Nothing Matters in Our Private Universe — Jon Brion

Jon Brion‘s monthly residency at Largo at the Coronet in Los Angeles was in celebratory mode on December 20, 2019 with Christmas decorations adorning the stage, some surprise special guests, and Guinness on call for the maestro. Largo owner Mark Flanagan welcomed everyone while musician Bobb Bruno made a cameo appearance, popping on the stage and sitting through the introduction, but leaving without playing anything. Being a little tired from the previous night’s visit to Largo and wanting to soak in the show without too much self distraction, my notes were more sparse than usual. However, I am able to

A Man and His Will to Survive

It was a particularly fine night on June 28, 2019 to attend Jon Brion’s monthly show at Largo at the Coronet. The show was opened by actor/comedian Whitmer Thomas. Special guest was bassist Sebastian Steinberg. Highlights of the evening were: a lot of material was played on celesta, including a version of “Eye of the Tiger” that was taken to a higher level of creativity, a groovy cover of “Don’t You Worry ‘Bout a Thing,” crowd singalongs of “Wish You Were Here” and “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” and Jon dusting off his unreleased song “She’s At It Again” and getting moody with grungy Gretsch tones.

The Way It Went – Jon Brion

Summer had arrived in Los Angeles and with the ushering in of higher temperatures and extended sunny evenings, I was once again at Largo at the Coronet for Jon Brion‘s show on Friday, June 30, 2017. While the weather couldn’t have been better, I sure could have been, having suddenly come down with something that was making my eyes and nose operate like a faucet someone forgot to shut off. So prior to the show I had taken multiple cold remedies, off the shelf and homeopathic, and eaten a bunch of foods with antihistamine properties. I was feeling a little

Feelin’ Good Again

The Watkins Family Hour has been doing an excellent job lately at drawing some compelling guests to play at their shows.  I was eager to attend their show at Largo at the Coronet in Los Angeles, on June 13, 2017, after learning that my favorite singer Glen Phillips, as well as astute songwriter Langhorne Slim, and L.A. “SoCal country” favorite, Sam Outlaw, were on the bill. We were advised to “let your laughs go” as comedian Tom Papa took the stage to kick off the evening. He was practicing for his performance on Conan (routine available at the link) for