I was back at Largo at the Coronet on Friday, March 25, 2016 for Jon Brion’s monthly show. The addition of special guest Grant-Lee Phillips livened up the night. I’ve seen Grant-Lee perform a few times: three times with his band Grant Lee Buffalo, once on the “Surf and Turf” tour with Glen Phillips, and twice with Steve Poltz. I adore Grant-Lee’s voice and his wonderful sense of humor, so I was absolutely delighted when he played an opening set and later joined Jon on the stage. When Grant-Lee sat down with his Gibson J-200 guitar to open, he glanced
Category: Concert Journal
Another Year, Another Song
Thursday, March 24, 2016 found me at the Troubadour for a lovely night of music featuring Mandolin Orange and Elephant Revival presented by The Bluegrass Situation. Mandolin Orange I have not seen before and had only been able to check out a few of their songs earlier that day. I first saw Elephant Revival in January when they left a strong impression on me when they opened for Josh Ritter (see my post “Let’s See Where the Night Takes Us“). I’ve been listening to their album These Changing Skies since then and earlier in the week had received my pre-ordered
Dreaming Our Lives Away
Friday, March 11, 2016 — It was a dark and windy night, but that wasn’t going to stop the audience at Saint Rocke in Hermosa Beach, CA from living it up. I arrived early in the evening for dinner and dessert (the caramel chocolate brownie was delicious). I was pleasantly surprised to find local musician Jett Pink performing though Happy Hour. Playing guitar and sometimes using a stompbox, Jett blazed through a number of well-known songs from a slew of legendary artists, including Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Tom Petty, The Beatles, Neil Young, Elvis Presley, The Eagles, The Band, and
Skip Your Habit of Laying Low
On Saturday, March 5, 2016, I attended a screening of Paul Thomas Anderson‘s film Punch-Drunk Love with the score played live on stage by Wild Up, the Wordless Music Orchestra, and composer Jon Brion. The film was shown at the Theatre at Ace Hotel . You can read about the film’s plot at the link above, if you have not seen the movie since it debuted in 2002. You can also see it on Netflix. The orchestra was already in place on the stage as the audience filtered into the theatre for this sold out performance. The conductor, Ryan
Gather ‘Round and Stomp the Floor
On Saturday, February 27, 2016 I caught The Dirty River Boys playing at Hotel Cafe. Having been encouraged to attend by a friend, I knew nothing about this band going into the show, other than they hailed from Texas. They played a good mixture of songs in varying tempos that I would categorize under the Americana genre, with flavorings of cowpunk, country, and even Celtic rock. Guitar players Nino Cooper and Marco Gutierrez, and bass player Colton James, traded off singing lead for various songs. Often times the whole group was singing together, producing solid harmonies and sonorous vocals. The