MIKE WATT / TOYS THAT KILL @ PEDRO BALLET SCHOOL

As my regular readers know, I'm a big fan of bassist Mike Watt. I won't regurgitate his history yet again but check out my past blogs for more on that or better yet tune into THE WATT FROM PEDRO SHOW.

Before I sling some visuals at ya from the first fIREHOSE shows in 18 years got to give the END FREEWAY scene some props...I must like to mention another great WATT + THE MISSINGMEN show in his hometown of San Pedro this past April 26th. He headlined a gig featuring a handful of cool punk bands at the San Pedro School of Ballet. Not that I saw any ballet being done that evening but it is a nice space for a low-key, homegrown show with a nice large room for the music and a similar sized "lounge" for 21-and-over fans. We missed most of the first two bands due to taco wagon muzzle loading and long stumble for chugs down Pacific.

photos by Skipper Jeff

The show was put on under the auspices of being a release party for the new CD release by TOYS THAT KILL, Fambly 42. They hit just before Watt's set with great energy and ferocious spirit. The drummer was incendiary. Tunes were all high speed, buzz-saw rave-ups. Check these guys out on the road now.

Watt, Tom Kidd Watson and Raul Morales performed Watt's HYPHENATED-MAN, his 2011 punk opera (his 3rd) in it's entirety. The piece gets tighter and tighter due in part to their having played it over 51 times in 52 days back in late 2011. On this night, Watson in particular was on fire. His guitar work shredded the air around home even as one particualrly out-of-it fan took a long cat nap on the floor right in front of the monitors. Watt wasn't happy with the vocals feeding back which seemed due in part, unbeknownest to the bassist, of a fan leaning against the speaker and having it slip around a bit due to the fact that a fan was drunkenly leaning on it and pushing it off its axis and pointing in to the vocal mics. Oops.  Sounded great out front though.

Watt was heading out early in the morning to kayak around the bay with a reporter from the L.A. Times and would play Coachella Festival with fIREHOSE within the week.

Peeped: ed fROMOHIO bopping in the hat behind Watt's rig during the set. The fIREHOSE reunion gigs were big news in the crowd. Some various bits from the tour..

 
Watt sets the fashion pace at Coachella

Unfortunately, there seems to be no decent Coachella video but you can snag most of Harlow's and Belly Up on YouTube.


Watt's appearance at the Hollywood Palladium on December 1 as bassist in The Stooges was also very well received by Watt fans. Here's a taste from the crowd.

Don't know where this pic came from. Anyone have  credit please let me know. I will delete if necessary. What a great shot, though.

6th Annual JazzTrax Summer Music Festival in Big Bear Lake

It has been a hectic summer this year. Now back in Big Bear Lake, I have been gigging like a madman and getting down off "the hill" sporadically to catch shows in Southern California and a few short trips East. It is all too rare when a national act comes up the mountain to Big Bear Lake and when we get them it is always a big occasion for music fans up near the 7000 feet mark. The Skeleton Key Folk Music Center, the town's best kept secret for free weekly local and regional music had one of their first national acts earlier in the year when folk/country songwriter Butch Hancock came to town from Texas for an intimate concert. Granted the natl. acts here are ticketed events but Hancock was well worth the price of admission playing a wonderful set of his funny, poignant and savvy originals. He even got the house band, Skeleton Key up for a mini-set at one point.

The Letterman also play a yearly gig in town as well as city sponsored concerts at The Discovery Center and at the Swim Beach. Maria Muldaur played this summer and previous concerts have featured America, Marcia Ball, and many others. But jazz music is sporadic at best. We did have bebop and country guitar master Jackie King in town a couple of years back. Willie Nelson, Jimmy Witherspoon, Chet baker, Ray Charles are just a few the names on his CV. He played a magnificent solo jazz set and then joined my local group Porch Jones for 2+ hours of country, rock, blues and Bob Dylan tunes. Keep dreaming if you expect to see straight-ahead or outside jazz artists up here very often though the location and proximity to L.A. would make for a great, hip jazz festival. Perhaps an ancillary, smaller version of the spectacular Angel City Jazz Fest that happens in L.A. each year.

One area of jazz that DOES get some action on the mountain is SmoothJazz. Okay, if you know me you may be surprised to see me writing about a SmoothJazz festival. I admit, it is not my favorite genre of music and yes, in an uncharacteristic moment I told Kenny G he "sucked" to his face many years ago. What a couple of cocktails and an opening act horning over his allotted time can do to someone waiting to hear Miles Davis. Apologies, Mr. G. You're the millionaire, I'm not. So what do I know. Though I stand by my comments.

Anyway, I will also mention that it is not the standard hate rap against SmoothJazz that I beat a drum to.  But, we all know that even the best SmoothJazz can remind one of a) soul music rid of it's funky heart b) music to shop or ride elevators by or c) background for "your local weather on the 8's" if heard out of context.

Wait, context? Well, maybe the best context is exactly what many of the best SmoothJazz festivals give their audiences--bright, sunny music in vacation-like settings...rolling vineyards, exotic tropical beach fronts or lakeside in a beautiful mountain resort with plenty of good food and libations.

Somehow all of that sunshine, all of those wine-flushed cheeks of the exuberant if a tad slurry crowds dressed in their splendiferous summer duds just brings out the best in this music. Who says you can take the music out of the elevator but you can't take the elevator out of the music?

Still, I'd rather hear this music in this setting instead of mixed into an otherwise straight ahead jazz program. I do admit having worked PR on records by great SmoothJazz forefathers like The Yellowjackets and Acoustic Alchemy. I also booked Hiroshima, Spyro Gyra, and a plethora of fusion bands into SDSU back in the mid-late 70s, so I'm not adverse to the music when done with a bit of integrity and jazz harmonized solos by major players. I also LOVED almost everything on CTI Records back in the day which was really the precursor to the whole genre but which featured some jazz heavyweights such as George Benson, Ron Carter, Hubert Laws, Paul Desmond, Herbie Hancock, Stanley Turrentine, etc etc. So I am not tone deaf to the genre's intricacies and possibilities. Just often let down by the commercial elements and sameness tonally these days. So would I generally be prone to a full day, much less a weekend of this music? Not generally, but this is Big Bear and a day in the sun, on the beach just may get me motivated.

The 6th Annual Big Bear Lake JazzTrax Summer Music Festival in what is called Southern California's only "four season resort" proves just that. Growing every year through the fine promotion efforts of JazzTrax, the city of Big Bear Lake and local sponsors, the festival has quickly grown accustomed to its recent digs on the Floating Stage Lakeside Lawn on the beach of the Marina Resort. In conjunction with Nottingham's Restaurant & Tavern across the street who catered the event, the perfect weather, ideal setting and strong line-up the weekend of June 24-26 made this wonderful start of the Big Bear summer tourist season.

Friday night featured a smaller scale concert under the tent by Chris Standring while Saturday's line-up ran from 2-8pm and included Marcus Anderson, Johannes Linstead and crowd-favorite Warren Hill. There was even an after-party at Nottingham's Robin Hood Resort featuring DJ Johnathan Phillips.

But Sunday's crowds even topped the previous days with a line-up of genre favorites. You saxophonist Jackiem Joyner opened the day with a modern, funky set followed by long-time Smooth Jazz superstar Marion Meadows and his impeccable band. A little soprano sax goes a long way with me so I was antsy by the time the band got around to the proto-rap anthem "Rapper's Delight". Why this decidedly non-jazz cover? Marian Meadows bassist of nearly 18 years, Chip Shearin was recently inducted into the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame as bassist on this seminal hip-hop classic from the Sugarhill Gang. Meadows even asked if there was any in the crowd who knew the word. A couple of brave women grabbed their moment of (out-of-tune) glory and hopped up on stage to the crowds amusement.

Closing the day was the penultimate SmoothJazz showman, guitarist Peter White. I must make note here that while I did work for a PR firm that has worked Peter White's records over the years, I never personally was his publicist. As a guitar player, I was impressed by his touch and tastefulness. Always, tossing in a sneaky quote from a 70s hit or a slick jazz harmony to spice things up when the music verged on the predictable. Most impressive though to me, a novice at Smooth fests, was White's easy rapport and natural stage presence and connection with the audience. Always opting for fun instead of heaviness even on tunes that bordered on the overly dramatic.

Most importantly, White knows his crowd. His set is peppered with silky covers of easily recognizable hits from the 60s and seventies as well as groove oriented jazzier numbers which allow the band some room to stretch. Like most Smooth acts though the solos lean heavily on the leader's signature sound. Even in a band with ringers such as Eric Marienthal on tenor and alto sax and Gregg Karukas on keys, both among the A-list purveyors on their respective instruments in the genre today, White took the lion's share of the spotlight. He played well-thought out and articulated solos through out the near 90 minute set. The rhythm section of Eric Valentine (who also backed Meadows) and bassist/vocalist Nate Phillips was propulsive throughout.

I wasn't hip to the titles of the first two tunes White played but the crowd sure was, leaping to their feet as the tunes transitioned one into the other. The third tune was a bit of Western pastiche called "Ramon's Revenge" which told the story of a friend's roller coaster love affair. White even tucked a humorous quote from the cowboy anthem "Ghost Riders In The Sky" into his solo. Next was a tastefully emotive number White wrote about the famous jazz space in Austin called "Caravan of Dreams" which featured Marienthal on a warm but too-short solo.

Commenting on the weather on his first trip to Big Bear Lake, White began the next number with a few bars of Johnny Nash's reggae hit, "I Can See Clearly Now" before thrilling the crowd with a tender mid-tempo version of Stevie Wonder's "My Cherie Amour" with ended with a brief quote of the standard "It Had To Be You". Don't quote me on that last title. i was scrambling to find a pen that worked at that point.

As the band vamped White, who communicated warmly with the crowd all night, told the audience that they weren't really playing a song just "warming up before we actually get to the song...don't try this at work, your boss won't appreciate it." Karukas even teased White into a short quote of the Rolling Stones' "Miss You" riff before they eventually landed on a shimmering take on the Isley Brothers' hit "Who's That Lady". This segued into a wah-wah fueled guitar figure for The Temptations classic "Papa Was A Rolling Stone" with White and Phillips splitting the vocal chores.

Next up was the beautiful song dedicated to his mother back in England, White's "My Prayer" followed by White's daughter's favorite song, "Bright". Taken from White's latest release, this he dedicated to the late NBA and SmoothJazz all-star Wayman Tisdale.

"We'll go back again to my 'big hair' album called Reflections for this one." They played a gorgeous version of the Bee Gees "How Deep Is Your Love". And on the set went...long and with lots of treks into the crowd to pose with folks and virtually play to nearly every corner of the joint. They even got down on the right end of the pier/stage and kicked their feet in the water while they played. Fans waded out into the water to get pictures and be close. It was a very interactive set with the crowd.

As the sun went down behind Butler Peak, the band was still playing Eric Marienthal's arrangement of the Les McCann/Eddie Harris classic "Compared to What". This was one of those rare gigs where the venue truly helped me enjoy the music much more than I would have in a normal boring auditorium. The folks that put on this fest and their longer, bigger festival on Catalina island know exactly what their fans are looking for and know just how to provide it. If SmoothJazz is your thing then make a point of attending next year's Big Bear Lake Jazz Festival. You can't go wrong.

CONCERT REVIEW ARCHIVES: LE BUTCHERETTES

Where: The Echo, Echo Park, CA
When: March 11, 2011 opening for Mike Watt + Missingmen

I was inspired by the Watt show Sunday to troll around YouTube for some vids of LE BUTCHERETTES, the opening band from the MIKE WATT + THE MISSINGMEN Hyphenated-man performance at the Echo back on March 11 of this year.

Le Butcherettes were one of those rare, killin' opening bands that you can't wait to see again. Their latest incarnation features from Guadalajara, firecracker mouthpiece Teri Gender Bender on vocals, guitars, keys, serpentine motion and stage diving, Jonathan Hischke from Hella on bass, and Gabe Serbian from The Locust on drums. Tight and jugular pumping garage-punk. Here are a three vids from this very show to shove what you missed in your face....and a mersh vid or two...THE SOUND IS LOUD AND VOCALS PRACTICALLY BURIED ON THE LIVE TRACKS SO IF YOU CAN'T HANG TRY THE LAST TWO VIDS.....WIMPS

THE DEVIL LIVED and New York:

HENRY DON'T GOT LOVE:

BREATHE YOU IN:

BANG -

NEW YORK -

 

UPCOMING 2011  TOUR DATES

• Nov 1

  Santos Party House New York, NY

• Nov 2

  Milkboy Philadelphia, PA

• Nov 3

  Ottobar Baltimore, Maryland

• Nov 4

  Subterranean  Chicago, Illinois, US

• Nov 6

  Fun Fun Fun Fest - Orange Stage  Austin, Texas

• Dec 1   opening for Iggy & The Stooges

  The Palladium   Los Angeles, CA

  Dec 4  opening for Iggy & The Stooges  
  The Warfield  San Francisco, CA
• Dec 6      opening for Iggy & The Stooges
  The Warfield  San Francisco, CA

More on LE BUTCHERETTES Here 

Their official MySpace page 

CONCERT REVIEW: MIKE WATT & MISSINGMEN IN PEDRO

Where: TriArt Fest, Ports o' Call, San Pedro, CA
When: Sunday, September 25

Mike Watt + The Missingmen with Norton Wisdom at TriArt Fest 9/25/11. Photo by Skipper Jeff

 You know, I been hooked on the thud staff since I heard the MINUTEMEN for the first time back in the early 80s, saw the Ball Hog or Tugboat tour date in Philly at the Troc and many firehose and Watt shows since. But digging into his third punk opera, hyphenated-man (clenchedwrench) has been a brain shank of wondrous weirdness. Every time I tackle it again something else resonates wildly. As one who was a longtime BoschHead and near the same age as Watt this concept really feels thumpy, close to chest bone.

photo by Skipper Jeff

"This is based on the little creatures in Hieronymus Bosch's painting. The songs are the little creatures," Watt explained to fans in the parking lot of the TriArt Fest just after he and THE MISSING MEN finished their first local performance of the opera in Watt's long-time home town of San Pedro, California. Pedro is the working class town at the port of Los Angeles where Watt has been a leader of the local music scene for two decades now. He's staged shows to help raise funds for a community p.a. system shared by the local punk bands and performs free whenever he can generally on bills that help draw attention to the phalanx of talented bands from Pedro and surrounding beach communities.

Read Uncle Ray's essay on hyphenated-man

NY Times review and Watt spiel here.

This was my second live exposure to the full hyphenated-man. I'd been tingly when I heard Watt was heading out for the 51-gigs-in-52-days tour this past Spring. I was only able to grab a ducat for the 2nd show of the tour on March 11 in Echo Park but it was worth the haul down the hill. That gig was pumped and miles fun if a tad clammy so early in the trek. The vibe was deep, the fans crunchy into it and the Echo as always a great spot for a gig. And check out the vids of Le Butcherettes -- a crusher opener. You must catch this band too. Wild energy and muscle tight.

Yesterday, Watt + The Missingmen commandeered the second day of the free TriArt Fest on the lawn at the south end of the Ports O' Call village Pedro. Thanks to Greg Iberra and peeps the fest was typically econo with a simple canopy over a slab of concrete on the lawn at the end of the Ports O' Call shopping village on the waterfront. A handful of vendors of handcrafted wares, CDs and buttons, a handful of old metal folding chairs, two portable construction light rigs and the community p.a. Even the volume level of the music was amazingly controlled compared to the usual high test spleen shaking of the usual bar and hall scene. You could carry on a conversation within ten feet of the stage while still hearing every note. Not the usual ferocious punk face peeling assault. Not lessening the impact of the music much but keeping the non-festers from recoiling. Consequently there were families picnicking, shoppers and after-dinner strollers stopping by to check out the commotion and fans surrounding the stage digging in deep.

We missed Saccharine Trust (I was cranky at that) but heard The Last before Watt launched the whole of hyphenated-man shortly after 7pm. The 45+ minute piece of music flowed powerfully, much tighter than at The Echo. The roadwork paid off heavily. A few lyric babbles but all smiles. This is difficult shit to spew out. Fast and complex. Pedro's own Raul Morales was especially torched on drums, so sharp and propulsive playing for the pack. Tom Watson's guitar punctuations synced perfectly with Morales machine gun delivery and Watt's thud was pervasive, the homey crowd was right there with them. Two little girls waltzed together on a platform behind the stage area and Norton Wisdom's provocative real-time paintings behind the band were propelled by his familiarity with the material and band and his ability to shred the moment into spontaneous liquid vision.

Underground Railroad To Candyland closed the fest with a scorching set in the cool fall evening. Perfect Pedro day.

photo by Robert Francis 9.25.11

Buy hyphenated-man here

A photo gallery from Skipper Jeff (unless noted) from the TriArt Fest...

Raul Morales & Tom Watson

art by Norton Wisdom from Watt set 9/2511 (photo courtesy Norton Wisdom - find him on Facebook)

Skipper Jeff and Watt

Watt, Tsau & Bsau

Watt & Wisdom

econo dash

Below is the entire opera from the national tour in the spring. This show is from April 23rd at the Complex in Salt Lake City, UT. The 47th of 51 gigs in 52 days. Ball hog AND tugboat. No prisoners.

Follow the lyrics here.

Also shovel through Watt's tour diary  and dig into Watt's Hoot Page and podcast: the Watt from Pedro show! ...






Buy hyphenated-man here




pt. 1: arrow-pierced-egg-man > hollowed-out-man:

pt. 2: finger-pointing-man > pinned-to-the-table-man:

pt. 3: mouse-headed-man > funnel-capped-man:

pt. 4: blowin-it-out-both-ends-man > hell-building-man:

pt. 5: man-shitting-man > wheel-bound-man

pt. 6: encore:

ALSO: TWO LAST MINUTE ADDS from SKIPPER JEFF:

Video of two songs from the Tri-Arts Fest.

       Shields-Shouldered-Man (9/25/11)               

                     

 

                 Pinned-to-the-Table-Man (9/25/11)

Thanks to Watt, Raul, Tom, Norton and the people of Pedro for sublime graciousness...

Norton Wisdom 9/25/11. photo by Robert Francis

CONCERT REVIEW: KOFI BAKER'S TRIBUTE TO CREAM

Where: Arcadia Blues Club, 16 E. Huntington Dr. Arcadia CA
When: Friday, September 23

I've never been a huge fans of tribute bands until, of course, I formed LOVE MINUS ZERO, our homage to the music of Bob Dylan. I prefer a tribute band that doesn't dress up like the guys, do the same stage movements and all that rot. Granted, I couldn't look like Bob Dylan if I tried and proof that no one can really sing like him is blatantly available in the hundreds of folks who have tried. And while there is a lot of truth to his claim that, he writes songs for himself to sing, it still doesn't preclude nearly EVERY musician from giving a stab at something from his prolific songbook on more than one occasion.

Now, being a Dead Head I have played tunes from their rich book for many years as well, and I have seen MANY bands do the Dead tribute thing some of whom do a fine job. The most famous and successful being the DARK STAR ORCHESTRA (too by the book for me), the most unique being DAVID MURRAY'S OCTET of nearly two decades ago playing outside jazz versions of GD material (which I LOVED but which was a one shot deal...find the disc and cherish it). There are a plethora of bands doing a decent job of it while still clinging to their own sound and arrangements to some degree like CUBENSIS from L.A., SPLINTERED SUNLIGHT and many others on the East Coast. But for me I'm looking for a tribute band to not be note-for-note but to add their own personalities and new twists to things. I like a band who brings the Dead's openness and ear for a great song to the stage, like my local DE faves MONTANA WILDAXE and MAD-SWEET PANGS, the later of which RARELY even do GD material but find the spirit of the music part of their own sound. Granted hearing them perform the entire TERRAPIN suite at the 4th Annual Ramjam Festival this past April was pretty inspiring.

I have friends who love the cover bands out on the circuit...not the ghost bands of one or two old members with young guys filling other slots in the line-up, but the bands of no-name musicians playing close to note for note versions of tunes, like BEATLEMANIA run amok. There are tons of these bands playing the casino and neighborhood theater circuits. Zeppelin, Tull, Stones, Who, even Deep Purple cover bands circle the country.  

So this brings us to KOFI BAKER'S TRIBUTE TO CREAM. Yes, this is Cream drummer Ginger Baker's drumming son in a power trio playing the music of the band that made his papa famous. I'd not heard a note of theirs before going to the Arcadia Blues Club this past Friday night to see them at the instigation of my brother who had heard them at the OC Blues Fest at Irvine Lake.

The house band, a quartet lead by drummer Bobby Blues was fine if a bit long-winded with a two-hour opening set. The blues tunes were delivered well with guitarist David Malcolm and sublime bassist Howard Deere (who had toured with Guitar Shorty for 40 years) the main focal points for me. Keys and drums were tasty and enjoyable if basic as were the vocals in general. Where they lost me was on the non-blues covers such as Dylan's "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" and Otis Redding's "Dock of the Bay" both taken decidedly too fast, stripping the essential soulfulness from the performances.

Par for the course, and you may know my aversion to "sit-ins" was a pedestrian harp player and singer who screeched his was through "Hoochie Coochie Man" and a version of "Mustang Sally" that floundered in and out of the arrangement while trying to cover his flat vocals. Owner of the joint, official greeter and father of the drummer, Santa Claus picked things up a bit with decent vocals on "Johnny B. Goode" (though the verses were all inside out), and a well-sung version of "Stormy Monday". But again, why does everyone do these four overplayed tunes with guests? Very odd that the last gig I played with a bluesy guest singer, she chose to sing three of those four tunes with us. The bane of my existence is unimaginative guest performers. Just sayin'.

The band recovered later in the set with a couple of sweet slow blues tunes that hit and held the pocket nicely. Also stellar were a wonderful vocal and slow groove from Howard on Brook Benton's "Rainy Night In Georgia" and a rollicking take on Chuck Berry's "School Days". By far the best tunes of the long set. I doth protest too much though being spoiled by years of catching the cream of the blues school - from John Lee Hooker, Son Seals, Koko Taylor, Stevie Ray, Albert Collins, Willie Dixon to Gatemouth Brown, Robert Jr. Lockwood, Big Joe Turner, B.B., Freddy and Albert King. Spoiled.

We also MUST give it up to the Arcadia Blues Club whose very existence in this day and age are a challenge. They have excellent regional and national talent most weekend nights and cheap! Tickets are generally $10-20 and they often offer half price for early arrivals and advance purchases online. Check them out here. Major blues players often are scheduled as well. Name artists such as Johnny Winter, Delbert McClinton, Coco Montoya, Duke Robillard, and Rod Piazza have all graced the stage at the ABC.

In fact, the night after this show young guitar phenom, Michael Williams who is on tour opening for Buddy Guy, was holding a CD release party. Joining him for the evening would be his producer Eddie Kramer who was instrumental in the same role in the studio with Jimi Hendrix.

The two sets by headliners KOFI BAKER'S TRIBUTE TO CREAM were incendiary blasts of material from not only CREAM but his father's other most famous affiliation BLIND FAITH. Guitarist/lead vocalist Fran Banish was the most faithful to the original material of the three, wonderfully recasting Clapton's original leads with finesse and respect while making room for the more modern approaches integrated into the mix by his partners in the trio. Banish's vocals were a nice blend tonally of Clapton's higher reedier sound of the time and Bruce's more fluid and dramatic style. Bassist Ric Fierabacci sang occasional harmonies though I did miss them on a couple of tunes that were left strictly to the lead vocalist.

Fierabacci's approach the the five-string bass was modern in a post-Cream manner, busier than Bruce's and while not as iconoclastic, Ric is a virtuoso. He reinventions are always right on, surprising and fresh, filled with humor and masterful technique. Harmonically and stylistically he has modernized Bruce's innovative style to incorporate many of the fusion concepts that followed in Bruce's wake.

Kofi Baker is a monster drummer. Playing a large kit festooned with double bass drums like his Dad's, he used his father's trademark patterns and post-Elvin freedom as a launching pad for his own post-modern take on the material. While indeed a tribute band, this trio brings Cream's energy and vibe into the new era.

In conversation with Banish between sets he mentioned that the repertoire is fluid depending upon whether Ric is the bassist or not. It is also very obvious that the man knows his E.C. A fan of the mid-70s "comeback" period as am I, his devotion to Clapton's musicality is refreshing in the post-Van Halen age when pyrotechnics often overshadow feel and substance. Like Clapton, his ability to not only shred but to compliment the playing of his fellow players onstage is welcomed heartily by this listener.

Baker formed the band after being turned on by the 2005 Cream reunion shows. "I really wasn't into  it as a kid, because it was, you know my dad's music...but after the reunions, I started playing the music for fun and put a band together."

(none of the audio or video below are from the gig reviewed)

above: interview & epk

Kofi has toured playing duets with his father as well as in playing in various groups featuring Jack Bruce, Chris Poland (Megadeth), Steve Waller (Manfred Mann), John Ethridge (Soft Machine), Randy California (Spirit), Steve Marriot (Humble Pie) and Eric Sardinas. I first heard him on the album Abstract Logic with Jonas Hellborg and Shawn Lane in 1994.

Here's what went down at the Arcadia Blues Club:
SET ONE:
WHITE ROOM
OUTSIDE WOMAN BLUES
POLITICIAN
BADGE
I'M SO GLAD
SLEEPY TIME TIME
I WANT YOU (The Beatles)
DO WHAT YOU LIKE (Blind Faith)

SET TWO:
SUNSHINE OF YOUR LOVE
> MANIC DEPRESSION (Jimi Hendrix)
THE WIND CRIES MARY (Jimi Hendrix)
PRESSED RAT & WARTHOG
PRESENCE OF THE LORD (Blind Faith)
DESERTED CITIES OF THE HEART
CROSSROADS

"White Room" began the gig with a nice long, extended section in the middle that let us in on a bit of this band's particular musical imprint. "Outside Woman Blues" was a treat and something I've not heard live much from anyone. For a band that released so few albums worth of material there are so many Cream songs one wants to hear when you see a show like this. "Politician" is always essential to me. This tune really cranks and illustrates so much of what the balls of Cream was all about. Fierabacci's first extended bass solo of the night crowned this version. Many think of the sheer instrumental prowess of the band but their pop smarts always balanced all of the bluster and long solos and rock star largess. This is a concise window into all of those elements.

One of the handful of Cream tunes that has remained in Clapton's repertoire during most of his solo tours has been "Badge" the tune written with George Harrison which appeared on the Goodbye Cream album. This was the only tune of the night where I felt the busy-ness of the playing got in the way of the tune. Could be my great affinity for this tune colored my perspective since the version this band has on YouTube is much more to my liking.

"I'm So Glad" was long and rippin'. Great open jam in the middle. This one roared. "Sleepy Time Time" Fran introduced as the first original blues from Cream. The last two tunes of set one were wonderful treats and nice surprises which I'd never heard anyone play live. Kofi intro'd the first: "Here's a tune by a band of small insects. You might recognize these insects..." and the lit into The Beatles' one real jam-tune, "I Want You" from Abbey Road which featured an extended solo from Banish. They followed this with the first Blind Faith tune of the night "Do What You Like" which was Kofi's father's showpiece with the band. Kofi played a 16+ minute drum solo within the piece featuring poly rhythmic snippets of African, Caribbean, and jazzy extrapolation in a tour de force spotlight.

Set two began with a discussion between the band members before asking the crowd what they wanted to hear a Cream tune or a Hendrix tune...they wound up playing the Cream tune that Hendrix was known to cover, "Sunshine of Your Love" soaring into frenetic take on Jimi's own "Manic Depression". They followed with another Jimi staple, the gorgeously rendered "Wind Cries Mary" with an inventive and jaw-dropping solo from Ric.

Kofi who had been introducing songs but not singing, next said, "I'm going to sing one now. This was written, produced, recorded and mostly played by my Dad. I'd like to do it in honor of him tonight because he's a bastard...and it goes like this..." With that introduction the odd tune, PRESSED RAT & WART HOG rattle about for a few minutes of fun. Fran followed this with a powerful take on Blind Faith's PRESENCE OF THE LORD played more like Clapton played it in the early/mid-70s. This also featured a nice lengthy solo section. Excellent.

DESERTED CITIES OF THE HEART roared out of the chute full blazes. Long, ferocious lines snaked around each other en route to a long midsection that featured a few measures of what sounded like Howlin' Wolf's trademark SMOKESTACK LIGHTNIN' riffs before launching back into the smouldering ending of DESERTED CITIES.

The last tune of the night was, of course CROSSROADS done up more succinctly than the expansive Wheels of Fire version. A fitting end to a very fun set. If you have never seen Cream and are a fan, don't miss these guys.   
 

above: Kofi Baker's Tribute to Cream - "Sleepy Time Time"

This next clip, WHITE ROOM is unfortunately audio only but an nice extended version with some killer playing and interesting spacey stuff midway through...

above: Kofi Baker's Tribute to Cream - "White Room"

below: from you drum heads:

STEVIE WONDER at the WACHOVIA CENTER, PHILA. PA 11/8/07

I had never seen a full on Stevie Wonder show. I’ve seen him do a couple numbers at a benefit show at some point over the years I believe but never a full-on Stevie set. And having gone to over 2000 shows over the years, he is one of the only artists I have not seen do their thing. So when I heard, after the fact, that Stevie tix had gone on sale I got online and bought just one ticket as I did with the Police show that I’d see the following week. What with the price of tickets these days (an avg concert ticket is $75-300 for a floor seat to almost anyone of note at an Arena or stadium these days. I figured, I’d pay the $95 and not sweat it. But having eaten enough high-end tickets (yes, the older your friends get, the less spontaneous they are, the less willing to go out at night and see shows, the more bills and responsibilities they have) in the last couple of years buying, thinking I’d have no problem getting someone to go with me, that I just solo’d it. Got great seats that way too. For this show I sat in the first row section 101 at the Wachovia Center with is one row above the floor in the first level looking straight down the third row, stage left. Couldn’t beat it. And room to dance surrounded by 6-7 women out to have a ball. I was in heaven and danced till I could dance no more.



Stevie comes out on the arm of his gorgeous daughter, Aisha Morris. Stevie talks about the recent death of his mother and how his initial way of dealing with it was to not tour. He recently decided instead, in memory of his mother to tour again. He asked his manager to put a tour together and his mgr said, no problem, we’ll tour all next year. And Stevie said, “No I want to go out in 2 months.” And he made it happen.

Aisha and Stevie sit at the piano and sing LOVE’S IN NEED OF LOVE TODAY to just knock the possibilities of this show out of the water. The band joins after the first verse and I’m stunned by how amazing the sound is. Even though I am virtually less than 20 feet from the stage and directly under the front left mains, the sound is crystal clear and not at all too loud the entire show. Possibly the best arena sound I have ever heard.

He follows with another classic TOO HIGH from probably his greatest album in a career of great albums. We get to hear his incredible signature harmonica sound for the first time this evening too. Just way too fucking funky. I was up and dancing my but off. Kept thinking my friend Lisa would’ve loved this we would’ve cut it up all night long.

VISIONS was spacey and haunting as always with a “nylon” sting guitar solo by Morris O’Connor. “I can’t believe that here we are in the year 2007 in the city of brotherly love…” and he preaches about the hate and violence of today’s world, a litany of the wrongs of and hatred in the name of religion and more…”that war is not the answer that peace is the only answer…we can do something about it as individuals…put our voices together and say ‘STOP IT’” and he points out that we are all to complacent with getting what we need…”

LIVING FOR THE CITY. Self-explanatory. For a man with this breadth of talent, with 42 years of tremendous talent to have a signature song is in itself quite a tribute to the song. Dylan has “Like A Rolling Stone”; Stevie has “Living For the City”. Hard to beat.

MASTER BLASTER (from 1980’s Hotter Than July) starts the vamp and has the crowd call and response with him…”hey, hey…God is good.” into another rollicking up tempo dance-and-sing along which is tough considering I have never had any idea what he is singing about. So what he says is this on the choruses: “Didn't know you / Would be jammin' until the break of dawn / I bet nobody ever told you that you / would be jammin' until the break of dawn / You would be jammin' and jammin' and jammin', jam on..” Learn something new every day.

Next he is giving a squawk box where he speaks variations on “I love you so much, Philadelphia” and introduces the next tune as a tune he sang when he was a kid playing in Philly…I think…hard to understand a lot of it…until he sings, “LA LA LA LA LA la la…I love you” which was from his 3rd Motown album The 12 Year Old Genius (1963) which was Motown’s 1st chart-topping album. So he does a verse and a chorus from it before going into a verse of McFadden & Whitehead’s hit AIN’T NO STOPPING US NOW and then a verse of the Sister Sledge hit WE ARE FAMILY which had actually been on in the house p.a. before the show right before Stevie came out. The groove he was playing segued into the intro of HIGHER GROUND. This was the 4th tune in the 1st 45 minutes of the show from Innervisions, arguably Stevie’s landmark album. Only a couple of minutes long, I could’ve grooved to this for a lot longer, super hot. It ended with a call and response with Aisha, “Higher (higher) higher (higher)” reminiscent of Sly Stone.

Another Innervisions classic was next GOLDEN LADY is just as solid as a groove gets and an amazing sing-along. I noticed for the first time that the conga-rich rhythm for this is the same as Marvin Gaye’s “WHAT’S GOIN’ ON. Great stinging guitar solo in this as the song modulates. Such incredibly simple and richly musical arranging as the band solos through the sections. This is a nice, long, seven-minute version that just keeps unfolding, using repetition and groove to hypnotize the soul.

RIBBON IN THE SKY was just beautiful and a Stevie essential but was the one point of the show where I was a bit done in by the show biz devise of getting the crowd interaction going. First off the crowd just wailed all of the lyrics with him and jumped right in on the long swirling glissando phrases from the record. Then after a couple of wonderful minutes Stevie did some vocal calisthenics (all of that stuff that people these days try to add to every line of their songs to prove they can “sing” but can’t touch Stevie). Then he got a bit latin-y and syncopated with the riff and the band followed course. Next, he got the crowd, first the ladies then the men to sing two funky, interconnecting parts. Fun and cool but it went on a bit too long. I actually left half way through the exercise, walked all the way up to the bathroom, did my business, bought a drink and came back down and the song was still going on. All told a 15-minute version of this one tune…the original was on Stevie Wonder’s Musiquarium (1982).

Then abruptly, he launched into OVERJOYED from 1985’s In Square Circle CD. A beautiful song from what many consider Stevie’s less lauded 80s/mid-90s output. Most songwriters would give their eyeteeth for one song this accomplished.

The next mid-section of the show was full of ballads and gave most of the band a rest for three tunes.

Next was just Stevie singing to only Victoria Theodore’s harp-like keyboard accompaniment on the moving IF IT’S MAGIC (from Songs In The Key of Life). The over-enthused crow in this big place was a bit obtrusive on this delicate tune but SO into it.

YOU AND I (from ‘72’s Talking Book) finds Stevie getting broken up. Missing some lines being overcome with emotion two or three times in the song and at the end pulling up his glasses to wipe his eyes. You had to wonder if this was reminding him of his mom or was a favorite song of his or if Stevie was thinking of Syreeta Wright who was his wife and songwriting partner during this period and who died of cancer in 2004.

YOU AND I
Here we are on earth together, / It's you and I, / God has made us fall in love, it's true, / I've really found someone like you // Will it say the love you feel for me, will it say, / That you will be by my side / To see me through, / Until my life is through // Well, in my mind, we can conquer the world, / In love you and I, you and I, you and I // I am glad at least in my life I found someone / That may not be here forever to see me through, / But I found so much strength in you, / I only pray that I have shown you a brighter day, / Because that's all that I am living for, you see, / Don't worry what happens to me // Cause' in my mind, you will stay here always, / In love, you and I, you and I, you and I, you and I / In my mind we can conquer the world / In love, you and I, you and I, you and I.

Very moving and the crowd gives him the greatest ovation of the night. Right there with him, giving him all that love back. Quite an intense moment.

HOW WILL I KNOW from 2005’s A Time For Love is a beautiful duet with daughter Aisha who was having some trouble keeping it together after watching her father’s emotional struggle on the previous number, wiping tears from her eyes and waving a bit vocally while sitting at the piano next to him. On this tune, sans band.

He brings the band back out for another early hit, IF YOU REALLY LOVE ME (from 1971’s Where I’m Coming From) which included a bit of shtick due to the only real technical glitch of the night…long held notes and getting the girls to call his name after the line, “you call my name…” because duet vocalist Kimberly Brewer was having trouble hearing anything through her in ear monitors and tried 3-4 mics, walked back to her place in the bv singers line then back next to Stevie…of course Stevie couldn’t see what was going on so he vamped with the crowd…once she got back out they did a call and response thing and then the crowd did the same…making this more a fun exercise than a song.

Abruptly, Stevie gave up and went into SUPERWOMAN (the standout tune from 72’s Music of My Mind) surprising the band who scrambled to switch guitars and basses.

Another song from Hotter than July, ALL I DO starts with Stevie on the Rhodes and the crowd is with him from the opening notes.

Stevie gives up some space to the percussion section led by Muyungo Jackson who I worked with by proxy on live dates/CDs by two clients Bennie Maupin and Teri Lyne Carrington. This killin’ perc rave up leads into the final Innervisions tune of the evening DON’T YOU WORRY ‘BOUT A THING

Then she goes right into a smokin’ version of SIGNED, SEALED, DELIVERED. Afterwards, he tells the audience that “We can make this song, a whole other thing…take the Stevie Wonder all the way out of it…and sing this song ‘country’…” crowd gets a bit doubtful and boo-y…”…don’t act like you don’t know…” and they do a sort of two-step version that actually isn’t particularly country at all. Not well executed actually. Nice idea but more shtick for the crowd to interact on. Mostly consisted of Stevie making a bad twangy country vocal on top. A waste of a couple of minutes as far as I was concerned. The only part of the show that wasn’t viable for me. Didn’t seem like something the Philly crowd really embraced. Maybe in Texas or Nashville.

So he switches gears right away and about going to Chicago to play the Regal Theater at 16 years old and being introduced to a young girl backstage by her mother who is hit on by Stevie’s manager Clarence Paul, who keeps insisting that Stevie get to bed by 11. So Stevie woos her down to the piano the next night and tells her he’s written a song for her…which he plays the intro to and the crowd sings not only the “La la” part but the entire first verse in strong voice…MY CHERIE AMOUR. Stevie joins in on the second verse. A classic. Everyone needed a French type tune in the 60s. This one was a Top Ten hit in 1969.

Next up is one of the most infectious of ALL Motown hits and there were tons of them. Just the harmonica solo itself is a classic in the annals of recorded riffs. If you can resist singing, shaking or tapping your toes to this tune, then you be dead muthafucker. It is of course, FOR ONCE IN MY LIFE. I found myself driven to call my gal in California and hold the phone up so she could hear the apros pos lines, a practice I resist doing often since whenever I get a well-meaning call from a friend sharing a moment like this with me from miles away, all I generally hear is noise. But the live sound was so amazing here I hoped she’d get the gist of things and she did. Thanks Stevie. He truncates the ending here unfortunately to start another great late 60s hit, I WAS MADE TO LOVE HER. A very spirited version and he again abruptly ends and starts into another late 60s hit UPTIGHT (EVERYTHING’S ALRIGHT).

I kept thinking he’d pull out an obscurity that would pale next to everything else but literally, “the hits just kept on coming.” He stopped again, and said, “There were a couple of tunes real popular in Philly that I did…’ and he plays a stripped down version of WITH A CHILD’S HEART and you can see the old school Philly fans swaying and singing alone…but he stops ¾ of the way through to do another Philly fave, HEY LOVE (from 1966’s Down To Earth) a song I barely recognize. He again stops we sail into the big push towards the end of the show. Stevie goofs around, chastising bassist Nathan Watts for not playing it “In B, baby…what do I have to do come back there and play it for you…” DO I DO (from …Musiquarium) which slips right into SIR DUKE which unfortunately they only do one verse and one chorus before segueing into I WISH the back to back hits from Songs In The Key of Life. Again only the first two verses and chorus.

YOU ARE THE SUNSHINE OF MY LIFE (from Talking Book) features backing vocalists Keith John and Kimberly Brewer splitting the first verse before Stevie takes over, again a shortened version I believe.

The of course, they couldn’t not do SUPERSTITION (also Talking Book). Just plain classic rock staple. I’d love to do this song but without the horns or Jeff beck…fugettaboutit. Over the bass line of the tune Stevie intros the band and then stops to ask Keith John to sing a bit of the hit song by his dad, Little Willie John and with Stevie accompanying him with one hand on the piano he sings the first verse of FEVER the back to the groove until he launches into a splendid, heartfelt and beautiful version of one of his greatest, simplest and most resonant songs, AS. In the middle of the tune he preaches on the power of heart and love and brotherhood and togetherness in pure Stevie Wonder fashion. The genius of these stars who play medleys and partial versions of their songs to get as many tunes into a show as possible is that if the song is classic enough people will THINK they heard the whole song. They’ll go away with the memories of their favorite tunes being played. I could’ve sworn I heard this whole tune with it’s litany of “always” references at the end…well they did them after the first verse before his speech section and that’s all we got.

I danced my butt off, smiled, cried, sang, cheered and was blown away. Not every day that happens to a jaded old concertgoer like me. Now, I just want to run home and listen to ALL of these great albums and dance around my living room like a fool. Spread the love Stevie.


One of my next blogs will be a personal look back at Stevie's career...