matisyahu 9/3

Another great night outdoors at Boarding House Park in Lowell; tonight it's to see Matisyahu. If this is a new name for you, check out this video of One Day on YouTube. It's one of those ear worm songs that I think everyone has heard by now. He performed it as the closer at tonight's show, inviting all the kids in the audience to come up on stage to sing along. We all felt good. If we'd all had lighters, we'd have had them lit.

As far as audience participation goes, in terms of singing, that was the most user-friendly song by far. The rest of the night was all about mosh pit participation - the climax of that being when Matisyahu jumps off the stage into the pit and the moshers roll him around some, then he manages to stand up on someone's shoulders to heaps of applause, then he jumps back on stage to finish the song. We'd done well to sit way back near the sound board, where everyone was rocking, but in a more sedate way.

We had shown up at the park a few hours early, just as the band (minus Matisyahu) was about to start their sound check. We found excellent seats, up near the front, dead center, and plunked ourselves down. Then the band began to play. In the middle of the first song I yelled to Dennis, "This is too loud, I've got to move back." "I can't hear you," he says, "tell me when the song's finished." Which I did, and he concurred, so back we moved. Much better. Because they are loud - very good, but loud.

This guy can definitely sing, and the band, well, it can definitely play. Where to start? We've got reggae, we've got hip hop, reggae rock, rap and scat - wrapped around, as the handbill says, "his religious devotion" (he is a Hasidic Jew from New York). You know me, I couldn't hear half of what he was singing, but in this case, it was because I was so caught up in the music. A lot of the night I just sat back in my chair, closed my eyes and fell into the music. Between the reggae romps, the band played these great noise-filled instrumentals, one sound leading to another and I found it rather hypnotic. Matisyahu's singing was just as masterful, effortlessly shifting from hip hop to soulful reggae, then powering it up for rap, and forgive me for not knowing the name of the song, but there's one where he scatted the whole thing using some serious vocal calisthenics.

His set included a rap with guest artist, Nelson, a Jewish gospel singer, who came back to sing one song solo as the first song of the encore. When he left the stage, Matisyahu came on and got us all up, swaying to the music, with our arms held high, each with their index finger signifying "one," punching at the air on "One Day." Peace and a lot of harmony.

The opener tonight was iLa Mawana, billed as a reggae band out of Boston. And indeed, they do play reggae. The only thing is, the lead singer sings pop. An unusual combination that was new to me.

great big sea 8/26

What an absolute hoot! I had no idea a Great Big Sea concert was a dancing party. But that's what they do and that's what their fans do. They're so good that the fans are up dancing before the guys have even plugged in. And here I thought there'd be me and a couple hundred fans to see a band that most people never heard of. Boy was I wrong. It was the biggest crowd of the season for the Lowell Music Series at Boarding House Park. I have no idea how many people can fit in the park, but let's say it's 500; tonight it looked like a thousand, to a body standing, dancing, singing, and just general all-around grooving the band from The Rock - Newfoundland, Canada. Dedicated fans - the kind who know every lyric of every song and can sing them loud. I got the distinct feeling that Great Big Sea fans go home happy after every show. I don't see how it could be any different.

I've got a bit of a soft ear for the music out of Atlantic Canada - the Acadian/Celtic sound - and when that music moves farther east to Newfoundland, it takes on a huge maritime flavor. I am reminded some of Stan Rogers, another Canadian singer who defined maritime folk for me. But Stan sure didn't have harmonies going for him like these guys do. One of the most beautiful sounds on earth is a capella voices in four-part harmony. And when they weren't doing harmonies, the one with the pretty voice, Sean McCann, leads the ballad love songs, and pretty much all the rest are led by the hearty voiced Alan Doyle - it's these ones that tend to get raucous and have the crowd in wild delight. They did two sets, the first leaning on the Celtic side, the second more folk-rock, with accordion, guitars, flute, drums, fiddle, bohran in and out of every song as needed; the real show stopper was Bob Hallet playing the violin in "Merrimack," with the kind of fervor that puts me in mind of Neil Young on a crazy night.

These guys emanate happy, and it's infectious. You can't help but smile big.

I couldn't get any pictures of the band - they were in constant motion and my little camera is never going to get that night shot. I turned my camera on the audience, and this one survived the delete bin, strictly for the arty red shadings in it.

bob dylan 8/21

It took Bob to get me down to the House of Blues in Boston, the former Avalon, just behind Fenway Park, home to the Boston Red Sox. I never much liked the Avalon - tight security, difficult sight lines - so it seems much improved in its new incarnation, with three levels, the third level being stadium seating, which is where I sat with my eyes glued on Bob all night. I read reviews of some of the previous shows on the tour and people are always talking about this being their 25th show or 76th show, or some other big number, and it puts me in my place - I'm a take it or leave it fan, tonight's show is only my seventh, the last time being in 2006, a time when Bob stood behind the keyboard all night. I'd heard that he was varying that up a bit this tour, and the change was welcome. He opened with Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat and Don't Think Twice, both on keyboard, then switched to harp (I don't know if I'd call it blistering, but it was real) for Things Have Changed and Tangled Up In Blue. But it was Beyond Here Lies Nothing, with Bob playing his Fender for the first time tonight that got the night moving for me - terrific solo from Bob, and he and Charlie Sexton were in some sort of groove. From keyboard to harp to guitar, Bob traveled all night. He seemed to be in a jocular mood, particularly evident when he moved to center stage and did a little play acting for the benefit of the crowd. I thought he was going to break into a two-step at one point. Perhaps it was on account of it being the last night of the tour. As one would have expected, he encored with Like A Rolling Stone and All Along The Watchtower, and having been to seven shows, I've probably heard both of them seven times now; but things have changed, at least for Watchtower - a different arrangement, and it's given it a whole new life. Rather than ending the show there, they moved into Blowin In The Wind, an unexpected but welcome surprise. I think I even sang along, quite an unusual event for me at a Bob show, when mostly I haven't got a clue what he's singing. There's no question, if you want to be a Bob fan, you've got to pay attention.

Here's the setlist:
Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat, Don't Think Twice, Things Have Changed, Tangled Up In Blue, Beyond Here Lies Nothin, Mississippi, Summer Days, Tryin To Get To Heaven, High Water (for Charlie Patton), Simple Twist Of Fate, Highway 61 Revisted, Blind Willie McTell, Thunder On The Mountain, Ballad Of A Thin Man, Like A Rolling Stone, All Along The Watchtower, Blowin In The Wind

mavis staples 8/19

Mavis is still belting it out, good and strong. A night of soul and gospel. My knowledge of Mavis is limited to say the least - her brilliant performance with the Staples Singers on The Weight with The Band for The Last Waltz, and not again until listening to her 2007 album, "We'll Never Turn Back," which I'd picked up on the strength of its producer, Ry Cooder. That was enough of a taste to get me down to the Lowell Summer Music Series to catch her set at Boarding House Park. The backup singers, which include her sister, Yvonne, pull off some great harmonies, opening with an a capella song, and continuing strong for the rest of the night. Mavis' gospel is heavily mixed with her civil rights activism, and in a rather trendy fashion, she's all PC. I'm not a big fan of politics, especially not in music, so she kind of lost me there. There was one grand moment in the show, and I can't even remember the song - it might have been "I'll Take You There" - Mavis had left the stage at that point, and the band just carried on, driving the music faster, almost in a catatonic fit; all I remember now is the non-Yvonne female back-up singer incredulously playing the tambourine, matching the guitar and its barreling pace that was sustained long past what you'd think possible. With everyone else on the stage contributing to the barrelhouse, it felt like a moment of true grit. Quite awesome.

Opening for Mavis Staples tonight was Jen Kearney & The Lost Onion, local to the area, playing a fusion of Latin and R&B with a nice brass sound.

rickie lee jones 8/12

They've got another top-notch line-up at the Lowell Summer Music Series this summer, and it's hard to pick and choose among them, spreading my music dollar thin. Tonight was definitely a no-miss - Rickie Lee Jones in town for the evening to perform on the Boarding House Park stage.

Occidental Gypsy - a blend of gypsy jazz and modern pop - opened the night. A superb group of musicians, with a special nod to Brett Feldman on lead guitar and violinist Jakub Trasak, who put me in mind of Stephan Grapelli. Exquisite. Check them out on YouTube playing "Gypsy Blues."

It's got to be going on 20 years since I've seen Rickie Lee in concert and I'd lost touch with her music during that time, so this was an excellent opportunity to see what she's up to now. Her voice is still that incredible machine that goes to all the right places. She hasn't lost a beat; in fact, her mature voice is as compelling as it's ever been, only richer.

And what a band. Lead and bass guitars, B3 Hammond organ, drums and three-member brass section, with Rickie Lee alternating between guitar and piano, it's a big sound, doing extreme justice to the songs, most of which were from her early albums, including favorites like "Chuck E's In Love," "Easy Money," "Coolsville" and "Last Chance." It's as though the 20 years in between simply faded away. I love how she effortlessly moves through jazz and blues and folk, and probably a little country and pop in there too, giving them all her sultry-voiced stamp.

Ace singer and ace band. A must-see if you can.

lowell folk festival 7/29 - 7/31

Hard to believe another year has gone by. But it's time for the Lowell Folk Festival again, this year marking their 25th anniversary. Full of a solid lineup of acts on seven stages and an even more solid lineup of food vendors, the festival claims to be the oldest free festival in the United States. Of course it's not really free (if you know what I mean), but you don't have to pay an entrance fee on the day of. I got down to the festival on Friday night and again on Sunday (was going to a roller derby marathon in Manchester on Saturday), and caught just about everybody I wanted to see. It's always an eclectic international lineup, representing musical styles from Quebecois, bluegrass, Irish, Columbian, Inuit throat singing, boogie-woogie, zydeco, blues, polka, Hawaiian slack-key guitar, Rajastyhani, Ethiopian azmari funk, Argentinian tango, honkey tonk and gospel. And I'm sure I've forgotten a few. Yes, I did - the Trinidadian steel drums out on the street - too much music to confine to a stage!

Friday night's line-up was all on the Boarding House Park stage, three acts, starting with the Quebe Sisters, doing western swing and Texas fiddling. Great harmonies and great fiddling! Followed by the highlight of my weekend - Dervish, from county Sligo, playing traditional Irish music with a whole lot of gusto. Lead singer Cathy Jordan, with the voice of an angel, also played bodhran and clappers to keep time with her feet. Fiddle, piccolo, accordion and two bouzoukis rounded out the band. Highlight of the set had to be her cover of Bob Dylan's "Boots of Spanish Leather," absolutely spellbinding. The rain began to fall in the open-air venue during Dervish's set (the irony of it did not escape Cathy, especially as the rain left at the end of their set). The headliner for the night was Shemekia Copeland, with a good set of lungs and huge audience appeal. They put Shemekia at the Dance Stage for Saturday night, and I'm sure she rocked the night away.

Sunday was more food and drink and much more music. I was really pleased to see Leward Ka'apana from Hawaii, playing guitar and ukelele, and I also caught a bit of polka from Stanky & The Coal Miners (making me miss Yosh and Stan Schmenge, the fabulous Schmenge Brothers). I caught the tail end of Eden Brent, from Greenville, Mississipi, who plays boogie-woogie on the keyboard, reminiscent of Marcia Ball. I caught Nathan & the Zydeco Cha-Chas, good dancing music for sure, at the expense of missing Nukariik, the Inuit throat singers - it was a tough call, but you can't see them all. I am enthralled by throat singing, but I love zydeco dancing. Lots of downtown to wander around in, catching bits of music here and there, more food, more drink, but got back to JFK Plaza in time for Dervish's Sunday performance and another great set. Followed by Le Vent du Nord, from Quebec, mining the same Celtic vein as the Irish band. Very talented and vibrant band, and much to my delight, in an absolute no-brainer, Le Vent du Nord extended their set, bringing Dervish on to accompany them for three numbers to close out the set and the festival.

taj mahal 7/27

Back to Portsmouth, this time to Prescott Park to see Taj Mahal, who was playing as part of the park's Arts Festival. Lovely little park on the harbor, and with the show starting at 7:30, it was ideal for family picnics and a laid-back evening in the setting sun. Joining Taj onstage were Bill Rich on bass and Kester Smith on drums, for an evening that started with "Fever" and just went with the 12-bar blues pretty much all night long. Such that, nearing the end of the show, he introduced "Sitting on Top of the World" with "We'll take it down a notch," at which point there was a round of boos. "OK, then, if that's what you want, as Frank Zappa said, 'Commence to bleed, commence to bleed, commence to bleed.' " It was pretty funny, especially since it wasn't close to a Frank bleed, but nonetheless, it had everyone up dancing. He squeezed his show into 90 minutes, ending with everybody's favorite, "Corinna." Terrific to see him. He hasn't changed much over the years, just keeps doing his thing.

k.d. lang 7/12

It was off to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to catch k.d. lang at the Music Hall. It's a nice venue, almost intimate, with no bad seat in the house. I've been enjoying k.d's voice and music since she arrived on the music scene in the late 1980s. I think I first saw her in a tribute concert with Johnny Cash that was filmed in black and white and aired on TV. In k.d's duet with Cash, they sang "Crying," and I was hooked. You can still see a lot of Cash in her mannerisms and style today. In '92 she came out with the album Ingenue, a collection of pop tunes that veered away from anything country, and she's continued to explore different musical veins ever since.

Her show tonight was a cornucopia of all her styles, dipping into the backlist frequently, but with a huge dollop from her new album with her band Siss Boom Bang - the album's called Sing It Loud and she does. I was glad to hear the old ones, too, "Miss Chatelaine," "Constant Craving" and "Hallelujah" - it was like Singalong Jubilee in the room on all of the old tunes, plus a lot of respect for the newer songs.

A big nod to Lucy Wainwright, sister to Rufus, daughter of Loudon, who opened the show. Very charming, very personable, and a delightful performer. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

manzarek rogers band - 5/6

Kudos once again to the folks at Tupelo Music Hall for continually booking the place with great acts, like Ray Manzarek and Roy Rogers. It was a four piece band, with Kevin Hayes on drums and Steve Evans on bass (the latter two having one song where only they played an instrumental - tremendous musicianship, and you can see why they're in the band). Manzarek Rogers pretty much rocked the place, playing a lot from their most recent album, Translucent Blues - it was the blues all night long, swamp blues, 12-bar blues, even "Greenhouse Blues." Glad I got to see them, especially Roy Rogers, who first came to my attention with the album he did with Shana Morrison - Everybody's Angel. He plays a mean guitar. It was thoroughly enjoyable to get the chance to see him play this night. I see they've got a couple of dates at the end of October - worthwhile checking them out. You can check out their website, and listen to a few clips from the new album here: http://manzarek-rogersband.com/

neil young 4/20

To think I almost didn't go to the show. I was going to skip it, not because I didn't want to see Neil - but last time I saw Neil, in December 2006, I got permanent tinnitus in one ear from all his thrashing around, and I don't think an hour and a half of Le Noise is quite what the doctor ordered. But when Dennis mentioned he wanted to go, it all seemed so silly to miss it. If my other ear was going to go, what better way to go out?

We got tickets for the Wednesday night show - the second of two shows he did at the Wang Theater in Boston - April 19 and 20. What's not to like? Neil's shows are always a piece of art - he's always doing something different, and no matter what it is, it's always got his enthusiasm. And it's infectious.

But first - Bert Jansch. A case of better late than never for me. All I can say is what a delight; what an honor, really, to listen to him play guitar for 45 minutes. A master craftsman - technically superb, with the ability to play two guitar parts simultaneously, picking out bass and rhythm or rhythm and lead like people do this all the time; stylistically reminiscent of Doc Watson; and artistically, he puts the notes together in a continuum of beauty. I felt humbled. A Scottish treasure.

Neil's show was a treasure too. The whole package, from the stage setup to the lighting to the song choices and their order, it was another brilliantly executed piece of Neil art. The stage was glorious - an upright piano stage right, a baby grand on the left, and back center, up a few steps, a pipe organ. The two pianos were lit by hanging Tiffany lamps and the organ by a spotlight, islands of light lending a softness to the dark. It was somber, but it was gentle, home-like. Kudos to the person doing the lights. The back wall had four vertical panels that would adjust for color and texture for each song, very evocative.

And there comes Neil walking out on stage, with his harmonica apparatus strapped on, white jacket that gets progressively more crinkled as the night goes on, his somewhat disheveled hair under a white fedora, and he wanders over near the Indian, straps on his acoustic, takes a seat, dips his harmonica in the cup of water, and we're off into "My, My, Hey, Hey" followed by "Tell Me Why" and "Helpless." Simple little "Tell Me Why" from After The Goldrush - taking me back 40 years to high school days. And "Helpless," gently taking me back to Canada more than any song can.

He moved it up a level for the next three songs, playing a black acoustic with a pickup. The first of them was new, "You Never Call," with its in-and-out burgers, and the other two giving us our first taste of Le Noise distorted live. As the set unfolded, it was the songs from Le Noise that so captured my attention. Probably the newness factor has a lot to do with it - it's always fun to see what Neil is up to next. In Le Noise, it's the same Neil, singing the same songs about life and love, the human condition, reflections from the road of life. All of them are told through what is virtually one long guitar solo after another - he had three electric guitars and he used all three for the Le Noise songs - two songs on the black acoustic with pickup, two on Old Black, and two on the Gretsch white falcon. While Neil was working distortion tricks on the guitar at hand, he was also distorting his voice in echo. It wasn't all about distortion, but that was the telltale mark. Sometimes making it sound like a cry in the dark in "Love and War," sometimes just pounding noise in "Rumblin," and sometimes a soaring anthem, like in the closer for the night, the seriously good "Walk With Me" - think Jimi Hendrix at Monterey.

Throw in "Down By The River," "Ohio," "After The Goldrush," "I Believe In You,""Cortez The Killer" and "Cinnamon Girl," and once again, it's Neil at his ever-loving best.

peter wolf

Peter Wolf fans are getting a treat this month, with Peter on the road for eight shows in 12 days. Dennis and I caught him at the Blue Ocean Music Hall in Salisbury on Sunday night. Last time we saw him was in May last year up in Portland, Maine, and I suppose that was the last time I gave him a listen. So it was good to dust off Midnight Souvenirs and Sleepless last week and squeeze them into the Van rotation, getting prepped for the show. Tonight I've got a Peter Wolf mix going on YouTube. You've gotta love YouTube. I think for my next vacation, I am going to take a week off and just watch YouTube. Some of the Peter Wolf videos they have up there are classics. Check out "Come As You Are"for starters, then "Lights Out"-- you'll get an idea of the energy this guy has.

And he brings it all to the stage. A dancing fool, with all the right moves, across the stage and down into the audience for a couple of songs for the ladies. He's got some seriously dedicated fans and they are in full participation mode all night long. Most of them go back to the J Geils days and could sing you every word coming out of Peter's mouth. Too funny ... about halfway through the show, Peter's in locomotion with "Wastin' Time" when all of a sudden, a transformer blows and everything goes dead up on stage. No problem; he turns to the audience and they sing the song through to the end. These guys know their stuff.

It took about half an hour, but they got the band hooked up to auxilliary power and away we went for the second half of the show. I don't know the song, I wish I did, but early in the second set, there was an instrumental featuring the pedal steel and double bass - a nice tribute to both of them. Great band - with Duke Levine on guitar, and on piano, Kenny White, who was also the opening act. Stellar pianist - his hands were a blur in the flourishes - and a captivating song stylist. White produced Peter's last three records, and when they're playing together up on stage, it's easy to see why it works. A big recommend for Kenny White.

As for Peter, he was his typical charged self. From "Must Have Got Lost" and "Love Stinks" to"Riverside Drive," "Nothing But The Wheel" and last year's "Tragedy,"he touched down on points throughout his career. It was an especially nice treat to hear "Women Are Lonely" from 1990's Up To No Good. Altogether, a superb show. Wish you were there!

tab benoit

I've got to thank Robbie for this one. I think he might have seen Tab at the New Orleans Jazz Festival. Tab's from New Orleans, just another local, as he joked to us on Sunday night. Once again, kudos to Tupelo Music Hall for doing it right one more time.

Tab was in top form - it was like the young Bob Dylan, who would regale his audience with tales between songs. Stories about Buddy Guy ("isn't it cool that he's got two names that mean the same thing - hey, buddy, hey, guy") and courvoisier, crappy fish, and moose horns. We got it all. I don't suppose we came for the stories, but they went down so well, followed by huge swaths of blues guitar. It was a great night of music.

Three member band - Corey Duplechin on bass, Doug Gay on drums, and Tab Benoit on three different guitars. I think all of them were Fender Stratocasters. Maybe a thinline. But I'm out of my league here. All I know is they produced some great bayou blues all night long. All that was missing was a harp. The first song in was an RnB number, and it seemed like these guys were picking up where James Hunter left off a couple of weeks ago in the same room, taking it a few notches higher.

His guitar reminds me of Albert King and his voice is like Otis Redding. Or at least it was tonight. He even sang "These Arms of Mine," and it was a bit uncanny really. That was well into the set, though. The table had been well set.

Before tonight, I didn't know a thing about Tab Benoit except for a one night crash course on YouTube last week. Fat lot of good it did me ... when he called out for requests, do you think I could remember the one song I'd had on repeat - it had New Orleans or Louisiana in the title, but I drew a blank, and basically hoped he'd sing it anyways, without any prompts from me. (No such luck.)

He's got real style on the guitar - very tasty - no gimmicks, just straight away. Born and bred, his songs are set deep in the bayou - I was going to say very earthy, but I guess the term in Cajun country is "swampy." He was definitely swampy. "Sac au Lait Fishing" and "We Make A Good Gumbo" - how more swampy can you get? He traveled up through the delta and beyond in "The Blues Is Here To Stay," where he namechecks just about everybody from Elmore James and Bobby Blue Bland to Stevie Ray and T Bone Walker. In the end, it was just straight blues all night long.

One thing is sure, I'll be timing my visit to New Orleans when Tab Benoit is there.

The song I couldn't remember? "New Orleans Ladies," just for the ladies.

james hunter

Kudos to the folks at Tupelo Music Hall for booking James Hunter on Saturday night. There was a time back in 2006 when I saw a lot of him - when he was touring People Gonna Talk. That summer I was going to more James Hunter shows than Van Morrison shows. The energy coming from the stage was simply immense. And unless absolutely forbidden by law, I was up there dancing from the first note every night. I like my R'n'B Sam Cooke style.

I knew all that going in on Saturday night and intentionally bought general admission tickets, which would put me firm up against the back wall with an open aisle in front of me. But when Celeste and I got there, it turned out they'd upgraded us to seats in the second to last row. It was good for the opening act, Jesse Dee, who hails from south of Boston. He put on a good set, crafting these stories in definitely what was a unique voice. But he was a sit-down kind of guy.

As soon as James came on - with a band consisting of a B3, an upright bass, James on guitar, and a tenor and a baritone sax (yum) - and started in on "She's Got A Way," I was up and at 'em, but did have the courtesy to exit my seat and go stand at the back of the room. (Thanks, to Dave, who offered me a barstool during my dancing intermissions.)

You don't want to blow the roof off in a place like the Tupelo - it's a small room - but even so, it was a bit of a toned-down affair. Perhaps more from necessity than anything else - James' voice was this side of shot, and really, the only songs he sounded comfortable on were on the slower, more poppy tunes he referred to as "new songs." I think one was called "Your Love Is Like A Gold Mine" and another "Minute By Minute." A couple of others that might have been called "One More" Time" and "I'm Going Nowhere" and the requisite 12-bar blues, "Think." And if there's going to be a hit single, it'll be "One Way Love." Add a handful of songs from People Gonna Talk and another handful from The Hard Way and throw in the "5" Royales' "Baby Don't Do It" and you've got yourself a whole lot of brass. Altogether a solid night of good-time rhythm and blues. To start the encore, the band got to stretch it out in a nice long jazz instrumental, which featured the two brass at the end blowing those familiar notes from "All Through Crying," as James hustled up the aisle toward the stage. He closed with "Talking 'Bout My Love," and I swear on my mother's grave, I am certain someone threw a pair of pink panties at James at the end of the show. Those R'n'B singers will get them every time.

That's a picture I got taken with James in 2008, when Dan H and I caught him out back of the Casino Ballroom on his smoke break.

I was checking out James' website, and I'll leave you with a goodie ... if you go to the Music page, you'll get a list of his three albums, and beneath that, Bonus Tracks. That's the one to click on. It's an eclectic mix of James at his, well, most eclectic.

johnny winter

It was a full house at the Tupelo Music Hall on Friday night to see Johnny Winter. And among the crowd were some adoring fans. He's the kind of guy who gets introduced as "the legendary..." and I wanted to check him out at least once in my life. Dennis and I arrived as the first song was under way, so I missed his entrance. He was sat in his chair, where he remained all night, just playing the blues. My brother Scott saw him about five years ago, and he'd mentioned that Johnny's guitar playing was a shadow of its former self and he'd had a virtuoso guitarist on stage who carried the load. Whomever the virtuoso was, he's gone now - nowadays the band consists of rhythm, bass, drums, and Johnny on guitar, and while there was no blowing the roof off the hall, it was a good, solid performance, short on the flourishes and long on the memories.

Not that I have any Johnny Winter memories to speak of, but judging from the response of the people in the audience, he was playing to theirs, with their favorites from over the years. Among them were "Red House," "Maybelline," Johnny B. Goode," "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl," "Got My Mojo Working," and two Dylan tunes - "It's All Over Now" and "Highway 61 Revisited."

While sixth row seats are good seats most nights, for a Johnny Winter show, it meant spending the night mostly staring at the black hat on his head. But whenever the sea of heads parted and I could see his face, he always had the same bemused look on it, eyes straight ahead, not registering on anything or anyone, just looking straight out in from of him, while his guitar did all the talking. It wasn't a long set, maybe 80 minutes. Not a lot of talking, just playing. They took about a 30-second on-stage break - as the drummer said - consider this the intermission, where we'd go out and have a pee, but it's so damn cold outside, we're staying in. And then on into the last two songs of the night. He stood up and took a bow before walking off under his own steam.

I'm glad I got to see him - there are so many artists that I've neglected over the years, and it's fun playing catch-up. Here's a recent video of him - with the same band as Friday night - playing "Highway 61 Revisited." Get your mojo working.

ronnie earl & the broadcasters

So guess where I was this Saturday night? Back at the Tupelo Music Hall, to see Ronnie Earl & The Broadcasters this time. And was I ever in for a treat.

I had a seat in the back again, just like for John Sebastian - where there is a row of barstools along the back wall, on either side of the concession stand, that serves as General Admission. In such a small room, if you're not in the first six rows (basically the front half), you might as well be in the back on barstools, a head taller than all the rest. The seat might be hard, but the view is excellent at 13 rows back.

[This picture is hanging on the wall in the rotunda where artists sell their wares and patrons line up to use the facilities]

I fixed the seat problem by folding my overcoat in half and then in quarters, which was excellent use of coat - once I got up there. You should have seen me hoisting myself off the ground backward and trying to land on top of the coat - it was like trying to do the high jump.

Anyways, I'm sitting on my perch, with loads of time to spare - it's 7:30 and the show's not set to go for another half hour. I get my camera out and take a few shots, to see if I've got the right setting figured out. It turns out I don't, so it's amateur photo night again.

The music coming over the speakers is all good blues; I recognize I'll Take Care of You, which always reminds me of James Brown and It's A Man's, Man's, Man's World because of Van, but this must be Bobby Bland singing. I didn't look where the speakers are, but they're obviously not near me, because as the hall starts to fill up, people noise drowns out the music. But it's fun to people watch, and the first thing I notice is it's not the younger generation spending their doubloons and driving to Londonderry to see their favorite guitar hero. No, this is your more mature crowd - the kind that needs a soft cushion under her behind. I'm neither the youngest or the oldest, but there is probably not much more than 10 years' difference among the lot of us.

And with nothing else to do, my mind wanders to the first time I saw Ronnie Earl. Dennis and I went to see him at the House of Blues, back when it was still in Cambridge, at least 10 years ago. This must have been Dennis's idea, because I'd never heard of him. I didn't follow him after that, but for that one night, I can't tell you just how perfect it was. All night long, all he did was play the guitar, and he had me under his spell. So cool, so smooth, a real master of the guitar.

At one point, I kid you not, I was standing there - it was a standing room only gig - swaying to the music, eyes closed, just so into the blues...and at some point, I opened my eyes and there was Ronnie standing right in front of me, wailing away on the guitar. I thought for a second that I must have gravitated to the stage; then I thought, no. he's gravitated to me. It was certainly a moment in time. And it sets the stage for tonight.

And if you've only got the time to listen to one Ronnie Earl song today, click on him playing some soft, slow blues - it's from a recent show - he's wearing the same outfit, same players in the band, and it's one of the songs he played last night (it might be "Miracle" but don't quote me). In the band, there's Jim Mouradian on bass, Lorne Entress on drums, and Dave Limina on piano, playing a Yamaha. When it wasn't Ronnie's turn, it was Dave's, and, boy, he could stomp it out. There was one song, I think this is the one he said was a Bessie Smith tune, where Dave and Ronnie were mixing it up some - a little piano-guitar jam, that was a real pleasure to listen to.

I didn't recognize one song all night - there must have been a good smattering of covers, because every once in a while he'd say, "Here's one of ours"and I wouldn't recognize that one either. For me it was strictly 90 minutes of blues uninteruptus, and apparently that's all I need. There were a couple of times I had to close my eyes and get in between the spaces of the music, but no luck this time in opening my eyes to see Ronnie Earl's nose hairs - the guitar cord doesn't make it this far back in the room.

He's out of Boston, and I see on his website that his upcoming shows are all in New England.I suspect he's a local wonder. I see he's a W.C. Handy Award winner, and that comes as no surprise - he plays with such soul, and he's got such good tone. Talking about W.C. Handy Award winners, last week, just by sheer luck, I got to see T.J. Wheeler for a short set at Strange Brew up in Manchester. It could be that every Sunday night they have a blues jam, but I think this was a special treat to have T.J. Wheeler on hand. I'm not sure he gets out to play gigs much; it looks like he's more into music education in the schools, but it was a delight to listen to him play guitar for five or six songs, much of it New Orleans - some Louis Armstrong, Zydeco, that Dr. John feel.

john sebastian

All week long it's been the same thing - in random acts of kindness, little bits like oh darling be home soon or did you ever have to make up your mind or it's like trying to tell a stranger about rock 'n' roll or some other Lovin' Spoonful song. I've been in my little John Sebastian love-fest - ever since Saturday night, when I saw him up at the Tupelo Music Hall. It was such a good-time night. His voice is completely shot, but the cool thing is, when he's doing all the Spoonful songs, it's more of a group hug moment with everyone singing, or at least I was. And I've been singing ever since.

John Sebastian and the Lovin' Spoonful - forever identified in my mind with the Summer of Love - the Spoonful and Jefferson Airplane - that's about all this 13-year-old girl knew about the Summer of Love. I was more of a Jim Morrison girl, but the Spoonful had a string of hits, all great songs. And we got to hear many of them on Saturday night.

Think Ray Davies and his black book, telling his story through his songs. John is a fine storyteller, disarmingly genuine, whether it's the story of his mother sending him to "commie" camp here in New Hampshire when he was 16 - serving as an introduction to A Younger Girl Keeps Rolling Across My Mind or the one about Mississippi John Hurt giving John a lesson on the guitar, which served as a lead into Lovin' You.

Every song had its story, and they were invariably quite funny, and I had no idea he could pick like he does. Interspersed with the Spoonful hits and Zally stories, he did a lot of songs from Satisfied, the album he did with David Grisman in 2007. It's good-time jug band music and Saturday night was basically sitting in with John while he picked the night away.

[That's John on the left in the photo, signing his CD for a fan]

And it's not all just fun. It's a learning experience too - for instance, I learned where they got the name Lovin' Spoonful tonight - from the lyrics of Coffee Blues, which is one of the songs from Satisfied. And he told a funny story of his days in the Village, taking a young Italian beauty out on a first date, taking her to see the Kweskin Jug Band, which featured a young Geoff Muldaur - and there went Maria D'Amato - young girl falls for the guitar player in the band, leaving John in the lurch. Which leads him to sing Passing Fantasy, also from Satisfied. Nowadays Maria Muldaur, John and David are playing dates. Seeing just a third of the trio makes me think the the three of them together would make for a fun evening. But I don't see anything listed on his site for any upcoming dates, either with them or solo. So it's catch as catch can.

I found a video on YouTube of a relatively recent John playing guitar. It comes in four parts, and it's all good, but you'd get the idea in Part 1.

jesse colin young

It must be synchronicity.

I've recently discovered a little radio station on the Web - the site is boomerradio.com (can you believe it??) and one of the streams they run is called Acoustic Cafe. It's not exactly a great station, but it is pretty mellow, and good for them, there's always some obscurish Van that gets played. Tonight it was End of the Land. Anyways, I was getting tired of all that mellowness (one too many James Taylor, I think) and was going to switch to some live Van. As I was standing up to turn off the speakers, out of who knows where, Darkness, Darkness starts to play.

Remember late '60s, Darkness, Darkness from the Youngbloods? Jesse Colin Young? You know - the c'mon people now, smile on your brother, everybody get together, try to love one another right now Jesse Colin Young.

It's got to be at least 30 years, closer to 40 more like, that the Youngbloods and Jesse Colin Young fell off my radar. Until last night. In Londonderry, New Hampshire, at the Tupelo Music Hall (the owner is a Van fan I'm told).

And it was all very peace and love-like. And mellow. Me and the Acoustic Cafe and Jesse - all being mellow. Five in the band, including Jesse, on lead guitar, and his wife, Connie, on violin and percussion. I didn't catch the names of the guys on bass, drums and rhythm. I sense the guy on rhythm has been with Jesse for a long time. He plays a good guitar. And a very intense young man on bass. Probably my only complaint of the night is that the violin was too high in the mix during the quieter songs. There seemed to be only two ways to play the violin: loud and louder, so it was a bit of a distraction during some of the contemplative songs in the first set.

Altogether a great show, with songs from all along the way - or so it seemed - he introduced one song, it might have been Four in the Morning, as something from before the Youngbloods, and he did some Youngbloods songs, and some Hawaiian songs, and a couple of songs that were new, and songs like Ride the Wind and Bring Him Home, which I am guessing are from the middle period.

It's Jesse's birthday (69th) on Monday, November 22, and the rhythm guy led us in a rousing Happy Birthday song in Jesse's favor, two days early. We didn't get to sing again until late in the second set on Get Together c'mon people now, smile on your brother... We comported ourselves admirably on both.

There might have been others but the covers I recognized were two of the interesting highlights of the night. The first was John Lennon's Imagine and Marvin Gaye's What's Going On? Jesse sang the Lennon lyrics, and rhythm guy and Connie sang the Marvin Gaye part, trading one song off the other - and it was absolutely delightful. Then third song into the second set, Jesse picked up his (as he informed the blind among us) eight-string ukulele to do Somewhere Over the Rainbow, with Jesse namechecking Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, a Hawaiian musician who had a major hit with the song. The reference went right over my head, but Celeste told me afterward who he was talking about. And here I was thinking Judy Garland. It was a great song, a little bit reggae - very nice rendition. Nothing like a good ukulele player. He kept it for La Bamba and then a song he sang in Hawaiian. Later he said, the words to that are "The spirit of the land shall be brought forth in righteousness." Now, I don't know what that means, but it sure does sound warm and fuzzy, doesn't it?

Then it was back to his guitar, and the volume picked up for something he described as a Youngbloods song, but I didn't recognize it - one of their minor hits, I guess - he said it was the only time they got into the whole funk/soul thing - and giving the bass player an opportunity to be really intense. Then a 12-bar blues in T-Bone Shuffle, taking us to the sing-a-long Get Together - even Celeste knew this one - and ending with Darkness, Darkness. A well-crafted second set. Beginning the set with what he called "a new one," it was just Jesse and Connie on stage, doing a sweet song that might have been called Love Goes On. Then another new one, called Cruising at Sunset. The three ukulele songs worked like a charm, and then it just got progressively faster and louder and more intense (in a mellow kind of way), right up to Get Together, ending with the navel-gazing Darkness, Darkness.

This was the last night of the tour, so if you missed him this time around, you'll have to wait for the next time. In the meantime, you can go to his website and buy some of his coffee. From his coffee farm in Hawaii.

If Jesse Colin Young had been in Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, he would have been the Graham Nash part - not a lot of depth to his voice, and what little there was has diminished over the years. Time will do that. It's not most people whose voices get better with time, right, Bob?

It turns out that Bob was playing 30 minutes down the road in Lowell on Saturday night and, if you can believe it, I stood Mr. Dylan up to see Mr. Young. I can see Bob anytime, but how often does Jesse Colin Young come to my hometown?

Talking about old white guys, John Sebastian is coming to Tupelo Music Hall next weekend. The show is sold out, but we'll see what happens.

joe bonamassa

I've had an email from Beach Blast sitting in my inbox since October 5, announcing two shows to close out the Casino Ballroom season for this year. Saturday night, Joe Bonamassa, and Sunday night, Darius Rucker. I could skip Rucker, but Joe Bonamassa, he I should definitely see. But I didn't rush to get tickets, because they're General Admission, and the show wasn't until November. And then the email started to sink through my Inbox. A couple of weeks later Beach Blast reminded me about the show, and the same thought - no rush, it's not till November. Let's see if I can rustle someone up who might like to go. And it's exactly there that I completely lost thought of it. Until last Friday. I was on my way up to Manchester to a party at Brian's. Well, almost on my way. I was just heating up a cup of coffee to take in the car. And while it was heating up, I thought I'd catch up on Van-L. About three posts in, there is one from Colleen, who for some reason - it seemed random to me - wrote a wonderful story about Joe - what a fan! The coffee bings, I finish reading her post, not enough time to click on the links. While I'm driving up to Manchester, I'm thinking, right, Joe Bonamassa, it's November. Geez, I hope he hasn't come and gone. Then I'd really be mad! (Sometime last month, Van fan Brian from Virginia wrote to say he was going to see Nick Lowe that night, with Johnny Scott on guitar, and had I seen them when they were in Boston the other night? No, I had NOT seem them. I was so mad. I can't express how mad I was. And feeling very pathetic. )

Sort of long story short - Matt looked it up on his gizmo phone and the show was Saturday night (phew, I haven't missed it) but, oh, it's sold out. And the very short of that is that Celeste agreed, without even knowing who Joe Bonamassa even was, that she'd go with me to Hampton Beach and see if we couldn't get ourselves a pair.

And the very, very short of that is we did - we got tickets fairly quickly, from two different gentlemen whose wives couldn't make it, so loads of time to go sit in the only other establishment open in Hampton Beach, in the summer it's a three-level restaurant/bar and they don't need me to plug it, it's always packed. As it is tonight ... the only place in town to sit down until the doors open at 6. [This is the sign we were flashing about outside the venue. Borrowed from a dad and his son, who had been using it to get themselves some tix's, and when they got their tix's, they let us use it. It worked, apostrophes and all.]

They're not very sensitive about cameras and other devices, and since I've got mine, I make a nuisance of myself with our seatmates, Robyn and Dan, who seem equally as glad as me to be here tonight. A lot of people love Joe Bonamassa. The show starts promptly at 8. A sure sign that you're getting nostalgic - everything reminds you of something. About three songs in, I'm sitting there with my eyes closed, soaking up Joe playing guitar, doing the foot stomping, seat dancing stuff I do when someone plays the blues. It's all good, and I think back to all those times, lying on the floor, in the dark, headphones on, listening to the guitars, mostly Eric's, Blind Faith, Cream. It's all coming back to me. Nothing but the blues.

If you thought this was going to be a review of the show, it's right about here that you learn this is nothing of the sort. I didn't know any of the songs, save a really lovely version of Bird on a Wire as the first of his two-song encore. Apparently I'm not alone. I asked around - what was the name of that song? Or that song? And no one knew. I think they just don't care. All they're there for is the guitar solos. I don't blame them.

I had half expected him to blow the roof off the place, but he didn't - he was merely spectacular, very smooth, very clean, and sometimes he'd pull everything from the note and you could feel it crying, he was that good. I absolutely loved every minute of it ... I just wish I could tell you what I heard. If you're a Joe fan, you'll just have to imagine it.

It was two hours of one song after the next. There were a couple of spots where he stopped to talk - once to tell the story of how the last time he was at the Ballroom was 21 years ago with Buddy Guy (or was it B.B. King?) Imagine that. He would have been about twelve 21 years ago. But mostly it was him just playing. Switching guitars after every song. Some of the best moments of the show were when he was on stage on his own. He doesn't really need anybody else.

Maybe somebody can help me. On the last song of the night he was playing a guitar that looked like it was out of the Jetsons, shaped like this: >--- . What kind of guitar is that?

According to his website, http://jbonamassa.com, it looks like Joe is constantly on tour. If you haven't caught him yet, and you like your guitar heroes, then Joe's your man. It's that simple.





These are part of a mural behind one of the bars at the Casino Ballroom. Nosey, is that you?

Martin Sexton at the beach

It was a last-minute decision to go see Marty on Saturday night. I think it was in the middle of the Lyle Lovett show on Friday night that I shifted from "I don't really care" to "I think I had better." The better got even better - my girlfriend Ginnie, who had driven up from Connecticut just that afternoon, was keen to go. The last time Ginnie and I went to a concert was Van at Jones Beach 1999 - Van doing a lot of Back on Top with the Johnny Scott band. That would be the show where my little love affair with "Help Me" began. But that's another story. Ginnie got a good show that night.

Just as I expected she would with Martin. He has a good conversion rate on first-timers. Martin and his band are on the summer circuit, but tonight he was doing a one-off solo show at the Casino Ballroom up in Hampton Beach. The Casino Ballroom is in the same vein as the Roseland in NYC, but this one's at the beach, in New Hampshire, no less. And about half the size. Think Coney Island, on a smaller scale. It's a treat when Martin plays a solo show. He's always got so many tricks up his sleeve, and he uses them all.

He did a few songs from his new album, Sugarcoating, and probably a couple from Solo, his previous album. I haven't listened to either, so they're all new songs for me when he does them. Donna and I saw him at Tupelo Hall in January - a paid rehearsal with Martin and his band, mostly trying out the songs from Sugarcoating, which was yet to be released. I found the songs to be forgettable then, and I found them to be just as forgettable tonight. He did a smattering from each of his albums but saved most of his vocal pyrotechnics for his earlier material. His voice is so versatile - I remember one show where he was singing Latin verses like he was an angel in the holy choir and the next minute he's growling like a coal miner. He sings like his voice is a guitar being played by one of his guitar heros - a lot of noodling up in the high notes and a lot of slides from high to low and back up again, lots of scatting. and in a couple of the songs, he was playing the snare with his voice while playing drums on his guitar, which thoroughly entertains us all. But my favorite is when he can drop two octaves with his voice on the same syllable - lots of that tonight. The lost art of yodeling on "The Way I Am." He worked his chops tonight through a lot of fan favorites, from memory, Black Sheep, Freedom Road, Glory Bound, The Things You Do to Me, In the Journey, Diner, Failure. I think it was during Candy that he took it into Blind Faith's Can't Find My Way Home, and we all love that too, when he gets to go off on his guitar. His Hallelujah had the audience singing their heart out on background, just like the little angels we are.

Marty's all about the live show - about what he's doing that night. And for something completely different, someone requested Brown Eyed Girl, and he gave us a pretty good version, a little more gusto than Van, substituting fu, fu, fus for the sha-la-las. A far cry from the usual In A Gadda Da Vida type stuff he usually treats us with. I overheard someone after the show asking who it was again who sang Brown Eyed Girl. His friend knew. Here I thought everyone knew.

Nice to get two sets, the first with a plugged-in acoustic, the second on electric. You would have guessed the second set would have pushed the limits a little more, but it stayed rather tame - it wasn't a Beast In Me kind of night, so we all just sat around in our seats and let ourselves revel in his vocal gymnastics. It's like he's got a contortionist in there.

He made an interesting comment early in the show about dropping out. I think a lot of people are dropping out these days. It looks good on them.

Lowell music

Friday night was Lyle Lovett and His Large Band (and it is large -- a slew of guitars, including steel; keyboards, violin, drums and a barbershop quartet on backup vocals) down at Boarding House Park in Lowell. The Lowell Summer Music Series runs every weekend during the summer, and there's always somebody you're glad to catch.

Donna and I went down earlier in the summer to see Joan Armatrading -- I hadn't seen Joan in 25 years, so was very glad for the chance. At one point during the show, I had a flashback to Ricky Nelson's "Garden Party." After playing some of our favorites from years gone by, Joan told the audience that now she was going to play some new songs, and there was this audible groan from the audience. Poor Ricky, poor Joan. Her voice is still very strong, but I'd have to agree with audience sentiment that it is at its most eloquent when she sings from a treasure trove of back catalog. Highlight of the show was a rousing crowd response to "Best Dress On." If you've been to see her this summer, you know what I mean. A gimmick to get you to go to her website, but you know me, I'm not going to let a gimmick get in the way of a good dance. The young woman beside me was all liquored up and had had ants in her pants all night, so I knew she'd get up with me, and before long, the whole audience was up, screaming BEST DRESS ON to beat the band - the craic was good.

So here we were again, Donna and I, to see Lyle Lovett. Boarding House Park is an open-air venue - I don't think more than 500 (I'd stand corrected) - all blankets and lawn chairs. And just like for Joan, Donna and I managed to squeeze our two beach chairs in between some blankets up front and made ourselves at home. Apparently you have to get there at 8 in the morning to get a good spot. I'm going to stick with the squeezing in thing.

This was my first time seeing Lyle. He has some devoted fans, and the place was packed, probably with another hundred out on the street. He put on a fine show, very much the entertainer. I'd never heard any of the songs before, except for "Baby, It's Cold Outside,"which he sang as a duet with Kat Edmonson, who had opened the show. Absolutely delightful. A breathy Iris Dement. Hers was a nice set.

Lyle got a few blues numbers in early, but for the most part it was all country. A lot of lyric repetition in each song, sounding very radio friendly. Very charming fellow, bantering with members of the band and with the audience, the band made a huge sound, with some very talented members - especially in the strings. Lyle's voice is pleasing to the ear, and there's nothing not to like. I don't suppose I'll go see him again, but I'm glad for the chance to see him this time around. A nice night out under the stars.

James Montgomery is playing there this weekend. So I might catch him, and that'll probably wrap up the season for me.