’s Dobro resonator guitar.

The main soloists were Hester and Sewell and their work was remarkable.   Hester, in a perfectly fitting Western hat, carried his end of things with panache.  His fiddle work was super smooth, making quick complex runs look routine.   Electric guitarist Keith Sewell,  looking casually confident in jeans and a sport coat, was a lead player among lead players.  His lines were intricate with counter-harmonies and dazzling speed converging to wow both the guitar players and the non-players alike.   What stood out from within what Sewell put into his lines was the sheer clarity of it all.   He, too, made it look and sound disarmingly easy to be such a monster on one’s instrument while avoiding flashiness.

There is something about a well-conceived arrangement of instruments at a manageable live volume that sounds organically grand and Scruggs’ band had this working for them on Saturday night. Every song featured several instrumental breaks and as the program gathered momentum the contrast between the instruments became compelling.   In the middle of this beautiful swirl sat Earl Scruggs, picking and vamping away.   In terms of soloing, he picked his spots wisely, pacing himself without going overboard.   Not surprisingly, he really did let if fly for his signature tunes “Jed Clampett,” “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” and “Orange Blossom Special.”

Given the talented ensemble backing him, it was a treat to anticipate which tasty cover would be next.   The entries were sometimes over a century old and at other times often familiar, coming from sources ranging between Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and Blind Boy Fuller.   But one rarely gets to hear them done this way.

In a set list chock full of high points, the old Joe Maphis tune “Dim Lights, Thick Smoke (and Loud, Loud Music),”  was a standout for its poignant description of a good friend who just cannot get out of the bar room lifestyle — a heartbreaking set of words.

   A home and little children mean nothing to you
A house filled with love and a husband that’s true
You’d rather have a drink with the first guy you meet
And the only home you know is the club down the street

“In the Pine,” a traditional tune from the mid/late 1800s, and popularized (somewhat) almost 20 years ago by Kurt Cobain, resounded as the band played up its twangy side and its rural roots.   Bob Dylan songs, too, have always lent themselves well to bluegrass arrangements and on Saturday the band went with “You Ain’t Going Nowhere.”

Also noteworthy was the chance to hear “Sitting On Top Of The World,” a stoic blues standard, receive the bluegrass treatment from a band of aces.   Hester’s and Sewell’s playing over the 4-piece rhythm section peeled back another layer or two of the elegance this song presents.

Randy Scruggs and his dad appeared throughout “Will The Circle Be Unbroken,” the legendary bluegrass album coordinated by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. On Saturday Randy gave us a beautiful flat-picked rendition of Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now” from that collection.

All in all this gig was as much about the band as it was about Earl Scruggs but he is such an influential player that every musician onstage owed quite a bit of their own musical direction to him.  Yes, indeed.

The cleverly named local country/rock trio Merle Jagger opened the show with an impressive if short half hour set.  They came onstage looking like they might have unloaded their gear from a hay wagon, and the bass player’s cabinet had most of its vinyl siding peeling away from the wood. No matter, their music is all-instrumental, featuring long unison and counter-harmonic scalar runs between bass and guitar.  Stephen Andrews’ style, in particular, on a vintage P-bass was buttery smooth and quick, a savory mix of tone and technique.  Their instrumental approach is appealing but their lines are catchy enough to beg for a vocal above them.   Just wondering about that…

Photo courtesy of Nashville Portraits.

To read other reviews by Mike Finkelstein click HERE.

Los Angeles.  On Saturday night, Don Henley played the Greek Theatre backed by an eight piece band (two guitars, two keyboardists, two female backups singers, bass and drums) and a seven piece horn section.   It was a no frills affair on a rather Spartan stage, but one that allowed him to play a wide range of tunes.   As a super successful solo artist and a founding member of the Eagles he can pretty much do what he wants and his audience will trust him.   And this is for good reason.   Henley played all of his solo hits, along with a tasty array of diverse covers, and of course a handful of Eagles songs.  He was in fine vocal form and his voice is as recognizable as ever.    Sharing reflections and stories, he was relaxed and appeared to hugely enjoy the ride at the controls of such a big band.

Henley et al opened the show with, of all things, a snappy version of “I Put A Spell On You” by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins.   Having gotten our attention, he then began to deliver the goods, dedicating “Dirty Laundry” to Rupert Murdoch.   Written during the thick of the Reagan years, the song is a scathing set of observations about the falseness, vapidity, and twisted nature of the news media.  It vividly brought back the feeling I had when I first heard it — that finally the ideas I also held were coming through the car radio.

On “Dirty Laundry” and every other song performed at the Greek, the two keyboardists had all of the signature lush, whooshing, ‘80’s keyboard sounds dialed in. The two guitar players, Stuart Smith (he replaced Don Felder in the Eagles) and Peter Thorn, also nailed every note and tone of the long, hot guitar solo at the rear of the recorded version.   For that matter they impressively nailed every crackle and squeal of all the original tracks they covered.

Most of the world likely knows that Don Henley began his career as a drummer, first in Linda Ronstadt’s backing band and soon thereafter in his new band, the Eagles.  They soared to unmatched heights of success in the excessive mid- to late-‘70’s.  By the ‘80’s the Eagles had to take a rest and Henley embarked on a solo career.   It was at this point that his position on stage in live shows changed.   In solo shows he no longer drums live, only singing from behind the mike stand and playing guitar.   It was interesting to watch his body language Saturday night.   He sang with two feet planted and standing very straight up without much in the way of leaning or twisting, nor many demonstrative waves of the arms and no leaps.  Perfect form helps a singer control their breathing, I’d reckon.

About half way through the show, Henley shared a story about how he and Jack Nicholson were dialoguing the same rising (though nameless) movie actress “at one of those Hollywood parties.” As the story went, Henley failed to bum a cigarette in any smooth manner from her.  Watching Henley go down in flames, Jack quipped, “Nice work, Henley.”   Later that evening, Henley went home and wrote “The Last Worthless Evening.”   That song turned out to be one of the best pop tunes ever on the subject of dating and finding a soul mate.

As Henley’s two hour set unfolded one couldn’t help but be impressed with how many hits the man had played for us and, still, how many he couldn’t possibly include.   Each number brought us back to where we were in the ‘80’s when we perhaps weren’t partying but thinking about more serious things with the car radio on.  It struck me that many of his songs really have endured robustly.   In “The Boys of Summer,” there is a line about seeing a Deadhead sticker on a Cadillac.  It still sounds ironic as it reminds us that as “establishment” as a Caddy may be, many krunchy college Deadheads of the ‘80’s became established enough to actually want to drive one … and fly a freak flag with the sticker.

Henley’s ability to put strong social commentary into smooth rhyme has always been the calling card of his solo work. His narrative of the ‘80’s was refreshing at the time for its truth and candor and for his eagerness to call things as he saw them.  Though many of his hits go back around 30 years the lyrics still work well today as narratives for the struggles involved in maintaining one’s personal social integrity.

The most effective popular art usually succeeds at capturing what many of us are thinking.   Henley’s songs are full of lines that do just that.   On Saturday we all knew the “bubble-headed bleach blonde” in “Dirty Landry” who “could have been an actor but wound up here” dishing the dirty laundry “with a gleam in her eye.”   Rolling around LA, we can all relate to the sentiments in “Sunset Grill” :

You see a lot more meanness in the city
It’s the kind that eats you up inside
Hard to come away with anything that feels
like dignity
Hard to get home with any pride

A Don Henley show would certainly have to include several Eagles hits and this was no exception.   Nothing too far below the surface in the Eagles’ catalogue made the set list.  We got “One of These Nights,” “The Long Run,” “ Life In the Fast Lane”   “Desperado,” and “Hotel California.”   “Witchy Woman” was on local radio several times last week but it didn’t make the list on Saturday.   Still, if you are filling up a Don Henley/Eagles set list there are going to be many fan favorites left off in the interest of time.

No worries, and actually, Henley’s choice of covers was one of the most intriguing parts of the show.   He was happily all over the map with his selections.   He did understatedly quip to us, as they swung through Kool and the Gang’s “Funky Stuff,” that, “Sometimes you get tired of playing country rock.”   This was ironic because there really wasn’t anything country in the set.  Henley and his band also covered “Guilty” by Randy Newman, Otis Redding’s  “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long,”   Jeffrey Foucault’s “Everybody’s Famous,” Eric Hutchinson’s “You Don’t Have to Believe Me”and, oddly, Tears For Fears’ “Everybody Wants To Rule the World.”   Fittingly, Henley saved “I Will Not Go Quietly” for the second encore (and dedicated it to Sting, who is closing in soon on 60 years old).

Local favorite Lucinda Williams opened the show with a set that went from ethereal and spacey to flat out rockin’ in the space of about half an hour.   While the rocking numbers kicked up the dust, her set was the most compelling when the sound was subtle and atmospheric, steered this way by the very tasty delay, e-bow and slide work of guitarist Blake Mills.   Songs like “Copenhagen,” and “Born to Be Loved” swirled through the clean open night air, courtesy of the great PA system at the Greek.   Towards the end of the set, Mills found the chance to romp in overdrive and cut loose with a blistering solo on “Honeybee” and it sounded red hot.

To read more reviews by Mike Finkelstein click HERE.

.

Every so often, we have the good fortune to hear some new music that makes us wonder how we hadn’t heard it before and at the same time wonderfully fulfilled to take it in now.    Ray LaMontagne and the Pariah Dogs put me into one of those great states on Saturday night at the Greek Theater.   Like many, I had heard his hauntingly beautiful, brooding song “Trouble” in any number of situations and loved it.  So I went to the show Saturday with some real anticipation of what his other material would sound like.   Lyrically and instrumentally the songs grabbed me and took me somewhere new, somewhere I will go again.

Ray LaMontagne is not like too many other performers out there.  His voice is a mid-ranged husk, very breathy and he gently pushes a lot of air as if he were sighing.  The effect is a powerful delivery that is nuanced, weathered, and intriguing as hell to listen to.    His songs are vivid, artful descriptions of the extreme pain and joy that life may bring to our souls.   You can hear fleeting similarities to voices like Nick Drake’s and Steven Stills’ but it’s subtle.  Sometimes the songs suggest Leonard Cohen or Neil Young (“Like Rock ‘n Roll and Radio”) but again it’s just for a flash, a point of reference.  Ray LaMontagne sounds like himself and that is powerful stuff.

Ray LaMontagne

He also doesn’t appear to want the spotlight.   He was headlining the show, alright, doing his songs, with his band. Standing to farthest stage left in some of the dimmer spotlights you’ll ever see on a bandleader, he could, of course, watch the whole band from that position.

With a thick, dark beard, dressed in a light shirt, dark vest and a flat-top wide-brimmed hat, he had a late 1800’s tinge to his look in the night light.  Showmanship and hamming it up (or even cracking a few jokes) are not what RL is about and were not part of the show.  While he did speak to us briefly and warmly between some songs, he was there with the Pariah Dogs to get the songs across in the best light and they all took loving care of that task.

There were four Pariah Dogs on stage with LaMontagne — Eric Heywood (pedal steel guitar and guitar), Greg Leisz  (guitar, lap steel, steel guitar), Jay Bellarose (drums), and Jennifer Condos (bass).   The members of this band carry impressive credentials, having played with artists ranging from Joni Mitchell to Bruce Springsteen to Wilco to Sam Philips to Robert Plant and Ryan Adams, among others.  Given a solid batch of songs to sculpt, tweak, and structure, this group will surely follow with chemistry.  Which brings us to Saturday’s show…

Under a rising full moon, the show began with RL playing “Burn” for us, alone, on his acoustic guitar.   The song is about the pain of not being able to let go of lost love… and being willing to burn in his skin for it. It was quite fitting that he would sing a chillingly beautiful song like “Burn” alone, given the pain in the words.   Not exactly an upbeat way to begin but this was to be a night of bringing beauty out of pain.

Ray LaMontagne and the Pariah Dogs

Then RL was joined by the Pariah Dogs who proceeded to flesh out the songs like “For The Summer,” “Beg, Steal or Borrow,” “Hold You In My Arms,” “Shelter,” and “New York City’s Killing Me.”  At their core some of the songs were bluegrass (“Devil’s In The Jukebox”), some blues, but most were written in LaMontagne’s own dynamic emerging style.   With lap or pedal steel guitar on nearly every tune, each arrangement had a clean, balanced, and layered sound.   The steel guitars swelled, swayed and wiggled through the contours of the songs, but it was RL’s delivery that made each song special, provoking genuine anticipation from the audience.  They knew his repertoire and gave it the quiet it deserved in which to be appreciated.  During the detailed and poignant “Empty,” there were times when you could hear a pin drop.

The key to the show’s great sound was, firstly, the Pariah Dog’s arrangements of the tunes and secondly the spacious mix at the Greek.   LaMontagne’s songs breezed along, driven by his own acoustic guitar and Bellarosa’s nimble brushwork on the drums.   With little clatter and noise from the drums, there was much empty space available in the open air.   The pedal and steel guitars filled the same space — with more movement — that is usually taken by keyboards or a cello.  Even with the country instrumentation the sound was refreshingly less stylized than that.   One really had to marvel at how effectively a steel guitar can add dimension and emotion to an arrangement.

“Trouble” is perhaps LaMontagne’s most widely heard song.  As it was recorded it features a set of simply repeated but cleverly inverted chords with a string arrangement that embellishes the mood of the song elegantly.  In fact, strings were a significant part of his sound at that point in his career and, for better or worse, this got him compared by many to artists such as Nick Drake and Tim Buckley.    On Saturday there were no strings.  Instead, the steel guitars filled their space and actually improved the arrangement of already great songs like “Trouble,” and “Hold You in My Arms.”  On “For The Summer” Greg Leisz made very tasty use of lap steel, playing in the same mid to lower registers that a cello might.    For “New York City’s Killing Me” and “Hold You In My Arms” Eric Heywood’s pedal steel whined forlornly over the changes, summoning up the melancholy in the audience.   This type of interplay and embellishment went on all night and it was delightful.

The fine line between beauty and sadness is where LaMontagne has set up shop to write his songs and the harmonically rich treatment he now gives them suits the balance between emotion and music like a glove.  We got the sense that we were watching a proven artist taking it to a new level and likely entering the prime of his career.

The show was opened by Brandi Carlisle, a Seattle native who has been grinding away on the LA singer/songwriter scene for several years.   She was jazzed to get the opportunity to tour with Ray LaMontagne and, on this evening, to actually play a big-time venue like the Greek Theater. Featuring violin and cello contrasted with driving Gretsch hollow body electric guitars, she and her versatile 5-piece band turned in a winsome, inspired set and even had the whole place on their feet when they rocked Johnny Cash’s “Jackson” quite properly.   She, too, has strong songs that fly with either a toned down or turned up arrangement.

To read more reviews by Mike Finkelstein click HERE.

So, what do you do if you were part of a big name FM staple progressive/rock band in the 70’s and 80’s and you still want to play music?   You may have already bought a fish farm, opened a recording studio, started an antiques business – but still, there is a tidy sum to be made playing your hits on summer and spring tours for the denizens who used to buy the albums and see your tours when they were 25 years younger.

Well, in the case of Yes and Styx, you first check to see if the band members are alive/healthy/up for continuing on, and that the vocals are intact.   And that’s not a slam-dunk proposition anymore.  But if you get through those preliminaries, then you might want to join forces and tour with a band in a similar situation.   Which brings us to Yes and Styx at the Greek on Tuesday night.    This was a strong double billing designed and centered on “progressive rock” to bring in fans of both bands and, indeed, the Greek was saturated with fans of both bands.

In their heyday of the early to mid-70’s, Yes were as archetypal a progressive art/rock band as you could find.   Musically, they had their own vision of how it should all sound, developed their sound organically, and with strong songwriting and playing, grew to huge popularity.  Their songs were often long, textured, drawn out arrangements, with little free form jamming.  Their albums also came packaged in the surrealist cosmic airbrush fantasy paintings of artist Roger Dean.  Yes still features original members Steve Howe on guitars and Chris Squire on bass, as well as long time off and on members Alan White and keyboardist Geoff Downes (who had nine separate keyboards onstage!).

Yes

Yes has had many personnel changes over the years but the one member who never left is Squire.   They have parted ways for the time-being with original vocalist Jon Anderson-but they have found Benoit David in a Yes tribute band who sounds, you guessed it, just like Jon Anderson.   He even had a lot of Anderson’s mannerisms down pat.  It appears that tribute bands have become a bona fide go-to resource for an original band that needs to replace any trademark piece of their sound.

On Tuesday, Yes gave us a nice group of their best known tunes and a new number, “Fly From Here” complete with a video that viewed like a Pink Floyd clip.   While the song selection didn’t go too deep into their catalogue, the band played with verve.    David had Jon Anderson dialed in, easily pulling off songs like “Yours Is No Disgrace,” “All Good People” and “And You and I.”   Yes’ remarkable sound goes up a notch and thrives when they are playing in between the words. Instrumentally,  it came down to the band playing clean and regularly changing their dynamics to make the songs breathe.   But it is the juxtaposition of Squire’s and Howe’s styles that makes it sound like Yes.

Both Squire and Howe approach their instruments in unorthodox manners. Squire’s bass is perhaps the most recognizable part of the Yes sound.   He is actually a  large man and his sound seems to reflect his size.  Squire plays Rickenbacker basses (known for their growl), chords quite a bit, and can get pretty busy on his runs.   His focus was melodic and when he danced around in the higher registers it impressively brought out the motion of the chords.  Squire’s amplified sound also features vibrato and a lot of bottom end boost.    The result is a rattling and pulsating bass tone that is all his own. On Tuesday, this boost and the Greek’s PA system were often at odds and Squire’s lowest notes became an ominous throbbing hum.   You could hear the growl and the grit but itwas often washed away in the low din.  His voice was also the prominent harmony part in their vocal sound.

To watch Steve Howe play guitar live is to realize just how well a clean guitar signal can work in a large setting.   Clean sound just stays cleaner and more defined in the air.  On frenzied runs like the opening of “Heart of the Sunrise” playing clean made a world of difference, putting the interplay between himself and Squire vividly at the front of the mix.   Howe needed several different guitars to get all of his sounds into the mix and for most of the evening he switched between a red Stratocaster and a his trademark hollow body Gibson  jazz box.   But he also used a 12 string Laud for “I’ve Seen All Good People,” a table steel guitar and a MIDI-ed electric guitar on a stand for “And You and I.”   Curiously, Howe’s stage amps were set up inside what looked like a small closet with no walls and the front removed—but it didn’t seem to affect the sound.

Yes’  encore was “Roundabout,”  a tune that crunches and gushes gloriously all over the musical map, mixing classical guitar dynamics, harmonics, spacey lyrics, and lush organ and the classic grind of Squire’s bass line.   “Roundabout” was their most popular radio song until “Owner Of A Lonely Heart” eclipsed it in the early “80’s to become their biggest hit.   As it was recorded, it features many layers of textured overdriven guitars played by Trevor Rabin, quite the opposite of Steve Howe’s approach.  Howe, of course, had to play the hit song Tuesday and offered up an intriguingly tamer, cleaner, and more spartan version of the guitar parts.

Styx

The show was opened by Styx, veterans of the American rock circuit since the early 70’s and a band with a very loyal following.   Their music has always aimed at combining hard rock with progressive songwriting. These days they lean more towards rock and their sound is somewhere closer to say, REO Speedwagon or Kansas, than to Yes.  (One lady even remarked during “Fooling Yourself” that she thought it was a Journey song).

While the band became a big commercial success in the ‘80’s it always seemed to be a struggle for the band to cohesively develop its identity.   On the one hand, guitarists James Young and Tommy Shaw wrote and played guitar driven songs that powered the band’s rock credibility.  On the other hand keyboardist, Dennis de Young steered the band far into pop territory that was at odds with its rock appeal—but sold well to the MOR crowd.

For this performance, de Young was no longer with the band, replaced by Lawrence Gowan, who easily sang all of the former’s parts and is definitely more in line with Styx’ rock stance.   He was spot on for songs like “Lady,” and “Lorelei.”   And he played a keyboard that spun like a carousel atop his circular podium.   The possibilities for cinematic slapstick abound with this setup but it also allowed allow him to face in whatever direction he wanted to.

With a more unified band focus, Styx delivered the hits and even dug down a little deeper for songs like “Man in the Wilderness,” and “Crystal Ball.” Tuesday’s gig was a polished affair with leveled risers, beautifully arranged banks of amplifiers and a hotshot light/video show.

While every member of Styx performed with plenty of panache, the focal point of the band was Tommy Shaw.  He has a winsome presence between songs, has his rock star moves and good looks firmly in place, and many of the women at the show marveled at how little body fat the man has on him.  Shaw is versatile on guitars (he played acoustic, and 6-and 12-string electrics) and being able to work the dual guitar angle with J.Y. Young added dimension to the songs.  There was also an appearance by original bassist Chuck Panozzo, who sits in with Styx as his health allows (he has contracted HIV).

Early in the evening the show began with a short set by LA singer/songwriter Shane Alexander.

To see more reviews by Mike Finkelstein click HERE.

On Friday night Deep Purple played to a huge, revved up crowd at the Greek Theater. Perhaps an indication that this was going to be a high-energy night of music was the larger than usual number of muscle cars in the parking lot. Not only were all the seats at the Greek occupied, but so was much of the stage as Deep Purple was joined by a 25 piece orchestra.

Deep Purple’s place in rock history is significant.  Having begun in 1968, the band was one of the first to use their impressive instrumental chops to blend the best elements of classical, swinging jazz, blues and crunching rock into each song.   Making the music into an ambitious amalgamation became the calling card of bands who play what is now referred to as progressive rock.   Crunching riffs, of course, are the calling card of hard rock, which eventually developed into what many now just call heavy metal for image based reasons.  Deep Purple blazed the earliest progressive and hard rock trails, merged the two for their sound, and distinguished themselves in this field with a great pop sensibility.   They could make hit records and FM favorites, when FM radio was still underground.  As excessive as they could be live and on record, they also evolved to reign themselves in and begin writing catchy radio-friendly songs like “Smoke on the Water,” “Space Truckin’,” and “Woman From Tokyo.”

All of these were received ecstatically on this Friday night in 2011.

Deep Purple hit the stage shortly after dusk to eager anticipation from the crowd, opening with “Highway Star,” and the show lurched into overdrive.  This song is one of the most representative of the band’s merging of — for lack of better terms — progressive rock with…let’s just call it hard rock.   The song chugs along, always gaining momentum but changing speeds and textures, musically evoking a really good high speed drive through some dramatic scenery.    The middle section features classically structured, fugue-inspired breaks from both keyboards and guitar.  To be sure, inserting this type of a break into a rock song about driving really was taking a chance in its day.  Today it still sounds clever and tasteful, as it allows the song to breathe and allows the band a chance to put the pedal to the metal for the close of the number.

The approach was streamlined, the extended jams were gone and it was fun to see what the band would decide to play next.   We were treated to several rather obscure tracks, including “No One Came,” “When a Blind Man Cries,” and “Hard Lovin’ Man” from In Rock  and “Maybe I’m a Leo” and “Lazy” from Machine Head.    This is not to say that there weren’t a lot of solos in the show — there were.   They were just concise.   And of course, they were not played by Ritchie Blackmore or Jon Lord, but by Steve Morse on guitar and Don Airey on keys.

A Deep Purple show wouldn’t be complete without “Smoke on the Water,”  about watching their on site recording studio go up in flames next to Lake Geneva in 1971.  On Friday, the intro to this classic riff included other classic riffs from AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, and Guns ‘n Roses.   SOTW is, was, and will always be as ubiquitous a guitar riff as any of these, and Deep Purple really doesn’t need to play a note from the other bands to make a point about their song.

Deep Purple grew to immense popularity between 1970 and 1973 when the band featured founding members keyboardist Jon Lord , guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, and drummer Ian Paice with Ian Gillan on lead vocals and Roger Glover on bass.   This Mach 2 lineup wrote and recorded four hugely successful albums together that much of the material for Saturday’s show was culled from.  In the early 70’s Deep Purple were into stretching certain songs into explorative jams for upwards of half an hour.  The players took chances to explore their musical ideas, and entire sides of vinyl records could became one long song.  For this reason the set lists were often short and not so imaginative — which meant that many of the fans’ favorite album tracks didn’t stand a chance of being played live.

Currently the Deep Purple lineup starts with longtime members drummer Ian Paice, singer Ian Gillan and bassist Roger Glover, along with newer keyboardist Don Airey and guitarist Steve Morse.  What originally put Deep Purple onto the radio to stay was their great songs, and the voice of most of their hits belonged to Gillan.   Possessed of one of the prototypical power voices in rock, his legendary recorded screams and howls were often woven together with soulful, restrained straight singing.   On Friday, at age 65, he looked a bit like a British pensioner, but he could still hit the high notes. Of course, he did not try to sustain them as he would have in 1972.    Sometimes the beginnings of his phrasing got a little delayed but he always compensated to get the rest of the phrase synched with the drums.

When name bands replace name players the best they can usually hope for is that the new guys will sound like the recorded tracks to get the band over.   Since Deep Purple’s sound and writing depended mostly on two guys no longer with the band, Morse and Airey had their work cut out for them.   But Morse and Airey are two very accomplished players in their own rights.

In replacing Jon Lord, Don Airey was responsible for some very unique signature keyboard parts that define songs like “Lazy” and “Highway Star.” He is a rock veteran and has played with outfits ranging from Jethro Tull to Whitesnake, Rainbow, and Ozzy Osbourne. He was basically spot on for everything.   His Hammond organ work was outstanding and once, when it was time to stretch out he interestingly began to evoke Tarkus vintage Emerson Lake and Palmer.

Steve Morse is a guitar player’s guitar player, having founded the legendary instrumental band, Dixie Dregs in the 70’s.  The Dregs were so good at fusing styles and talent that people always wondered what would happen if they could work singing into the format.   For Morse, playing in Deep Purple since 1994 appears to be a very comfortable fit and a walk in the park with his talent.   He’s mostly playing Deep Purple covers…in Deep Purple, next to Ian Gillan!   On Friday he powered through the changes and when it was time to solo he gravitated toward a mellower Strat sound much like what Blackmore used for many of the Purple solos.  Keeping the hooks and signature licks of every song, Morse still put his own stamp on everything and even had his own showcase song, “Well Dressed Guitar.”    His runs are beautifully picked and move in chromatic flurries.  He also is very skilled with his delay unit and guitar volume knob, impressively affecting organ chords as he has with the Dregs.  On Friday, he skillfully stayed true to the lines we all know and love while weaving something new into the old songs.   Kudos to Steve Morse, the baby of the band at 56.

To watch DP play live is to recognize just how important the rhythm section is to vaulting a rock band onto the top shelf.  Ian Paice and Roger Glover remain, over the years, one of the most influential rhythm sections in rock music. All developing rock musicians learn how Deep Purple’s back line got it done.  On Friday, Paice and Glover thundered through the evening with remarkable ease and stamina.  They did not overplay anything.  Paice hit hard and he drums left handed, which is rare.  Glover, smiling delightedly and looking quite like a pirate under his bandana, danced smoothly and euphorically around the stage as he chorded and walked his bass. But they both stayed within the song’s structure. If it added to the effect of a set of changes, making them catchier melodically or harmonically, then the two players embellished as they went.   They have been playing together in Deep Purple dating back to at least 1970 and they seem to be joined at the hip rhythmically.  The key to powering the DP songs may well be in the way Paice plays his snare and high hat, at times just a little skewed towards the decay of the down beat and it comes across as quite funky.  Glover is right there with him and the melodic punch of his bass lends the song a certain extra bounce.   It’s beautiful in its simplicity.

Between a powerful band like Deep Purple and an entire orchestra, there was so much sound in the open air of the Greek Theater that at times it was too much to control.  In fact, the middle registers of the orchestra were washed out.  Still, during Morse’s and Airey’s solo spots, there was some tasty and audible exchange with the orchestra.

Ernie and the Automatics, from Massachusetts, opened the show.  A six piece, generically named band featuring 2 guitars, sax and a keyboard-playing singer they cruised through a respectable but ordinary set of blues based songs.   Then the drummer recalled to the audience that he had played LA in 1979 on a bill with Black Sabbath and Van Halen.    OK…They then proceeded to begin a medley of songs by the band Boston, which seemed odd.   During “Foreplay/Longtime” as the lead guitar player went into one of the tastier recorded bits of hard rock guitar playing one could imagine, we began to realize that the guy playing it was actually Barry Goudreau — who really was in Boston and really did record the original.  He had the same hair and moustache and the same red Gibson SG as he played in Boston.   We just hadn’t made the connection.  As the song climaxed the singer asked us to give it up for their drummer Sib Hashian, the original drummer of Boston.   These two guys were incognito in Ernie and the Automatics!  Weird, indeed, but in a good way.

To read more iRoM reviews by Mike Finkelstein click HERE.

Once, more than 40 years ago, Robert Plant and John Henry Bonham emerged out of their Band of Joy and into the New Yardbirds, led by a talented upstart studio musician named Jimmy Page. The original Band of Joy was a vehicle for Plant and Bonham to play the music they loved — traditional blues, English folk music and San Francisco vintage hippie music (Moby Grape, Jefferson Airplane etc) – as well as they possibly could.  And if critical success was in the cards then so be it.    Plant and Bonham certainly caught Page’s ear and, with their new singer and drummer, the New Yardbirds morphed into the infamous Led Zeppelin.  The rest was truly iconic rock history. Now, some 30 years later, Plant has formed a new Band of Joy.  And in support of their new self titled “LP,” they put on a splendid show Saturday night for a full house at the Greek Theatre.

The new Band of Joy consists of Marco Giovino (percussion), Patty Griffin (vocals and guitar), original member Byron House (electric and acoustic bass), Buddy Miller (guitar, baritone guitar, mandoguitar and vocals) and Darrell Scott (vocals, mandolin, guitar, pedal steel guitar, banjo).   In this band,  Plant has assembled a group that sounds rootsy, bluesy and quite folky as they put their interpretive spin on a set of songs ranging from Los Lobos’ “Angel Dance” to Townes Van Zant’s “Harm’s Swift Way” to Porter Waggoner’s “A Satisfied Mind,” as well as the Led Zeppelin material. The folkier yet very recognizable Led Zeppelin tunes really do lend themselves well to the stripped down/turned down treatments that the Band of Joy thrive on.

Robert Plant

When Robert Plant walks on stage it’s only natural to realize that you are looking at one of the true living legends in rock history.  And Saturday night’s audience knew it well, most of them having grown up listening to Led Zeppelin throughout their formative years.  To look at him, Plant doesn’t give the appearance of one of hard rock/heavy metal’s most vaunted front men. At 62, he remains slender, his hair is still long and he wears a short goatee.   He never has actually looked much the part of a heavy metal deity, per se. Never has he looked like a bad-ass. He is without excessive piercings, tattoos, and all the other frills that go with the genre. His style has always leaned more towards jeans and a boutique shirt.

Of course he did sound the part while at his peak during the Led Zeppelin years.  His voice then was a prototype for fusing sheer power and tender expression. On Saturday, he walked onstage unassumingly with his black shirt out and loose fitting over his jeans.   Many times during the evening, he stood on the backline to deliver background vocals as his band mates carried the tune. At stage front, he had a memorable way of tiptoeing as he danced through the changes like a nomad cutting across a meadow.   Occasionally he would kick the mike stand up, as he did in the old days.  But generally speaking, we were watching a man who has happily reinvented himself over the years, taking things tastefully low key for the long run.

The program for Saturday night relied on several chestnuts from the Zeppelin catalogue, as well as tasteful choices in covers from varied and unlikely sources.   The show opened with a transformed “Black Dog.” The audience recognized the song immediately and when the stops and starts that song is famous for didn’t materialize, they went with it and got into the new groove of that song.   Changing the pace allowed Plant to sing at a more natural pitch, with no need to wail, with room for every sound to breathe and for the words to set in.   “Black Dog” featured tastefully layered droning guitars, extensive tom work on the drums, light use of the cymbals, and a huge sense of open space between all the voices in the mix.   Later in the set, “Houses of the Holy” also received a dramatic but oh, so tasty reworking.   On this song in particular, his voice meshed with the angelic tone of one Patty Griffin to bring out hues in the song previously unheard.

Perhaps the most compelling instrumental voice in transforming the songs was the pedal steel guitar voicings of Darrell Scott.   Every time he came in on pedal steel it took a song up a notch. Led Zeppelin’s recording of  “That’s the Way it Ought to Be,” features Jimmy Page evoking a pedal steel guitar. On Saturday, Band of Joy did a show-stopping version of the tune in which Scott took the torch and ran with it on a real pedal steel guitar.   It was a realization of the sort of music that many LZ fans surely may have wondered about over time. Scott also made beautiful contributions on the banjo, lending an ultra bluesy feel to songs like “Satan, Your Kingdom Must Come Down.” In fact, with all six voices in the band in an eerie low harmonic interval, the song was downright haunting.

Having garnered 5 Grammys in 2009 for his work with Alison Krauss on Raising Sand, the inclusion of their collaboration, “Please Read the Letter,” was obvious.  It is a simply beautiful tune and Plant’s and Griffin’s voices again shimmered together in harmony and in the wide open space Band of Joy provided them.  During the encore, the audience ecstatically received a sparkling version of “Ramble On” and a sparser version of the centuries old folk song “The Gallows Pole,” in which a man asks to be forsaken while hanging on the gallows pole.   Fittingly, the very last entry of the night was a very nearly (save for one guitar) a capella version of the Grateful Dead’s “And We Bid You Goodnight.”

Opening the show were the North Mississippi All Stars — on this evening a two man power house of musicianship represented by brothers Luther and Cody Dickinson, sons of the late music legend, producer Jim Dickinson.   They proceeded to switch off between different instruments for each song.  Luther is a born killer on slide guitar and seemed to have a different guitar for each of many open tunings.   He even had what looked to be a custom made mock up of a cigar box guitar like the old time rural blues men used to make for themselves.   Cody spent most of the evening behind the drum set, occasionally coming out to play an amazing guitar duet with his brother.    It should be very interesting to see where these hugely talented guys take their music in the future.

To read more reviews by Mike Finkelstein click HERE.

There is an undeniably universal appeal in a guy singing love songs with a guitar.  Ladies love the high level of simple romantic communication in it, and upon seeing this, most men certainly recognize the power of the medium to grab a woman’s attention by the heartstrings.  Over the past 30 or so years, one of the most successful practitioners of this format is Bryan Adams and on Saturday night he brought his stripped-down/acoustic Bare Bones Tour to a packed house at UCLA’s Royce Hall.

There was a very tangible anticipatory buzz in the air as the audience strolled into the theater.  There was also an abundance of beautiful women, on dates or in small groups on girls’ night out.  The show started about 15 minutes late but the place was packed by then and erupted when Adams, in jeans and a black shirt, strode onstage with a top hat in one hand and a beautiful brown Martin guitar in the other.

True to the Bare Bones concept, the large Royce Hall stage was nearly bare with only a grand piano and a mike stand to receive Adams’ guitar and voice.  Also true to the concept was the clever idea of using the bare back wall of Royce Hall as the back drop.  It’s as beautiful and old as the building itself with gorgeous wrought iron and brickwork above an impressive old sliding iron backstage door.  Bathed in red or blue light, the wall provided a very tasteful backdrop for Adams and keyboardist Gary Breit.

The first song was “Run to You,” and from the opening notes of its signature guitar tag, the audience seemed to literally know every change and every word of each song Adams played.  Pianist Gary Breit shuttled on and off the stage all night, but for the vast majority of songs it was just Adams and his guitar.

Hit song after memorable hit song revealed the level of Adams’ successes.  Nearly every one of Adams’ best known songs is simply about love, whether it’s the pursuit of love (“Do I Have To Say The Words”), the faith in love (“This Time,” “Heaven”), the definition of love(“Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman”), or several other angles on heartbreak (“Cuts Like a Knife”) and love delivered (“Can’t Stop This Thing We’ve Started”).  All of his songs ring very true emotionally and people connect strongly with truth.  In a radio friendly rock format, the appeal is tremendous.   His songs were once ubiquitous on FM radio, and anyone whose ears have been open at all since the early 80’s has heard dozens of his songs many times.  Although FM radio isn’t now the beacon it once was, his songs remain FM staples.

But the memories of those splendidly simpler times live on, and when it was time for audience participation, it was impressive that so many people still knew all the words. During sing-along time the sound of the audience voice was definitely female, which was a beautiful thing.  Adams seemed clearly aware of this all night as they hooted song requests.  And many of the men in the audience couldn’t help but notice the purity in the reactions so many of the babes at the show had to these songs.  These ladies had clearly lived through the emotions many times and likely sung them silently or aloud nearly as many times.

Adams did have the crowd in the palm of his hand, with plenty of memorable musical moments Saturday night.  How often will we see a bagpiper walk in and out of a B.A. show without missing a note on the chorus of “Cuts Like a Knife?” Pianist Breit’s adaptation of the flamenco guitar feel in “Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman” was similarly grand.  Add to that Adams’ memorable little gem, “Walk on By,” finger-picked and given the full B.A. treatment.

In the stripped down format, Adams’ voice had all kinds of room to expand, soar, and howl.  It was as loud as the piano, but his tone was the remarkable thing.  His voice straddled the line between polished and raspy — at once rough enough to mean tough business and polished enough to deliver line after line about romantic love.  It’s a great rock voice, as superb in getting the tenderness across as it is for the power vocals.  It’s a fine line Adams walks, and he has made a hugely successful career of merging the two realms in simple songs that appeal to everybody’s heart of hearts.

A heaping handful of his hits were written at the age of 23 or thereabouts.  Listening to them unplugged on Saturday reminded people that these songs must have sounded quite similar when they were nurtured along in his Canadian apartment back in the ‘80s.    What a treat to hear these songs in this format!

The Bare Bones show underscored for all to see why guys will continue to pick up guitars and begin singing from their hearts to reach the women in their world.  Depending on how good a guy’s songs and voice are, well, the world could just be his oyster.  Bryan Adams is living proof of this idea.

To read more reviews by Mike Finkelstein click HERE.

On Wednesday night UCLA Live presented John McLaughlin and the 4th Dimension to a hugely enthusiastic if not quite capacity crowd at Royce Hall.   This was an opportunity to get a glimpse of a cornerstone figure in the jazz/rock/fusion field and, moreover, of a man who puts his music on a vigorous and composed high level at age 68.   He is clearly still pushing himself musically as the rest of the band appeared no closer than about 30 years from his age.  The show demonstrated just how easily four players, each with enough chops to fill the room by themselves, could streamline their approach for a wonderfully balanced ensemble sound.

Having come to prominence as the featured guitarist with Tony Williams’ Lifetime and on Miles Davis’ forays into blending jazz and rock — In A Silent Way, On the Corner, Bitches Brew and Big Fun – McLaughlin has been a legendary guitar icon and one of the true leading edges in fusion.   His technique is one of tempered dexterity — legendary for its precision and the clarity in his lines.   In his personal life, he has always sought out ultimate truths, inspiration, and a high level of spirituality.   All of this was there for us to experience on Wednesday.

John McLaughlin and 4th Dimension

Clad in black dressed-up-casual clothes the four players strode confidently across the large Royce stage to a setup that appeared rather unusual.   Guitar, bass, drums, and keys adds up to four, but they clearly also had an entire extra set of drums.   As it turned out, the 4^th Dimension’s Gary Husband is both an amazing keyboardist and drummer — so good, in fact, that several times he seamlessly switched in mid-song from keys to drums or vice versa.  Drummer Mark Mondesir played an athletically elegant style of drums, and when he and Husband shared drum duties their lines contrasted beautifully

Bassist Etienne M’Bappe of Cameroon, played through a traditional stack of bass amp and cabinets, and his bottom end actually sounded a bit murky for much of the evening, though it did not bleed into any of the other registers. He appeared to be using some sort of muted red flat wound strings on his bass as well as wearing black silk gloves on both hands, ostensibly to keep his sweat off the strings, but they quite likely muted the sound further.   His technique was impressive, largely avoiding  the temptation to pop and growl the bass as so many other players will do.   Instead, he played long, smooth, flowing lines on his five stringed instrument and several times went impressively in unison with McLaughlin.

Throughout the evening one had to marvel at the clarity of the 4^th Dimension’s  sound.   Every instrument had a lot of room in the mix to be heard, particularly in the middle to upper registers where the guitar and keyboards reside.   You really could hear the subtlety and nuances that McLaughlin and Husband, in particular, were  laying out for each other.

Conspicuously absent for a guitar legend’s live show was … a guitar amplifier!  Apparently, McLaughlin was sending the guitar signal through his pedal board directly into the PA system using only monitors onstage to hear the band’s mix.

John McLaughlin

McLaughlin himself was the real focus of the evening.   Light on his feet and with an extraordinary look in his eyes, he seemed delighted about having all the room to move about the stage and shifted from one roost to another.   At times he stood to either side of the stage and at other times next to the keys or bass, but not for long at center stage.

With all of his repositioning, everyone got a pretty good look at his hands and there were, of course, more than a few guitar nerds gloriously soaking it all in.  Mc-Laughlin is perhaps ground zero when it comes to jazz/rock fusion guitar playing.   On tunes like “Dissident” he would play quick, short lines beginning or ending with a lunge downward on the vibrato arm.   It’s no secret that Jeff Beck, among many guitar luminaries, reveres McLaughlin’s style.   One could clearly hear the trademark licks and phrasing that inspired Beck to use them as a departure point for his own style.

McLaughlin has always been known for mixing beautiful chord progressions with dazzling speed and his work with the Mahavishnu Orchestra is legendary for this approach.   While he did play very fast at times Wednesday he never came close to having the speed factor interfere with his expressiveness.   His runs came in flurries, ascending scales, vaulting crevasses in the sound, and then cascading elaborately and ergonomically down to resume vamping chords with the band.

Each piece he played with the 4^th Dimension was instrumental and, although the titles of such pieces don’t often reveal much, there was one that did on Wednesday.    It was called “New Blues” and it had a driving, almost ZZ Top-like bass line to it, a very bluesy thump.   But the chords that fleshed the song out did not move like a blues at all — far from it.   The bottom end rhythm of the tune was familiar and bluesy, but above the beat there was no blues form, just an ethereal set of chords and the sound of the rarefied air.   Still, the juxtaposition of that beat with those chords was delightfully clever.

On Wednesday night John McLaughlin maintained the high level of spirit and musicianship that people have always associated with him.  The 4^th Dimension, a powerhouse set of elite players, pushed their leader and themselves to some very inspired and synergistic musical positions.   Walking out of Royce Hall, the audience had to know they had seen music on a level not often reached.

Photo of John McLaughlin and 4th Dimension by John Bouchet

PLOT: A railroad veteran (Denzel Washington) and his new engineer trainee (Chris Pine) try to stop a runaway train filled with explosive chemicals as it barrels down toward their hometown of Stanton, Pennsylvania at 70 MPH.

Check out the trailer:

MIKE’S REVIEW: First off, I want to give a disclaimer to you, the reader, saying that I am not a fan of Action movies. They are loud, obnoxious and are usually ridiculously over-the-top with no story line whatsoever. When I heard about another Tony Scott/Denzel Washington vehicle, my first instinct was to pass. But I got to say…

I am so glad that I didn’t pass, because UNSTOPPABLE was a hell of a fun ride! For the first ten minutes, we get a quick introduction to all the characters, and then you’re thrown right in! Scott wastes no time getting that train under full power, going 70 MPH toward a sharp curve that threatens to derail the train and destroy all of Stanton, Pennsylvania (intense much?). There are no fake-sounding monologues in the first reel to give character back story…those are saved for when we’re already in motion, but as tidbits here and there that fit in a lot smoother when the risk of death becomes greater and greater. And the best part? We STILL get that storyline and that depth that makes a movie good. This film isn’t mindless, and it shows it all the way through.

Now, you may be thinking: how is a movie strictly about a runaway train not mindless? I think it has to do with the aspects of realism that Tony Scott injected into the film. Scott’s directing and quick zooms may be jarring for some, but it works in his favor here. You’re right there with everybody the entire way, switching from news and helicopter views to gritty shots in the middle of the action, and it blends well, giving the audience that spectator feel. Also, many directors would have probably gone the route of CGI and make that speeding bullet look fake. Scott filmed the whole thing on an actual train and refrained from any CGI shots. These are real explosions and real stunts and real people hanging from the bottom of a speeding train. In today’s world of film, it’s a breath of fresh air, and you become that much more invested emotionally because of it.

What also helped this film hit that high level was the top notch cast. Denzel Washington is back playing none other than himself, and he does it perfectly. It’s his fifth film with Scott, and you could tell the two are very comfortable with each other. There are only a few actors who could be bought as any character while basically being themselves, and Denzel is one of them. He has his signature laugh, sarcasm and save the day attitude (even chewing the scenery a little bit at points…), and despite getting up there with age, we still follow him as the hero all the way through.

Then, there is Mr. Chris Pine, aka the new Captain Kirk. There is a reason why this guy is considered the next big thing. Since starting out in JUST MY LUCK (yes, that Lindsay Lohan movie…), the guy has grown tremendously as an actor, including in this movie. It’d be really easy to have Denzel overshadow you, but Pine holds his own. There’s something classy and real about his ‘action star’ type. He’s not the Rock or Stallone, but when he says lines like “We’re gonna run this bitch down”, you still become giddy and wait for the moment where they do exactly that.

Rounding out the main cast, there’s Rosario Dawson as the Rail Yard controller. At first, I felt somewhat strange seeing her in this role, wondering how and why (first instinct: they had to balance out the girl to guy ratio for the sexual masses). While this role could have gone to anyone from an old man in his 60s to a young eager rookie, Dawson does a great job spitting out all the technical terms, and within a few minutes, we knew she was in charge of that place and believed it 100 percent.

To be fair, UNSTOPPABLE did have its issues. First off, the whole “Inspired by a True Story” bit just pissed me off. That phrase has an entire spectrum of its own. You could take exact situations and dialogue from real life incidents and have a movie “inspired by a true story”, or you could take a slight concept, blow it up a lot bigger and more dramatic, and give it the same title. When it’s the latter (as it was in this movie, if you look up the actual incident), the movie loses something for me because I feel lied to. Just let the film, which is fun and action packed on its own, speak for itself.

Secondly, who the hell picked the two actresses to play Denzel’s daughters? The rest of the supporting cast was so good! TJ Miller, Ethan Suplee, Lew Temple and Kevin Dunn all stood out and had great roles, but when the credits started rolling, the first words out of my friend’s mouth were “I hated those daughters!” Your dad is on a speeding train that is barreling toward your town. It could and WILL kill all three of you and everyone else, yet you’re still in your Hooters outfit at the bar, acting like you’re watching the final minutes of the Superbowl. I hope that Scott owed someone a favor and didn’t cast these girls on talent.

Overall, UNSTOPPABLE was just a plain good time at the movies. It wasn’t stupid action, and actually had a bit of a story and depth to it. If you want to shut off your brain for a bit, sit back, get excited and be entertained, this is the movie for you, no thinking needed.

GRADE: A

Mike’s LIKES:
1) ACTION ACTION ACTION: The film does not stop. It grabs you by the [insert genital slang here] and doesn’t let go until the end. And most of the movie is literally waiting! Hell yes!

2) NO CGI: Forget James Cameron and constant CGI and effects to take you out of the movie. Tony Scott did an awesome job at crafting a movie that looked and felt real that takes place entirely on moving trains! (Don’t forget that side of depth!)

3) TJ MILLER AND KEVIN DUNN: These two were so good at being idiots—Dunn the lovable one, and Miller the one you hated. All I know is I walked out of that movie hating Miller’s character still, so he did his job right.

4) LEW TEMPLE: Oh Ned…the Southern idiot, yet hero. Every time he was on screen, I wanted to laugh and hug him at the same time.

Mike’s DISLIKES:
1) BEGINNING CAPTIONS: Northern Penn, Southern Penn…over and over and over. We get it! Minor annoyance

2) DENZEL’S DAUGHTERS: Okay, I don’t know who Scott was doing a favor to by getting these girls in the film, but the first words out of my friend’s mouth when we got up from our seats was “I hated those daughters!” Your dad is on a speeding train that is barreling toward your town that could basically kill all three of you and everyone else around you, and you act like you’re watching the final minutes of the Superbowl?! No, girls, no.

EXTRA FACTS:
1) The film was based on a May 15, 2001 incident, when a 47-car CSX locomotive left a Toledo, Ohio rail yard without an engineer. It wasn’t stopped until it had run 66 miles through three counties. No one was injured.

2) Ironically, a train used during filming accidentally derailed in Bridgeport, Ohio. No one was injured, and production was halted for the remainder of the day.

Richard Thompson gave a memorable performance of his folk oratorio Cabaret of Souls in a UCLA Live concert at Royce Hall on Friday night.   Perhaps it was the tall stone walls and arches of the building, and perhaps it was the layers of costuming on everyone working at the venue, but as the audience simply walked into Royce Hall they just knew something different was awaiting them.   The usher who checked my ticket was wearing a long cape and a wolf mask, and all the other ushers, too, had their own unique set of late 1800’s English togs and a different mask.   Think of the masquerade party in the movie Eyes Wide Shut and you’ll get the vibe.

Richard Thompson

Cabaret of Souls began as a project that Thompson was commissioned to write by the International Society of Bassists for bass player Danny Thompson (no relation).    It evolved from a suggested 6 minute passage into an hour and a half-long presentation of songs and narration.    One hugely impressive aspect of the production was that on every level the concert hall was turned into the In Between — not heaven or hell, but a rather boring place with no chance of escape.   With so much time on their hands the waiting souls in the In Between sang about their mortal lives and we listened.  Everyone who was part of the show, onstage or off, in the lobby or in the theater, was in costume and it surrounded the audience to marvelous effect.

The evening began as the Idyllwild Arts Academy Orchestra took the stage, some with gigantic teased hair, all dressed in vivid black and red, no two alike, with painted and sequined faces.  It was an elegantly astounding image and they were conducted with panache by Peter Askim.  Then came the band in period costumes, led by Thompson in a long double-breasted overcoat and top hat.   They proceeded to play 23 songs that portrayed the lives of characters ranging from, but not limited to, a glutton, a love-lorn broken heart, a gangster’s moll, an art critic, a religious hypocrite, and a war financier.  Projected images on a backdrop advanced the stories in the songs and effectively reinforced the fact that we were in the In Between.  There was also one great lighting effect that bathed the upper part of the hall in angular, dappled light to magnify the dankness.

Harry Shearer and Judith Own

Vocalist Judith Owen shone all evening long, and her vocal on “The Linnet” was gorgeous.   Pete Zorn sang backups and played flute, adding several interesting layers to the band’s sound.  And then there was Harry Shearer, who did not actually play an instrument but who — with his warm and familiar witty sensibilities — made the In Between a very entertaining place to listen to music.   He had something witty to say after every soul had sung, never going any farther than drollness with his critiques.

Most of all, the playing was impeccable.   Thompson has a long-standing reputation as one of the tastiest and expressive guitar players around.   His breaks on Friday were beautiful examples of how to say something musically meaningful in a concise but ornate style.  His solos featured a remarkable mix of multi-string arpeggios and clever linear phrases, never getting too busy and always giving the music some room to breathe.

Each member of the band was given several showcases, pumping up the dynamics and pace of the show.  Percussionist Debra Dobkin played a very crisp trap kit with a light feel, and added embellishments as well as singing harmonies.     Bassist David Piltch played a standup bass for the whole show with a sound that was superb, filled with the lows were pronounced but never excessive.  When Piltch soloed, the tone was tremendously clear and warm for peak effect, serving as a showcase for just how good an acoustic bass can sound.

Many people who went to see Richard Thompson perform Cabaret of Souls likely had little idea of what they would actually see.   Bu it’s hard to imagine anyone attending this show walking out with anything other than a feeling of being pleasantly surprised and hugely entertained.

Richard Thompson photo courtesy of UCLA LIVE.

To read more reviews by Mike Finkelstein click HERE.

PLOT: In 2003, mountain climber Aron Ralston (James Franco) was trapped in a canyon when his arm was crushed under a loose boulder.  This is what happened over those next 127 hours as he tried to survive.

Check out the trailer:

MIKE’S REVIEW: Danny Boyle took home Oscar gold in 2009 when his masterpiece, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, won eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture.  Two years later, he comes back with something on the completely other side of the spectrum: an intimate character study taking place almost completely within the confines of a tight canyon…

There are only a handful of directors that I could say can do no wrong, but I think Danny Boyle has been added to that list.  For anyone who has seen TRAINSPOTTING, 28 DAYS LATER, or SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, they know that Boyle is known for his quick cuts and energy, something that seems like it could have both harmed and helped him during filming.  (Help because you’d need to make 127 hours of waiting energetic, and harm because the story is completely true, and you have to be able to do it justice without it being campy and heart pounding every second.)  Boyle brings his energy into such an intimate, emotional setting with a perfect balance that works to his benefit.

For the first twenty minutes of 127 HOURS, we get those quick cuts, close ups and loud music that brings you right into the world of mountain climber and adventure junkie Aron Ralston.  The guy travels in the middle of the night to his ‘second home’, the canyons of Robbers Roost, Utah, and aims to beat the guide book time to the peak by 45 minutes.   He loves the open air and exploring every crack and crevice of nature’s beauty that surrounds him.

Then, the inevitable happens, the movie comes to a halt with a literal crash, and Boyle suddenly slows everything down.  Longer shots are used to draw out time.  Close ups on James Franco are from every angle to let you feel his pain, both physically and emotionally.  The quick cuts and music don’t stop fully, but they are used sparingly during hallucinations and flashbacks, which give those moments the extra kick they need for a ying-yang feel between Ralston’s mind and his environment.

Speaking of James Franco, I have a new respect for this actor.  Only a few weeks ago, I reviewed BURIED, which was considered by many, including myself, as Ryan Reynolds’ one-man show and star vehicle.  This is Franco’s equivalent, and much more.  127 HOURS is Franco’s peak after coming out of the acting slump that was SPIDERMAN 3, “General Hospital” and any other teen heartthrob movie around 2000.  He showed his comedy in PINEAPPLE EXPRESS, his drama in MILK, and now he left every emotion he had on that canyon floor.  Aron reflects on everything in his life from the moments right before the fall to his family and friends, and that journey inward is beautiful to watch.  Franco was charming, funny and dramatic, and in one specific scene where he makes up his own show, “The Boulder”, for his video camera, his playing of three different emotions in a conversation is absolutely mesmerizing.  (That video camera was the perfect tool for Aron, and I couldn’t look away any time he was talking to his parents, his ex, or anyone else who could possibly find the tape.)

As for the obvious scene that has been causing much buzz lately—wow.  I think that’s the only word that could describe Ralston cutting off his own arm.  The special effects department created a perfect replica of an arm, complete with muscles, tendons and nerves for Franco.  Combine that with the music and quick cuts, and the audience was squirming in their seats.  I could never look away, but my body closed in on itself at least three or four times, and when he finally cut his own nerve, we were all numb.  Brilliantly done, yet not for the faint of heart.

Overall, Danny Boyle has made another masterpiece to follow SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, yet it stands on its own as something completely different.  In the hands of another director, we could have been bored very quickly just sitting in a canyon for two hours.  I was never bored, and I could not look away.  I look forward to hearing Oscar buzz for James Franco, and I have to say great job to Danny Boyle for making a film that does justice for a story of such insane human will power and strength.  Aron Ralston should be proud.

GRADE: A-

Mike’s LIKES:
1) JAMES FRANCO: This was James Franco’s one man show, and he deserves an Oscar Nomination for his performance.  Stand out moment: his episode of “The Boulder”. I could not look away, and it was all because of this man’s emotion.

2) THE VIDEO RECORDER: An absolutely perfect tool to break down Aron layer by think layer.  It was amazing to see his different emotions and thoughts about his life and family come out to this little machine.  It stripped him of any armor and showed every single little vulnerability.

3) DANNY BOYLE’S STYLE: Danny Boyle is an interesting director.  He seems to have one set type of style, yet it works in a multitude of genres.  The most impressive factor is how his quick cuts, speed and energy can still serve him in such an intimate movie just as well as it did in 28 DAYS LATER and SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE.

4) THE MOMENT WE’VE ALL BEEN HEARING ABOUT: The actual cutting of the arm.  Yes, we as the audience felt the pain.  We jumped, groaned and folded in on ourselves while watching Aron cutting through every muscle and nerve.  And when the literal nerve went, we were just as numb and exhausted as he was.

5) THE REAL ARON RALSTON: Near the end, look for a quick cameo of the real man and his wife sitting by the pool, smiling for the camera.

Mike’s DISLIKES:
1) SCATTERED FLASHBACKS: It may only be one dislike, but it brought the movie down a bit for me.  Two-thirds of the film is one guy stuck in a canyon, and the flashbacks and hallucinations gave it so much more depth, yet it was a bit all over the place.  I could see how this could be to show him slowly going insane, but I just wish it were a little more linear.

2) PREMONITION: Can’t give this away, but let’s just say the self-proclaimed ‘premonition’ didn’t seem like a premonition to me at all.  It’s not like he predicted the lotto numbers or something random.  Obviously what he was imagining would happen in time.  Not as big a deal as they made it seem.

EXTRA FACTS:
1)  The “amputation scene” was the handiwork of makeup effects artist Tony Gardner and his team at Alterian, Inc. They strove to be medically accurate in every detail, as Danny Boyle shot the entire scene in one take and every aspect of the scene needed to be functional as well as realistic

2)  Aron Ralston filmed a daily video diary whilst he was stuck in the canyon; the footage has only been shown to close friends and family and is kept in a bank vault for safety. Before shooting began both Boyle and Franco were allowed to view the footage in order to accurately portray the events in the movie.

PLOT: A man (Robert Downey Jr) trying to get home to his pregnant wife (Michelle Monaghan) and the birth of his first child is forced to enlist the help of a wannabe actor and degenerate (Zach Galifianakis).  Together, they travel across the country from Atlanta to LA, encountering many more degenerates along the way.

Check out the trailer:

MIKE’S REVIEW: I think it’s inevitable that DUE DATE is going to be compared to THE HANGOVER.  It’s Todd Phillips’ first film after the box office smash, the trailer had audiences rolling in their seats, and Zach Galifianakis looks to be playing the same exact character.  So does it hold its own against its well loved big brother…?

DUE DATE is definitely no HANGOVER.  Granted, it has its shining moments, but as a whole, it feels bumpy, over the top, and like I’ve seen it all before.  

We start off at the airport and the first meeting of Peter Highman and Ethan Tremblay, and already I was feeling a slight case of déjà vu.  (Just want to note that the name ‘Peter Highman” is funny in itself for two reasons…first because the character has supposedly never gotten high in his life, and second, because Robert Downey Jr. is playing a guy who has never gotten high in his life.)  Predictably, Peter and Ethan start off on the wrong foot, and due Ethan’s stupidity, both get kicked off the plane and put on the no-fly list.  Problem number one: the no-fly list is the MacGuffin to get the story to where it needs to be, but couldn’t it have been done a little more creatively?  The scene felt like it was taken almost exactly from ANGER MANAGEMENT.  The only difference was the idiot lawman used rubber bullets instead of a stun gun.

From there, we follow Ethan and Peter on their misadventures across the country.  Sadly, there were more times when watching when I would think ‘this is supposed to be funny’ than actually laugh.  An entire scene with Danny McBride as a crippled Iraq war vet just fell flat (okay, ‘handy-capable’ was amusing), and every bit just seemed like another way to show another idiot the two encounter or how asinine Ethan is.   I could practically imagine the writers scheming up Ethan’s perm/narcolepsy/ masturbation techniques to make him that much more annoying and ridiculous.  The same goes for all the crap that Peter has to go through to get home.  They just heighten the joke over and over with none of it is exactly motivated in any way.  Even in ridiculous comedies, the foundation needs to be motivated and real, and it never was to me.  Everything in THE HANGOVER, and that includes the tiger and the baby seemed grounded compared to the randomness thrown in here. 

Speaking of reality, if you’re going to throw in major plot points, don’t just build up the drama and then dismiss them later like it was no big deal.  Jamie Foxx showed up for all of ten minutes as Downey Jr.’s best friend and Monaghan’s former flame.  All clues for both Downey and the audience lead to an affair, and instead of making something out of it, the matter is wrapped up with a bow, and we never see Foxx again.  Glad you got the paycheck, my man, but c’mon!  Second, if there is going to be a chase scene across the Mexican border with cop cars flipping, is it really possible that once they’re back in the United States, there are no repercussions?  Yes, chase scenes are supposed to be fun, but the two drive a Mexican police truck all the way up the California border, most of the time without a passenger door, and not one highway patrolman is going to stop them?  Again: reality, people, please!

Don’t get me wrong…there are a few nuggets of gold mixed in.  Sonny, the masturbating dog, is one of the cutest things if for no other reason but the fact that he has no clue what is going on around him and is a completely innocent bystander.  There is also a quick stop at a pot-dealer’s house near the beginning of the film (Ethan finds her on Craig’s List for his glaucoma medicine…), and the scene had me laughing the whole time.  Todd Phillips gives himself a bit of an extended cameo here as the dealer’s stoned lover, Galifianakis attempts to show his acting range with a monologue from The Godfather, and the way Downey Jr. deals with one of the dealer’s crazy kids is by far the funniest moment in the entire movie.

Speaking of Robert Downey Jr., the man can do no wrong for me, and he is hands down the savior of this movie.  Peter is really not the nicest guy, and actually more of an ass than anything else.  He always has an attitude and does some pretty horrible stuff to Ethan and Sonny (especially something he attempts to do near the beginning of the trip).  Maybe it’s because no one else around him besides the audience realizes the ridiculousness he has to deal with, but we are still drawn to him.  The guy is absolutely hysterical in the subtlest ways.  No need to overact.  He just reacts with his trademark sarcasm and we get some of the funniest bits that even Galifianakis can’t rival.

As for Galifianakis, he’s really not doing much here that he hasn’t done before.  THE HANGOVER brought his career into a whole other stratosphere, and while he spent IT’S KIND OF A FUNNY STORY trying to show his range and break from that, he spends this entire movie as Alan with a perm.  Ethan did have a handful of very emotional scenes concerning his father, and I think those moments of heart and drama stood out more than any of the forced comedy that Galifianakis was bringing while acting like an idiot.  I still look forward to seeing more of him, but hopefully in something more substantial and with more depth than the trilogy of Alan that is HANGOVER, DUE DATE, and HANGOVER II. 

Granted, with all its problems, DUE DATE was an okay time at the movies.  Yes, there was no reality and there was nothing new to get me on board, but it had its moments of gold (mostly thanks to Robert Downey Jr).  To me, every Judd Apatow movie after KNOCKED UP has blended, and I could see Todd Phillips going the same way if he’s not careful.  If I didn’t have to spend the $12 or was with a bunch of friends on a living room couch, I would have definitely been along for the ride a lot more. 

GRADE: C+

Mike’s LIKES:

1) ROBERT DOWNEY JR: The man is what kept the movie alive.  As the straight man, his attitude and deadpan comments to everyone around him was funnier than anything Galifianakis could bring to the table.  Oh, and the kid sooooo deserved what he got…you’ll see what I mean.  

2) ZACH GALIFIANAKIS’ EMOTIONAL SCENES: He annoyed the crap out of me at times, but in his few emotional scenes, Galifianakis showed a range that I didn’t expect of him. I actually believed him crying and being alone, and those two scenes I think hit me more than his entire performance in IT’S KIND OF A FUNNY STORY.

3) TWO AND A HALF MEN: Sadly enough, I think this was one of the funniest parts of the entire movie…and it was fake clips from an 8-season old sitcom.

4) SONNY THE DOG: You can’t help but adore this little ball of masturbating fluff.  Yeah, I said it: masturbating fluff.

5) HEADSHOTS: Remember on THE HANGOVER DVD when they had that slideshow of all the bachelor party pictures (a lot more than what was shown on the end credits)?  I swear, if they could do that with Ethan Tremblay’s headshots, I would stop laughing.  Oh, and remember Malcolm X. 

Mike’s DISLIKES:

1) ZACH GALIFIANAKIS: So Alan from THE HANGOVER escaped his cage, drove to Atlanta, and changed his name to Ethan Tremblay.  Either that, or he has an equally stupid twin that his parents got rid of because they couldn’t handle that they created such stupidity. 

2) JAMIE FOXX: There was no reason to advertise Jamie Foxx for this movie when he was barely in it for ten minutes!  His storyline was one of the most interesting ones in the film, and it just went absolutely nowhere!  Wtf?

3) QUICK SWITCH OF EMOTIONS: There were too many parts in the movie where people’s emotions switched on a dime.  Suddenly, they hate each other.  Then they feel bad.   Then they’re best friends.  Then they’re against someone else, but THAT person is now a good guy, too!  Changes happened too quickly without any real reasoning.

4) AIRPLANE OPENING:I know Downey Jr needed to be on the no-fly list, but was there no other creative way of doing it?  All I kept thinking about during that scene was Adam Sandler in ANGER MANAGEMENT and Ben Stiller in MEET THE PARENTS.

5) A**HOLES:  Another level of ridiculousness to add to numbers 3 and 4.  While THE HANGOVER had its share of a**holes as well as nice guys in Vegas, these two couldn’t catch a break.  After a while, it just felt like the writers were playing a game of “What NEXT level of idiot can we get in here?”  Give me some normalcy!

Legendary blues man Taj Mahal’s performance last week at a UCLA Live concert in Royce Hall drew a large and enthusiastic audience.  It was a night in which we saw an integration of musical styles from many different points on the planet, ranging from the Mississippi Delta to Mali.   In the capable hands of a winsome character like Taj, the program was hugely entertaining.   Though he has recorded material in many styles, using instruments ranging from steel drums to a kora – and everything standard in between – on this night he stuck to stripped down blues arrangements.

With only drums and bass to back him, Taj hit the stage right on time, dressed in white linen slacks and a black sport shirt, spangled with what looked like assorted exotic birds and a wide brimmed white hat.   He immediately plugged into one of several acoustic/electric guitars and played “TV Mama”  which evoked the old Elmore James riff in “Dust My Broom” and featured a very crisp guitar solo.  Though he was not playing slide guitar, he made the riff sound as though he was.

Taj Mahal

Three songs into the set, it was time to wipe his brow and this seemingly routine motion offered a glimpse into how someone with real presence, like Taj, seems to look all the more memorable in a hat. He held the hat up, looked it over like a trusted pet, and observed in a warm, low voice that the hat had attitude, and that it was just looking for a head to sit on.  It wasn’t simply his words that impressed, it was also how he physically assured us of the idea.   Similarly, the graceful arc he displayed in strapping on a new guitar spoke subtly to anyone who was watching.

Throughout the show Taj cycled through guitar, keyboard and banjo, always maintaining a fine balance between singing, strumming, soloing or even whistling.  He seemed to be moderating a charismatic dialogue between these components on each song.  He has one of the most expressive voices you could hope to find.  At times he sounded angelic, other times warm and immediate, and occasionally like a big ‘ol bullfrog.  The rhythm section of Kester Smith and Bill Rich served up streamlined, catchy grooves that fit the tunes like a glove.

Vieux Farka Toure

Songs such as “Blues With a Feeling,” “Corrina, Corrina,” and “Zanzibar” were eagerly received by an audience that seemed fully familiar with Mahal’s repertoire.   On “Blues With a Feeling” he was joined onstage by Vieux Farka Toure, the rising star guitar player from Mali who opened the show.  When these fellows jammed it was an interesting contrast in roots and style.  On this set of standard blues changes Taj veered towards the pentatonic end of the spectrum and Vieux worked more with the major scale, which actually made his own blues licks jump up out of the mix.

The opening set by Toure, son of the legendary Ali Farka Toure, was also very well received.   Playing a Joe Satriani model Ibanez guitar, dressed in authentic Malian garb, Toure and his band proceeded to keep the audience engaged and bopping for an hour.  His set consisted of songs that featured several different sets of three or four chord changes and a whole lot of guitar soloing on top of it all.  Although the words to his songs were not in English he was very explanatory between songs as he politely relayed to the audience how he was finding America.

Watching the young man from Mali arrive on the UCLA campus, then play the blues onstage with Taj Mahal on a Korean made guitar, which was designed by an American rock ‘n roller, really made the world seem just a little bit smaller — if only for the length of an entertaining evening.

Taj Mahal photo courtesy of UCLA LIVE.

To read more reviews by Mike Finkelstein click HERE.

Mean Old Man (Verve Forecast)

By Mike Finkelstein

Often, when a host of stars gather together to record with one of their legendary influences, the results are rather ordinary.   Jerry Lee Lewis’ latest release, Mean Old Man, produced by Jim Keltner and Steve Bing, is a refreshing and tasteful departure from this syndrome.  The personnel on this album are indeed stellar, the performances are inspired, and most importantly, the choice of material is winsome.

Jerry Lee Lewis is probably best known as one of the earliest rock ‘n’ roll musicians to have huge success, having lit the up the radio world more than 50 years ago with exhilarating and suggestive classics such as “Great Balls of Fire,” and “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’On.”    Between his music and his controversial reputation for hard living, he has influenced the tastes and imaginations of generations of musicians. An elite group of these folks helped JLL make this album.  The personnel fills a true A-List and includes Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood, Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Tim McGraw, Sheryl Crow, Kid Rock, Slash, Shelby Lynne, John Fogerty, Gillian Welch, Mavis Staples, Robbie Robertson and Nils Lofgren.

Mean Old Man allows Lewis to adapt his vocal and piano styles to material ranging from gospel to rock ‘n roll to several speeds of country. You can hear these folks stepping into the moment and making the songs sound special.   He rocks with guests like Kid Rock and Slash on “Rockin’ My Life Away,” and then with Ringo Starr and John Mayer on “Roll Over Beethoven.”

Lewis and Kid Rock’s approach to the same song are quite a contrast.  Lewis’ vocal sounds warm, poised and soulfully in control, while Kid Rock howls and growls his way through, perhaps giddy to actually be in the studio with the Killer, himself.   Still, what really propels the track is Lewis’ trademark rolling piano meshed with a streamlined boogie-woogie rhythm section.

After listening to Mean Old Man, one cannot help but be impressed by Lewis’ country sensibilities.  All of the tracks in this collection have a country bend in their arrangements, and this suits Lewis’ voice and piano.  Setting his style over steel guitars, skipping snare drums, and simple clean bass lines in the country tradition works like a charm.   He shines as he sings “Swinging Doors” with Merle Haggard and “Whiskey River” with Willie Nelson.   He sings beautiful duets with Gillian Welch on “Please Release Me,” and  “I Really Don’t Want to Know,” that deliver the heartache and lament in sparse, whining glory.  The latter, in particular, is a reminder of the huge value in a good song getting the right arrangement.

No less than three Rolling Stones appear among the guest stars.  With the addition of a fine, swelling steel guitar track and Jerry Lee’s voice “Dead Flowers” transcends into the truly country song it was likely conceived to be.  It’s interesting to hear Mick Jagger singing backups on this very familiar track as it becomes apparent that the sentiments in this song are tailor-made for a voice like Lewis’.   Keith Richards joins Jerry Lee for a romp through “Sweet Virginia” that features a gem of a piano break by Lewis (and cleaner shoes for Virginia).   Ron Wood joins for the title track written by Kris Kristofferson and sung proudly, yet with restraint and resignation, by Lewis.

Time after time on Mean Old Man the songs become topical for Lewis.  Whether the song is about boozing, womanizing, rocking, remorse or redemption they all seem as though they could have been written with him in mind as the singer.  Thanks to Lewis, the star-filled line-up, the arrangements and the performances, this eminently listenable album succeeds in delivering the essence of the songs.

PLOT: The fictionalized account of the creation of Facebook by Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) and Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield), and the drama/backstabbing/lawsuits/sex & drugs that came with it.

Check out the trailer:

MIKE’S REVIEW: Facebook first exploded into our lives back in 2004, and before we knew it, we were hooked.  Colleges who didn’t have it were jealous of colleges who did.  All high school students were jealous of college kids, and parents were wondering what the hell “Facebook me” meant.  Yet, only six years later, did the fastest growing and most valuable social networking site in the world deserve its own movie…?

THE SOCIAL NETWORK is not a strict film about Facebook.  It’s not some romantic comedy about two people finding each other online or a mystery set in a character’s newsfeed.  (Let’s see if the upcoming Monopoly movie follows suit…)  Facebook is only used as a catalyst for something a lot deeper—a character study on greed, corruption and power.  Aaron Sorkin does what he does best and throws us right into the psyche of Mark Zuckerberg before the opening credits roll.  He is a quick talking, angry, insecure 20-year-old who is obsessed with Final Clubs and being somebody.  Before we get five sentences into the conversation with his soon-to-be ex girlfriend, we already know how much of an asshole he is, and yet we still care about him. 

Why do we still care, you ask?  It’s the same reason why we care for Eduardo Saverin and Sean Parker: they’re all kids.  They’re not a bunch of cocky businessmen trying to create a company.  They’re just a bunch of kids who think they know everything and want everything in return.  Zuckerberg is definitely a genius, but he has his vulnerabilities, even if we only see it in flashes quicker than a lightning bolt.  Saverin gets excited being named CFO and rides the subways 14 hours a day looking for advertisers, not realizing that the company is bigger than just some advertisers a college junior could scramble together.  And Parker is the suave grownup player, yet he still carries his inhaler with him.   In a world where everyone is universally connected through the internet and the next big thing reigns supreme, these three kids were able to play God, and we got to see what happened to them when the power started to swell. 

In the role of Mark Zuckerberg, Jessie Eisenberg brought to the table something he never has before (I should really see HOLY ROLLERS before I say that, but you get the point).  I’ve had friends call him ‘that other Michael Cera’, but it’s roles like this that bring him to another level.  Zuckerberg is a dark character.  He never fully smiles, he doesn’t laugh, and his revenge and spite-filled brain moves a mile a minute.  Yet, somehow, Eisenberg is able to find those little tiny points to infuse just a bit of feeling and emotion.  After ZOMBIELAND and ADVENTURELAND, to see him so reserved yet still get everything he needs to across to the audience is a completely awesome 180, and shows that he has a lot more depth and range than a few teen comedies. 

Andrew Garfield seems to have popped up out of nowhere over the past few years, but the talent is there.  As basically the only nice guy in the movie, we are meant to feel for Saverin. The audience may be on the fence for every other character, but Saverin’s innocence and hopes to please his father make you just want to hug him (or tell him to play dirty and kick Mark’s ass).  I think that Saverin goes through the most emotions and range throughout the film, and with this, NEVER LET ME GO, and the upcoming SPIDERMAN reboot, here’s hoping that his star will go even father over the next two to three years.

And then, there is Justin Timberlake, who for some reason people still rag on for the boy-band pop star past.  The man can do anything, and brings a breath of fresh air to the role of Sean Parker.  Parker’s a smooth talker who commands the room.  He is the most menacing and sinister, and Timberlake has some of the best lines and speeches because of it.  The role is also an excellent contrast to Garfield’s character, and leads to some great clashes between the two.

THE SOCIAL NETWORK is an excellent take on the creation of the most influential social network of all time.  Aaron Sorkin gives us an amazing, natural script, and David Fincher has another film that could stand with FIGHT CLUB and SE7EN.  The most interesting thing, however, and what will probably leave people debating when they leave the theaters, is the level of reality versus dramatization.  Like any other biographical film, we wonder how much to take as fact.  Because of the recent media blitz and giving $100 Million to Newark schools, we have seen the real Zuckerberg everywhere, and for the most part, he seems like a nice, somewhat awkward guy.  Then we see this asshole character version and wonder whom to believe.  We see all this drama and craziness in college, and then we have Zuckerberg saying that it’s nowhere near that crazy, and his life has been more hard work and coding than anything else.  It’s up to the individual audience member to make their choice of whether to love or hate the man.  No matter what, Zuckerberg still created something that changed the world, and Sorkin and Fincher give us a fun ride telling his story.

GRADE: A

Mike’s LIKES:

1) JESSIE EISENBERG: Eisenberg is slowly gaining on the popularity of Michael Cera, and can handle both comedy and drama.  I can’t wait to see him grow and really see where his range could take him.

2) Justin Timberlake: The guy can seriously do anything.  He can sing, dance, act, play basketball and golf, play guitar and piano, write songs, and had Britney Spears and Cameron Diaz.  AND he stays modest throughout the whole time.  Awesome job here, and I respect him even more because of it. 

3) INTERTWINING COURTS: The way that Sorkin tells the story through two simultaneous court cases was excellent.  Takes a second to get used to, but the narrative flows, and makes you jealous that you can’t write something like that. 

4) SOUNDTRACK: From little hints of the a cappella that made us want “Creep” from the trailer to single piano notes to stuff that made you feel like you were in FIGHT CLUB all over again.

5) NOSTALGIA: From hearing about the initial addictiveness of Facebook to the strange day when we realized the “The” before it was dropped completely…Everyone in my generation could feel what the characters felt about the site, and we were giddy when the memories came back. 

Mike’s DISLIKES:

1) MARK ZUCKERBERG’S CHARACTERIZATION: After seeing numerous interviews with the guy, I wish Aaron Sorkin at least gave him somewhat of a redeemable streak.  It’s not the first time a fictionalized version of someone seems completely different than the real person, but it would have been nice to see the similarities between the two here.

2) THAT’S REALLY ALL I CAN THINK OF….

On Thursday night two of the better tribute bands rocked a Twilight Dance program at the Santa Monica Pier to a hugely enthusiastic crowd of thousands.  On a day that reached 104 F in some places, it was a pleasant 40 degrees cooler on the pier when the show started.  The Pier concerts have two levels for viewers, the stage level itself and the beach below, which was filled with picnickers and beach blankets.  By all appearances everyone had a great time.

The goals in presenting tributes to iconic bands like the Beatles or Led Zeppelin are to look and sound exactly like the eminent originals.   If the audience can suspend their doubts and allow the band to convince them that they are watching the originals, then a tribute band has succeeded.  Details are crucial and the more a band delivers, the better they will succeed with audiences who are very likely to scrutinize every aspect of the performance with a fine-toothed comb.  In photos and film footage, there is much documentation available as to how the rock idols moved, dressed and played.  Ideally, the members of a tribute band will bear a very close physical resemblance to the original persons they portray and have the spot-on musicianship to play their parts perfectly.   Add appropriate period clothes and instruments, and a first rate tribute band can develop a convincingly authentic show.

Led Zepagain has been delivering the goods for upwards of a decade, paying tribute to perhaps the biggest enchilada of them all in rock and roll: Led Zeppelin.  Over the years they have won awards and even the praise of Jimmy Page, who founded LZ.   The crowd at the Pier was revved up for what would probably be the closest that most of them will ever get to seeing a live, vintage Led Zeppelin show.  And it’s a resounding compliment to Led  Zepagain’s power to evoke a Led Zeppelin concert that the crowd was this pumped all the way through the performance.

Led Zeppagain

Led by “Robert Plant” (Swan Montgomery) Led Zepagain hit the stage dressed in Houses of the Holy era Zeppelin threads and, without costume changes, laid down a comprehensive but involved set of the LZ catalog through the Physical Graffiti album.   “Jimmy Page” (Steve Zukowsky) wore the familiar black dragon and stars ensemble and played sunburst Les Pauls, black DanElectros for slide, and even a cherry red Gibson double-neck 6- and 12-string electric.  His Marshall cabinet was complete with Page’s Zoso logo.  He even had a violin bow and theremin rig like the one Page used for dramatic effects.  Wearing a long curly wig, he had all the moves, flair, riffs, chops, and equipment to pull it off.   In fact, his sound was a actually a bit more polished than Page’s was over 20 years ago.  Since Led Zeppelin was a live jam band as much as anything else, improvising was a big part of the Pier show.  Steve Z incorporated his own facility into Page’s style to include all the signature hooks and sounds, but made the matrix in his solos his own, and it served to advance the performance.  He portrayed Jimmy Page as well as anyone could hope to.

No tribute band stands a chance of being convincing without a commanding and believable front man.   Led Zepagain had this presence with Montgomery as Plant.    Dressed in the iconic open gypsy cloth shirt, hip hugging jeans, and blond hair, he had all the physical nuances of RP down pat.  Swan’s voice was strongest in the high registers, where Plant was unequalled in his time.   Although it was a bit thin in the lower registers, he compensated with a fine and authentic delivery.

Listening to the Led Zepagain rhythm section drove home how skilled the band is and just how magnificent but challenging the original songs can be to play.  Songs like “In My Time of Dying” featured slamming syncopated turnarounds and a demanding interplay between the bass and drums.   John Paul Jones and John Henry Bonham were as dynamic a rhythm section as there’s ever been in rock and roll.  And Jim Wootten as bassist Jones and Jim Kersey as drummer Bonham gave us a potent reminder of what a special engine powered Led Zeppelin.   They played the songs impressively from the inside out, performing all this thunder on a sunburst Fender Jazz Bass and an amber plexiglass Ludwig drum kit, just like Jones and Bonham

Because a tribute band must think comprehensively, the Led Zepagain set list was more interesting than the Zeppelin set list often was.   Songs like “Ramble On,” “Heartbreaker,” and “Good Times, Bad Times” made it into the show.   And the performance also included an acoustic section where Wootten switched to mandolin on “Going to California,” which went over famously on the Santa Monica Pier.  No wonder Led Zepagain was received so famously.   From 100 yards away in the ocean night, they might as well have been Led Zeppelin.

Abbey Road

Abbey Road opened the show as the sun went down, and proceeded to present every detail of an early Beatlemania, vintage Beatles concert (save for the screaming that eventually made the band stop gigging) with fine results. In tightly tailored matching black suits, Cuban heeled boots, with unexaggerated Liverpool accents, and three of four members in mop top wigs, the lads cut quite a convincing profile onstage. “Ringo” (David Byers) had his vocal mic hanging from the boom in authentic fashion. “Paul” (John Gilbert) was left-handed, and played a Hofner violin bass.   “George” (Rick Valente) had a hollow body Gretsch, and “John” (Scott Krejci) had a small scale black Rickenbacker – all of it just like the Beatles.

They played through Vox amps as the Beatles did and all the guys in the band had the physiques, postures, gestures, and nuances of their characters down perfectly.   Playing a song selection culled mostly from the Meet The Beatles and Beatles ’65 albums, the harmonies, arrangements and playing were tantalizingly close to spot on, with Valente, as George offering a wonderfully authentic version of “This Boy.”  (At one point, I overheard a fellow in the audience tell his girlfriend that they should have played a D minor chord instead of a D7.   Perhaps… )

Thursday night’s show illustrated that the actual concept of a tribute band, as authentic and noble as it may be, is one step removed from reality.  The tribute will always be bound by comparison to the original.  Abbey Road, acting out the Beatles’ live act, had to have every detail perfectly locked in place, since the Beatles didn’t improvise much when playing live.  Led Zepagain had the opportunity to establish the Led Zep sound and then run with it freely, as LZ used to do.  At a certain point it all really can become like splitting hairs.  But for this performance, both bands performed like champions — a great night in the rock and roll time machine.

To read more reviews by Mike Finkelstein click here.

On Tuesday night Chris Isaak brought his unique take on American music of the late ‘50s and early ‘60s to the Greek Theater.   For nearly two hours he and his superb band, Silvertone, sauntered, skipped and sidled through a set in which each song evoked the time period in musical and visual style.

The band made their entrance first in matching, custom tailored, embroidered grey suits, followed by their leader in a striking black suit with elaborate sequin designs on the front and back and rising up his legs.  The suits rather directly evoked the country music tradition of performing all duded up in fancy matching rhinestone clothes.  Before playing the first song, he thanked the audience sincerely for breaking away from the TV set to come out and support live music.  And then we were off and rocking at various tempos through songs like “Lonely with a Broken Heart,” “Dancin’,” and “Somebody’s Crying.”

Isaak’s songs typically deal with the tensions and heartbreaks of romance.   They are streamlined tunes, featuring basic chord changes and simple but poignant lyrics.   The heart of these songs is brought out with sparse arrangements, clever embellishments, and subtle effects like tremolo, reverb and vibrato.   Isaak sang them powerfully and confidently from the heart with a polished set of pipes.   His uncommonly smooth voice, combined with his ability to navigate falsetto and yodels effortlessly, added even more dimension to the performance.  Several times he held a dramatic note for 12 measures and it only served to enhance the song.  The way Silvertone delivered the music backing him really was impressive.  They are all strong players and they know how to use their talent to advance a song, practicing considerable restraint in their arrangements. Whether soloing or backing each other up, no one played anything unnecessary or short of tasty.  As a result, all the songs breathed freely and every part was that much easier to appreciate.

Throughout the night, Isaak and Silvertone’s goal was all about putting on a classy rock and roll show.   Musically and visually, they did a remarkable job of creating an atmosphere that welcomed us into a different frame of mind.   They sang beautiful harmonies, played clean at a comfortable volume, dressed for the occasion, and played vintage and custom guitars that shimmered and sounded great together.   The band went from duck walking to choreographed moves, to just swaying with the music.  At one point bassist Roland Salley nearly danced himself off the lip of a darkened corner of the stage and Isaak nonchalantly pulled him back to safety.

No doubt about it, even at 54, Chris Isaak is still a heart throb.   So, when he took a stroll through the Greek while crooning Elvis Presley’s “Love Me Tender,” the ladies in the audience lapped it up.  Communicating the same appeal that pre-Army heartthrob Elvis had, he offered lots of style, a fine coif and a youthful demeanor.  He also crooned and rocked convincingly, displaying the rare ability to envelop an audience in his style. He brilliantly covered two Roy Orbison tunes, “Only the Lonely” and “Pretty Woman” – a task few singers would risk doing.  But in this performance, Isaak owned the Orbison songs.  Further displaying his versatility, he  even covered James Brown’s “I’ll Go Crazy” with style.

Issak’s between-songs banter was warm and engaging.  He was good at it, but there were times when it seemed he would have done better to play another song instead of continuing to engage us with the shtick.   The night went to a special level when the four members of the band came to the front of the stage to sit on stools and play some ballads.   Songs such as “Western Stars,” “We Lost Our Way,” and “Two Hearts” worked beautifully in this format.   Drummer Kenny Dale Johnson caressed his snare drum by sliding and stroking his brushes in a circular motion that was loaded with panache.  Johnson and Isaak have been singing phenomenally rich high harmonies together for more than twenty five years, and they sounded great together.   Below them swirled keyboardist Scott Plunkett on accordion, bassist Salley, and guitarist Hershel Yatovitz.   Yatovitz, too, was a valuable musical presence, and on “Take My Heart” he contributed some very tasty Les Paul styled licks on a pearl white Stratocaster.

Though most of Isaak’s songs do concern broken hearts, crying, angst and yearning, it’s hard to actually believe that a guy with that much style, charisma, and talent would be so blue.  Perhaps the truth is that he has really honed the craft of writing this type of sad love song.   Two of his tunes, “Wicked Game” and “Blue Hotel” are exceptional tracks, featuring hauntingly beautiful chords, and words that conjure up a very beautiful, wide open sense of loneliness and despair. “Wicked Game” is his best known hit and was very well received.

To make a retro presentation and not be perceived as contrived cannot be easy.  It’s a fine line for a performer to walk, but Isaak has been dancing along it expertly for over 25 years.    Transcending the moment, he simply drew his audience in on Tuesday night to everything he played.

The show was opened by Louisiana soul singer Mark Broussard.   He and his band turned in a restrained set of nicely arranged tunes.  But it wasn’t until the last song that the band began to cut loose.  It was a direction they should follow a bit sooner in future performances.

On Sunday night, the Greek Theater presented an attractive double bill featuring the Steve Miller Band and Los Lobos to a near capacity audience. This was a show that targeted the legions of classic rock fans who have typically attended a lot of concerts and rock shows for most of their lives.

Like many headlining bands SMB used a huge banner to accentuate their entrance, emerging from behind a star covered Space Cowboy image that covered the stage from top to bottom.  While many bands use huge two dimensional banners as backdrops, Miller has raised the bar up a notch with a very clever 3 dimensional spiral galaxy of guitars.  Dozens of bigger-than-life- to life- sized photos of Miller’s personal guitar collection plunged into a musical vortex behind a beautifully scaled, 30 foot sculpture of an Fender Stratocaster neck and headstock, detailed with colorized strings and spotlight tuning heads.  Fender must surely be elated by this arresting presentation.

Steve Miller

Miller and his cohorts hit the stage energetically, launching into “Jet Airliner,” one of many hits in their long and FM-friendly career.  Throughout the evening Miller wove together a whole grip of hits — “Take the Money and Run,” “Abracadabra,” and “The Joker” — with some very tasty, familiar blues and r & b covers such as “Mercury Blues,” “Come On,” and “I just Can’t be Satisfied,” keeping the show at a fresh pace.   The band had an unorthodox lineup for most of the night, with two guitars, drums and keys, without a bass guitar.   But the sound never suffered as keyboardist Joseph Wooten smoothly handled the bass lines with his left hand.   On songs like “Shubadadumama,” which features several quick and funky signature bass runs, Kenny Lee Lewis switched from rhythm guitar to five string bass and had it covered.   Drummer Gordy Knudtsen was steady and popping all night, too.

Miller’s songs are at times rich in vocal layering and for this reason he has wisely hired the talented Sonny Charles to sing backups, harmonies and unisons with him onstage.  Charles’ voice is tailored to fit with Miller’s parts, particularly the unisons, and he is such a good blues vocalist that Miller, to his credit, turned the reigns over to him at times.   On several of the covers, like “Further On Up The Road,” Charles just nailed it.  Interestingly, Miller brought a pre teen-aged prodigy from his music school Kids Rock for Free onstage for “Rockin’ Me” and  “Fly Like An Eagle” at the end of the show.  The kid could really play, trading leads with Miller and playing in a rocker’s stance.   Miller was clearly delighted to see the boy get off on guitar in front of a full house, though one song would have gotten the message over just as well.

At the age of 66 and in the music business for more than 43 years, stories develop and fellow musicians pass on.  Recently, Miller lost two very close friends and reconnected with another.  Norton Buffalo played harmonica in the SMB for 33 years and died suddenly of cancer in October, 2009.  For his brother in harmony Miller played “Wild Mountain Honey” solo on acoustic guitar.  Les Paul, who died in August 2009, was Miller’s godfather and the best man at his father’s wedding.   Miller had known and learned from Paul for his entire life.  He dedicated the moving standard “Nature Boy” to him.   On a different note, SM told the story of an exemplary Martin 12-string guitar that had gotten away from him, stolen by an airline worker in 1980. It was actually returned to him 3 years ago by the FBI!   He played a simply beautiful, if obscure, song of his named “Seasons” on it.

Steve Miller Band

Miller’s material is shrewdly constructed using a lot of basic blues voicings. Most of his songs are stylized to feature simple rhyming lyrics about love and harmony that are meant to be sung along to the radio.  The bass lines are warm and often walk all over the place.   The drums are big but not over the top and very crisp.  The guitar lines and textures complement each other beautifully.

But guitar playing is really Miller’s calling card.  Alternating between Strats and Les Pauls to get a rich warm tone, Miller made it all look very easy.   Nor did he depend on a distorted sound to make his points..  His sound was basically clean and sustained, though he did use some delay in places on tunes such as “Fly Like An Eagle.” His style, honed over many years, is rooted in the nuances of the blues.   Like so many good blues players he says more with less, emphasizing the tone and subtlety of a phrase. Since he wore aviation sunglasses all night, we never did see his eyes.  And it appeared that he wasn’t big on facial contortions, either.

Anyone who was around in the mid ‘70’s and listened to FM rock radio undoubtedly heard all of Miller’s hits to the point of saturation.  A catchy song can become so familiar as to create a bit of a backlash at the time.  But there’s nothing like passing time to allow an old song to bring back memories of what we were doing when the song was all over the airwaves.   This was the case with Miller’s Sunday performance.  It’s also worth noting that in his prime, the vinyl LP was the main medium for listening to recorded music.  A 12-inch album cover is a much better format for looking at cool album art than a 5 inch jewel box CD.  His lush air brushed album covers of the time definitely dovetailed with his use of synthesizers to create a spacy mood that many people embraced then.  As he told us in “The Joker” he is… “A midnight toker.”   And so it was back in the day.

Los Lobos

The show was opened by the legendary East LA band Los Lobos, who have been together since 1973.  The band’s front five — Cesar Rojas, David Hidalgo, Conrad Lozano, Louie Perez, and Steve Berlin — are as versatile a band as one could hope to find, and they covered a lot of musical ground in a little less than an hour.  From big beat Texas blues, to 50’s boogie-woogie rock and roll, to traditional Tejano (Texas/Mexico) music, to bluesy ballads and tight jangly pop they touched on all of it.

Rojas and Hidalgo both played guitar and traded off or combined their lead vocals from song to song.  Their voices mesh famously, with Rojas’ being lower and slightly more gravelly than Hidalgo’s smooth and higher voice.  Having these two contrasting vocal timbres available was one of the reasons they were able to take things in so many different directions.  Hidalgo is a fine lead player, too, and his leads were clean and articulate each time through. Rojas and Hidalgo were supported in style by Perez on third guitar and the steady grooving Lozano on bass.   To watch Lozano play was to watch a man dialed into the connection between his bass and __his band.   The way he walked it, let it growl and drove the band with it personified smoothness.  At the far end of the stage, Berlin skillfully colored each song, mostly honking the baritone sax but also rotating on tenor sax and keyboards.

Los Lobos could easily have headlined at the Greek.  As it was, they cruised through a quickly paced, very well played set.  Their catalogue of songs is as extensive as it is impressive and while they touched on many areas of what they do, they left the crowd wanting more.   Songs like “Shakin,’ Shakin,’ Shakes” and “Evangeline” (with its ‘50s structure and boogie woogie bass line) rocked, plain and simple.   “Evangeline” in particular, came across with a power and style that only Los Lobos could deliver.  Similarly, but on a completely different musical path, the haunting and beautifully evocative “Kiko and the Lavender Moon” went over beautifully, enhanced by the harmonies between Hidalgo’s accordion and Berlin’s keyboard. “Will the Wolf Survive?” a beautifully crafted bit of jangling guitars and vocal harmony recorded in the early 80’s, still sounds phenomenal, with Hidalgo’s voice as expressive as it was 26 years ago.  “The Neighborhood” allowed him to cut loose and play some great, biting blues, and the show ended with a quick but rocking medley of  “La Bamba” and “Good Lovin’.”   So much talent and material, yet too little time.

Even so, on this clear summer night, in the Greek’s remarkably pleasant, mountainside setting, Los Lobos left us with a memorable stanza of “The Neighborhood” -– words to live by which the band continued to sing as the song cooled down:

“Thank you Lord for another day

Help my brother along his way

And please bring peace to the neighborhood…”

To read more of Mike Finkelstein’s reviews cliick here.

Guitar Night at Vitello’s in Studio City is the 13 year, ongoing pet project of journeyman jazz guitarist John Pisano.  The format can vary. On Tuesday, the guest guitarist, Laurence Juber, played several solo numbers before he was joined by Pisano and bassist Domenic Genova for several more numbers in a two set format that gave the players plenty of room to stretch things out musically.

John Pisano

Since there were no vocals, there was no PA system, just three tiny amps on a narrow riser. Though all three instruments were amplified, the overall feel and sound of the set was acoustic. The levels were just right in this room, not too loud and yet loud enough to catch all the nuances in an acoustic performance. There were close to 50 people in the room with space for several more. But even at capacity everyone has a comfortable place to sit, room to move all of their appendages, and save for one corner booth, a good sight line.   It was a bit difficult to hear what little the performers said to the audience depending on where one sat.   Still, this night was all about playing.

The living room vibe in Vitello’s is a very special thing.  Juber walked in, looked for a place to put his jacket, fine tuned his guitar, tweaked a dial or two on his small pedal board and amp, and then proceeded to warm up while the audience settled in and focused.   And quite a warm up it was, finger picking his way through blues, boogie-woogie and jazz and even crossing his arms, right hand towards the nut and left hand towards the bridge, for some tapping work.

Laurence Juber

The first section of the set was played in DADGAD tuning.  It’s no secret that Juber was a member of Paul McCartney’s Wings, and that he does remarkable solo instrumental versions of Beatles songs. On a song like “Strawberry Fields” and later on “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” he synced up the physical and harmonic possibilities of the open tuning beautifully.    He had all the familiar bass lines, chord progressions and melody lines in the song popping up, hammering and sliding together with polished care.  In his arrangements, vocal lines and instrumental lines were trimmed, tapered, and spliced into beautiful versions of the originals.

Whenever one sees a guitar played this way, it gives the eyes and ears a lot to follow.   It wouldn’t seem that so many voicings could come out of the same guitar at once.  Some guitarists floor us with jaw dropping technique and showmanship.  Juber is so skilled that his showmanship lies in simply making it all look easy.   Particularly in open tuning, his ergonomics take things to a very high level.

Domenic Genova

Several tunes into the set, Juber was joined by bassist Domenic Genova, who played some wonderful acoustic bass through a small amp.    The standup bass in a pair of capable hands like his is a simple beauty to appreciate.  There is something very fundamentally musical to find in the postures of the player and the bass itself. In the end, they work together to make rich music.   Throughout the set Genova would slide tastefully along the smooth fingerboard from one position to the next for a new phrase.   This sound brought out the warm acoustic nature of the instrument.  At times, on the bluesier sections, the groove between Juber and Genova evoked Hot Tuna.  At other times, Genova would adjust his attack to bring out the dynamics of the song.   He had several lead spots during the evening and shined in them, always letting the timbre of his instrument take the music further.   After one particular romp through some perhaps untested territory, Juber and Genova congratulated each other with tapped hands for a job well done in getting through with style.

John Pisano appeared about half way through both sets this evening, and at this point Juber returned to standard “missionary” tuning on guitar.  Pisano has been playing jazz guitar for more than 65 years, performing with many legends including, but certainly not limited to, the Tijuana Brass, Sergio Mendes, Peggy Lee and Joe Pass.   He played an absolutely beautiful custom made personal model Eastman guitar.  His style was very deliberate and even paced.  His tone was as soft and warm as it gets.  It was a nice contrast to Juber’s much brighter tone on his signature model Martin guitar.  On their first tune together they swung right into a Django Reinhardt groove with Juber playing quick skipping lines over Pisano’s vamps.

Pisano, like Juber, is so accomplished that he makes challenging playing appear quite effortless. But this could be deceiving, especially during one simply amazing chord vamping solo that he pulled off towards the end of the second set.  Chord after chord, beat after beat, and contorted fingerings one after the other, he took us up, down, inside and out and all over the ebony fingerboard. Later in the set he and Juber pulled off several remarkable unison runs that also went in many directions at once.  Even they seemed amazed that they nailed so much of it. When Pisano vamped, it was interesting to watch his right hand, which seemed to roll laterally rather than simply moving back and forth.   It seemed obvious that this motion would work towards such smooth sound.

To watch these three guys swing through blues, standards, jazz and improvisation together was special.  From a side view, you could compare all three of their expressions.  None of them were looking at each other’s face or ax; in fact their eyes were nearly shut.   They all had that far away look of being transported by the music.   And the audience was right there with them.  It was yet another example of the fact that – if you’re inclined to enjoy great guitar playing, you really should check out Guitar Night at Vitello’s.

To read more reviews by Mike Finkelstein click here.

Last weekend, War, Tower of Power and the Average White Band shared the stage at the packed Greek Theater.   These are three of the most memorable names from 70’s soul.  All had considerable radio success then.  War and TOP have dozens of iconic tracks between them and the vast majority of the audience was likely grooving to these songs when they first came out.   You could just feel the anticipatory buzz in the balmy outdoor air.

Average White Band

Opening the show was the Average White Band, an enduring Scottish funk/soul band who appeared on the international scene in the early 70’s.   AWB’s line up showed some interesting versatility as they swapped instrumental duties on several numbers.  Onnie McIntyre and Alan Gorrie both sang leads and played guitar and bass, Fred Vigdor doubled on sax and keyboards and Klyde Jones rotated between keyboards, guitar, bass and lead vocals.  No doubt about it, AWB went over very well as a third billed act.  The crowd knew the material and were anticipating the hits.  Towards the end of the set the hits were delivered and people were dancing at their seats and in the aisles.   This is as pure a sign of approval as a band could hope for.   Songs like “Cut the Cake” and the signature tune “Pick Up the Pieces” sounded timeless, as good Saturday night as they were over 30 years ago.   Sometimes it takes not hearing a great song for quite a while to make obvious just how good it is.  And with “Cut The Cake,” I was one of many who kept hearing the immortal lascivious line, “Gimmee, gimmee, gimmee, gimmee, gimmee that cake!” … and was still digging it.

Next on was Tower of Power, who are surely a testimonial to keeping things at a peak level for the longest of times.   The core of this band has been working steadily together through numerous personnel changes over a period of 42 years.   They still sounded like a well tuned high performance musical engine.  TOP featured a poppin’ five piece horn section led by founding members Emilio Castillo on tenor sax and Stephen “Doc” Kupka on baritone sax (a most hypnotically funky instrument rarely seen in pop music).  The band was powered by a rhythm section of Francis Rocco Prestia on bass and David Garibaldi on drums that thumped and snapped like few others around.  TOP bopped, glided, and swayed through a panorama of moods and grooves in this show.

Tower of Power

It takes one very polished front man to guide all of this energy and sound in a ten-man band.  Tower of Power has certainly made a fine chocie Larry Braggs.  He sang the slow songs with power and control, effortlessly opening it up and reelng it back in emotionally for dynamic effect.   Songs like the gorgeous and touching “So Very Hard To Go,”  and the poignant ballad “You’re Still A Young Man,” showcased his singing beautifully.  When the band lurched into open throttle funk on songs like “What is Hip” and “Down to the Nightclub” they took it to the next level. TOP played with a remarkable mix of precision, power and crisp arrangements, and it was gratifying to see them burn it up the way they did.

Tower of Power even has a new album out, The Great American Soulbook, a set of classic soul covers.  Among the songs they performed from it were the Billy Paul classic “Me And Mrs. Jones,” as well as a medley of James Brown covers.  Castillo explained, and the sound of the band confirmed, that it all begins with James Brown for them.  Listening to them pop and honk through “I Got the Feeling” it was clear as could be.

War was the headliner Saturday night and they did not disappoint.  Their music is a very unique mix of many different styles.  Elements of doo-wop, Calypso, reggae, funk, and soul can be heard throughout their catalogue but these musical strands are woven together so that it always sounds like War. While most of their songs are undeniably funky they do not often move very fast, but they groove like no one else’s business!

Lonnie Johnson and War

The band was fronted by the charismatic Lonnie Johnson, who held forth with a warm and knowing demeanor from behind a set of keyboards painted with bright designs.  War gets a very unique sound from their unusual instrumentation.  They featured Salvador Rodriguez on drums who is as steady as they come and plays with a winsome flair.  Next to Rodriguez was a full set of percussion played skillfully by Marcos Reyes.   At the bottom of this rhythmic mix was Francisco “Pancho” Tomaselli from Ecuador, who held down one solid bass line after another all night.  War also featured a unique sonic combination of saxophone (Fernando Harkles) and harmonica (Mitch Kashmar).   The mix of these two instruments together over the band’s inimitable percussive groove made for a signature sound.

War’s set was a romp through their catalogue of hits.  They opened up with “Cisco Kid,” one of their most easily recognized songs and the gig was off to a fine start.     As the show progressed, Johnson took time to explain some of what was behind songs like “Me and Baby Brother” and “Slipping Into Darkness” (tripping and drinking).   These are issues that resonate with an urban audience and the crowd at the Greek had come to hear these songs because, well, if you grew up listening to the radio in the 70’s then you quite likely know all of these songs like the back of  your hand.  War also played some of their lighter songs such as “Summer” and “Why Can’t we Be friends?” and they all worked like a charm.

But the one number that probably translated best to the present was “Lowrider”. This delightful and ubiquitous jam is War’s signature song. Its appeal was ultimately in the amazing groove it established, as it chugged and shuffled along sparsely yet deliberately.   Ultimately, it is this balance of odd but appealing voicings with great grooves that will keep War’s songs in the hearts of many more people in the future.  The best tunes do endure.

Throughout the night I watched a pair of kids, perhaps brother and sister, in the wings to the side of the stage.  They probably weren’t even in middle school yet but these two were dancing euphorically “old school”  to Tower of Power and War for well over an hour.   This nicely supports the idea that great music appeals to people of all ages.

Emotion and Commotion (Rhino)

By Mike Finkelstein

For many years the arrival of a new Jeff Beck release has been eagerly anticipated by musicians and enthusiasts worldwide.  His body of work is a diverse and continuing work in progress and his influence is as widespread as that of any living rock musician.  It’s always an event when we finally get to hear what he has concocted. He is known fondly for his mercurial approach to playing electric guitar and three of his albums have earned Grammys.  Live and on recordings, his tone and technique are uniquely unpredictable, brilliant, and at times astonishing.  He often juxtaposes the calmest with the craziest of musical moments.  With his new album, Emotion and Commotion, he seems to be in a state of transition and experimentation.  Most of the album features Beck’s guitar blending with a restrained and streamlined rhythm section under a dominating orchestral presence.  The production by Steve Lipson and Trevor Horn and the arrangements by Pete Murray have yielded a state of the art contemporary sound that is extraordinary.

To hear Jeff Beck’s guitar tones simply blending and often camouflaged in the musical backdrop is news on its own.  For a long time his sound has meshed beautifully with the core of every song it was part of , but for single line solos it usually became a dazzling showcase.  Throughout Emotion and Commotion his guitar lines sound like another voice in the orchestra, fluid and ethereal as they could possibly be, and distinguished by their sustain and tone.  I suspect it was exactly this lush vibe that the project was striving for.

While the new album does sound beautiful, it is in stark contrast to much of the harder rocking moments we have come to know and expect from Jeff Beck over much of his recording career.  His music continues to develop as he has given a great deal of attention to textures, dynamics and the techniques he can use to blend his guitar with new musical situations.  For this project the thrust is towards playing with an orchestra to really make it sound integrated.

Jeff Beck is not an artist who plays it close to the vest for long, and making an album like Emotion and Commotion is not playing it safe.  It is a big departure from what his audience has grown to know and love about his playing over his career.  There is, by comparison to his earlier work, not a whole lot of soloing on the new disc.  The trademark crazy guitar playing and mutated effects, the big and busy drum fills, the slap happy bass lines, the funky keyboard runs…all have been streamlined in favor of the big ethereal.  Beck seems to be in a transition period with his music.

The album begins with “Corpus Christi,” which features no percussion, just the orchestra and a guitar tone that seems to breathe and sigh.  The tone and delivery are subtly elegant for their simple delivery.  Throughout the disc, this approach swells impressively as we see how expressive restraint can be when practiced by a guy like Beck.  Few players can make a guitar sound so enmeshed with an orchestral backing.  We catch a brief glimpse of the more raucous sounding Jeff Beck that so many have come to appreciate in “Hammerhead.” It features a distorted wah guitar that does more than hint at a Hendrix “Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)” tone.  The drums and bass flex their muscles accordingly and though the solo is short it is overdriven and rocking, full of whammy bar delights, wild and frenzied but always controlled. Next is “Never Alone,” with its light percussion, slinky rhythm guitar and ultra melodic lines.  Here we wait for the real JB to emerge but the track ends without him really cutting loose.  Still, the tone he refines here is gorgeous.

Oddly, we get a version of “Over the Rainbow” that, in terms of tone and arrangement, one could only expect from the likes of Jeff Beck.  His take on this standard is representative of Emotion and Commotion as it features a dramatically lush mix of cellos and whispering guitar lines.  The melody line is alternately unrecognizable and vivid.  The real story here is how smoothly his guitar weaves into the orchestral backdrop.  It’s Jeff Beck continuing to develop the art of blending in rather than jumping out.

With Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ “I Put a Spell on You,” he gives us yet another entry in a career ripe with stylized takes on classic, yet somewhat out of the way songs.  Guest vocalist Joss Stone interprets the song soulfully and forcefully without going over the top.  Beck’s guitar tone glistens and twines around her voice famously, playfully and with spunk.  On this track, the strings do not overpower the guitar and the arrangement is better for it.  The piano was recorded clean, and locks in tightly with the cymbals, connecting the song nicely to its roots decades ago.

Stone also sings “There’s No Other Me.”  Here, her voice and his guitar are also a great match.  They feed off of each other.  One could say that in belting it out, she pulls the old Jeff Beck in from the wings of the studio to come have a blow, as his guitar alternately growls and groans the way we all had hoped it would.  He has a trademark ability to isolate the most fleeting sonic hues from a cranked guitar, just when it gets a mind of its own. The track cycles dynamically, going from cool, tight and funky to full fire hot a couple of times.  Tal Wilkenfeld’s bass smolders and slithers throughout and she, too, spurs Beck on to make his guitar sing.  In the end the song simply fades away, leaving this listener feeling that it ended too soon.

“Serene” is an aptly titled study in musical texture setting the mood for a vivid instrumental dialogue between Jeff and Tal.  The details of this arrangement are just gorgeous.  The feeling is so light and there is such a warm updraft for these two to glide upon.  The bass pulses deliberately then dances gracefully in the upper registers only to slide smoothly in any other direction she wants to take it.  Beck’s slinky, harmonized single track guitar lines embellish the whole track elegantly, leading into his singing, one note sustained lines and octave phrasing.   It’s a truly polished and soulful performance.  For anyone who has seen some of the dynamic footage of Jeff and Tal playing live, the visual imagery on a piece like this becomes very appealing.

“Lilac Wine” is one of two tracks Beck selected from the revered 1994 album Grace by Jeff Buckley.  Though neither “Lilac Wine” nor “Corpus Christi Carol” were written by Buckley, his stirring, straightforward interpretations inspired Beck to use them.  For “Lilac Wine” Imelda May’s soulful and oh, so warm voice is showcased in yet another beautiful pairing of voice with guitar — a study in inspired restraint.

On pieces like the Puccini aria “Nessun Dorma” and “Elegy for Dunkirk” (from Dario Marianelli’s Oscar-winning score for the film Atonement) the focus becomes achieving a seamless mesh of guitar and orchestra.  On these tracks Beck guides his guitar, using his tone and technique, into the registers of voice and winds with some of his most vocal guitar tones to date.  These tracks sound positively cinematic, with huge bass timbres in the strings and phenomenal clarity throughout.  And it may only be a matter of time before some of the music on the album shows up in movie soundtracks.  Still, this would be only one of many directions in which Jeff Beck can now take his music.  With so many sophisticated guitar and production techniques at work,  Emotion and Commotion establishes the possibilities of a nearly vocal connection between guitar, ensemble and orchestra.

It’s really amazing to stop and consider all of the musical ground that Jeff Beck has covered, crafted and innovated over the years.  His is one instrumental voice that you just have to listen to every time he’s got something new to release.  Most definitely!

To read more of Mike Finkelstein’s reviews click here.

Earlier this week,  RATT had a homecoming of sorts as they played the Key Club to celebrate the release of Infestation, their new album on the Roadrunner label.  Located in the heart of the Sunset Strip, the Key Club occupies what used to be the legendary Gazzari’s, a rock ‘n roll proving ground for many years before it was remodeled and given its new identity.    Name any successful LA-based band, from the Doors to Van Halen to RATT, and they undoubtedly would have played many gigs at Gazzari’s on their way to the big show.

In the early 80’s RATT, along with others like Dokken, Quiet Riot and Motley Crue, epitomized the hair metal scene of the times. They all launched upwards through the same circuit centered mainly on the Sunset Strip and including Gazzari’s.  That was then and this is now, more than 25 years later, and RATT remains a well-oiled rock ‘n roll outfit that still delivers the goods as satisfyingly as ever. Guys half their ages and younger are still busily learning RATT riffs from YouTube.

RATT

Like the Rolling Stones and Aerosmith before them, RATT features a five piece drums/bass/twin guitar/lead singer lineup…and it never hurts to have one blonde haired guy in the band.  On Tuesday the players included original members Bobby Blotzer on drums, Stephen Pearcy on lead vocals, and Warren DeMartini on lead guitar.  Relative newcomers Robbie Crane on bass and Carlos Cavazo (supplying the blonde hair) on rhythm and second lead guitar round out the roster. The band had a back-to-basics, streamlined approach to its stage show.  They hung their stage-wide logo banner above the wall-to-wall Marshall cabinets and double bass drum riser.   As most of these guys are pushing 50 years old (Crane is younger than the others), nobody was wearing spandex or leopard print gear, nor using hair spray for this show.

Stephen Pearcy

Pearcy was wearing black leather pants and studded gloves and belt.  As the front man for a hair metal band one would expect him to continue to dress distinctively. His face showed some mileage and for effect he wore eyeliner onstage, as he always has.  Otherwise, he looked remarkably the same as in the early days !  At 50 years old he is lean and ripped and has acquired a lot of tattoos.  His stage moves range between different standing poses and spins.  Though they’ve never been anything to rival David Lee Roth of Van Halen’s acrobatics (the standard that any hair metal singer is measured against), Pearcy’s moves worked then and they still are a focal point in a RATT show.  Fortunately, the whole band moves on stage now much as they did then.

RATT played all of their most popular songs and several more from the new Roadrunner album – Infestation – at a quick pace as the crowd ate it up, fists pumped in the air.  Hits like “Round and Round,” “Wanted Man,”  “Back for More,” “Lay it Down,” “You’re in Love,” and “Slip of the Lip” satisfied big time.  Over the years, these tunes have provided the soundtrack to quite a few people’s youthful forays into vice and sex.  Countless warm moonlit nights, high school parties and, later, bachelor parties have had RATT in their sound track.  The new songs, particularly “Eat Me Up Alive,” compared very favorably with the hits and, strung together, they all formed an impressive body of work.  Every tune rocked powerfully and enticingly, with tasty riffs everywhere, polished hot guitar solos, Blotzer’s  booming steady double bass drumwork blending in the deepest registers with Crane’s bass and, above it all, Pearcy’s snarl.  His lyrics were very simple and basic in their rhymes but they were rock ‘n roll to the core.  While his voice is not strong or beautiful, it was unique and a fine match to the sound of the band.  If the shoe fits, wear it well.

Carlos Cavazo and Warren DiMartini

RATT’s biggest musical asset is Warren DeMartini.  His is one of the names that always comes up in discussions of who might actually be top dog in the metal genre.   Compared to his peers and contemporaries, he distinguishes himself by his restraint and sense of dynamics.  In a field where soloing has gotten increasingly frenetic, as every other player has learned to shred at breakneck histrionic speed, he often lets one or two beautifully placed and timed notes do all the talking.  He can and does throw in the blazing speed that ignites the songs to groove, screech and hum but he is a truly fluid lead player who swings.  He stands out from the crowd for purely musical reasons.  On Tuesday, his tone was warm even at its trebliest, his rhythm riffs were as beefy as the best of ‘em, and his phrasing was just remarkable.  His arrangements were always interesting, with unorthodox but logical voicings.  And DeMartini does it all, apparently, without tattoos.

Back in the early days, guitarist and founding member Robbin Crosby complemented DeMartini’s style marvelously.  He wrote many of the band’s best-known classic riffs.  They were a formidable combination.  The two pulled off many harmonized twin lead guitar solos together.  Sadly, Crosby died of drug related causes several years ago and until recently the versions of RATT that followed had not even come close to filling his large shoes.  The band’s signature twin leads were shelved.  That has changed with the welcome arrival of Carlos Cavazo in the band.  Cavazo is an accomplished lead guitarist in his own right, having been with Quiet Riot through their most prolific and successful period in the mid 80’s.  He can hang in with DeMartini.  When he soloed on Tuesday, he tore it up and when he doubled with WD it seriously evoked the old sound with Crosby.  The harmony leads were back, taking the new songs to the high level of the hits.   With this approach RATT has returned to what they do best.

The hair metal genre was all about excesses, which, at its best, meant plenty of hot rock ‘n roll girls, crunching and catchy guitar riffs, customized guitars, noteworthy guitar solos, songs about sex and the pursuit of it, thunderous syncopated drums, big hair on the girls and on the guys, and a smoky, sex-charged den of sin atmosphere.  Hair metal offered everything to make a wild, young heart seek it out repeatedly.  It was music for sowing the wild oats.  While styles change and evolve, rocking around and cavorting are perhaps guilty pleasures that plenty of people will keep right on taking.  This is why RATT may always have an audience.  On Tuesday it was great, even inspiring, to see such an exemplary rock ‘n roll band recapture their essence so long after peaking.

Photos by Baldomero Fernandez

To read more Mike Finkelstein reviews, click here.

Jackshit played to a packed house at McCabe’s Guitar Shop last weekend. If their name suggests corniness and country witticisms, it should. The band calls up memories of the old Hee Haw TV show, which featured corny hick humor juxtaposed with great country music. Jackshit does this, too, but widens the musical scope considerably.  In this show they transitioned between many different genres and kicked them all into overdrive. They don’t do originals but they do interpret their repertoire with a rich and streamlined sound.  They covered Johnny Cash, the Beatles, Ray Charles, Randy Newman, Rodney Crowell, the Flying Burrito Brothers and much more.

Val McCallum, Davey Farragher, Pete Thomas

The first thing one notices about Jackshit is that all three are some tall hombres.  They dress in unpretentious Western wear and they all wear hats.  The band consists of guitarist Beau Shit (Val McCallum), bassist Shorty Shit (Davey Faragher), and drummer Piece o‘ Shit (Pete Thomas).  Each are veteran studio and touring players, having backed up a long and impressive list of country, rock  and pop notables. Thomas is a bona fide member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Elvis Costello’s backing band, the Attractions.   All scatological details aside,  Jackshit were onstage to bring out the best possibilities in their favorite songs about murder, cheating, and the cowboy mystique.

In a room as small as McCabes’s, it would have been easy for the band to play too loud and lose the intimate feeling they were going for.   Not that they didn’t cut loose many times during the gig.  They just never all went for broke at once.  One at a time, they stepped out front to shine.  Jackshit really do hang their hats on leaving a whole lot of space for the music to breathe.   Less was truly more on Saturday for the back end of their sound.

PS’s drum fills were sparse and popping all night on a stripped down kit.  Using spar cymbal work while rolling the snare and tom, he deftly glided the band right down the rails like a train.  Shorty and PS are an exemplary rhythm section precisely because you can sense the nuances of what they do from the way they allow each other to be heard at the right moments.  Not only did Shorty’s bass punch and hum, but he sang like a bird, fleshing out the higher ranges of the band’s vocals superbly.  His savory falsetto vocals on “Ring of Fire” and “The Lonely Bull” were exceptional.

Given the three piece guitar, bass and drums format, any band’s fortunes will likely hinge on the guitar player.  Beau is just the guy for the job.  Soft-spoken and rangy, with a deep voice, he looks the part of the laconic outlaw — an expressive singer and a cold-blooded guitar slinger.  Throughout the night one had to marvel at his guitar sound.  He got all the tone without too much of the volume.  His sound crackled, roared, screamed and floated without overpowering.  Beau matched his trusted Gibson Firebird and beautiful orange Gretsch guitars to an array of boutique amps and stomp boxes which gave his sound immense presence.  It all sounded so clean, even when he pulled out the stops and played his best overdrivens, Experience era Jimi Hendrix licks on “I’m Coming Home”.

Another key element of his sound was the airy jangle that he used for songs like “Bull Rider,” “Long Black Veil,” and “Miss Your Water.”   And he seemed to have an endless set of  James Burton licks and tasty pedal steel runs to use for fills.

Midway through the show, guest vocalist Tara Holloway came onstage and sang two songs, including “She’s So Heavy” by the Beatles.   She twanged and snarled through it with style, though afterwords she made the mistake of referring to Beau as Val.   Beau just deadpanned that he didn’t know Val.

There was a lot of country parody spread around the stage between each song and much of the audience laughed all night.    When you mix laughter with ace musicianship it promises to be very  entertaining.    Jackshit delivered in loads on Saturday.

To read more Mike Finkelstein reviews, click here.

On Friday night veteran rock singer and guitarist Terry Reid performed a very relaxed and intimate solo set of his songs at McCabe’s Guitar shop.    Throughout the performance he wove together a tapestry of friendly audience banter and stories of his past with his music.   One really could not have asked for more of a living room vibe than was present in this entertaining evening.

Having been on the rock circuit for nearly 40 years, Reid declined offers to be the lead singer of both Led Zeppelin (at the time the New Yardbirds) and Deep Purple.   And he had a few marvelous stories to tell, in his heavy English accent.  He also seemed to realize that he could tell those stories all night long, but was determined not to let them get excessive, recalling that he’d once seen Ramblin’ Jack Elliot perhaps earn his own moniker by telling more stories than he played songs.

Reid walked on stage clad in white khaki slacks, white tennis shoes, a black sport jacket, a lime green tie and a hip straw hat. By the end of the evening he would roll the sleeves of the jacket nearly to his elbows.   Announcing that all of the large acoustic and electric jazz box guitars onstage were his “children,” he played them with the love of a proud father.  The show was loosely structured and he tried songs that he clearly had not visited in a while.   Some were spur of the moment decisions.  So, when he sighed and murmured as he recalled the songs on the fly, it added some intrigue.

None of the guitars appeared to be in standard tuning, dropped down to D and sometimes lower. In the solo format this added a lot of character to each song, with his guitar playing gathering steam throughout the evening.   Familiar chords were played with unorthodox fingerings, and used a lot of jazz voicings that meshed with the lower tones of his voice perfectly.   In fact, it was easy to hear why so many great songs have been written in open tunings.

Reid’s stage presence physically evoked that of Keith Richards.  The same lunges and arm movements were at work.   Of course, he made light of all of this but, happily, it was still rock ‘n’ roll.  In a night full of good moments, perhaps the best was when he launched into a truly beautiful solo version of the Beach Boys’ “Don’t Worry, Baby.”  In that tune, and elsewhere, Reid affirmed that the simple connection between a good singer, a good guitar and a good song will always produce the purest musical moments.   Bravo!