Archive for category: Reviews

Lookout Mountain launched their existence with a sold-out show at the Lobero. Featuring six top session musicians recruited by Steve Postell with Kip Lennon out front on vocals, their remit is songs from artists living in Laurel Canyon, outside L.A., in or around the early 1970s. What a treasure trove to choose from! They gave us faithful but not slavish renditions of the signature tunes for the Mamas & Papas, CS&N, Byrds, Jackson Browne, Buffalo Springfield, Carole King and representative works of James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Linda Ronstadt and Poco. Apparently the Turtles were there at the time, but “Happy Together” was a sore thumb in the folk-rock-country vibe. There were also a few turkeys, which seemed unnecessary given the many great tunes that were omitted, such as a long, noodly David Crosby song, Nicolette Larson’s It’s Gonna Take A Lot of Love and Natural Woman, included, I suspect, to remind us of the afterlife of some numbers. The nostalgia level was high, especially because both acts were introduced with a slideshow of contemporary photographs by Henry Diltz, who reminisced onstage, but the music itself carried little of the spark of the originals. Maybe they were played a little slower, maybe a little smoother, maybe it was that the musicians were more than a little older. The most fun was hearing how a song came about and anticipating what would come next. But some energy was lacking.

A few days later at the same theater I got to hear an original: Tom Rush played and sounded exactly as he did on his album from 1968, The Circle Game. His hair has gone white, his figure is stooped and I’m sure he’s shrunk, but if you closed your eyes there was no evidence of his 84 years. Nor did he seem bored at playing a song like Urge for Going that he’s been singing for more than 57 years. He seemed to enjoy his songs as much as the audience did. Especially when he played “my hit,” the Remember Song. I could have listened to him all evening. Unfortunately, he was just the opening act for Judy Collins, who is game but clearly past her sell-by date. She spared herself too much singing by telling jokes, funny but not what we came to hear. Then again, her screeching sound on familiar songs was not we came to hear either.

A funny thing happened when Ronstadt Revival featuring Shannon Rae performed at the Lobero last night (9/14/24). After her second number, Ms. Rae confidentially told the audience they could ignore management’s request not to photograph or take videos of the artists. “Go ahead and take your pictures and share them on your social media account. Just put your phone down for a minute from time to time to enjoy the music.” Obviously, unlike actual stars, she was looking for publicity. But unlike usual audiences, the mature folks who had come out for this cover band, either didn’t have social media accounts or couldn’t care less about advertising their attendance. I didn’t see a single iPhone raised to take a picture all night. Later, she gave us a choice for audience participation: we could wave our arms in the air or raise our flashlights. The arms won.

As for the show itself, the music was good, the patter phony. Ms. Rae’s attempt to dress and wear her hair a la Ronstadt was lame, and she had no authentic stage presence of her own. If “How’re you doin’, Santa Barbara?!” is the best you can do to relate to the crowd, better not try. The songs were well played and fun to hear–”Different Drum” and “Desperado,” especially–but I probably would have enjoyed them more if I had kept my eyes closed.

I’ve never been to a Phish concert, but I got the sense that the experience could be similar to the ALO concert at the Lobero last night. Described as a San Francisco jam band, the four nondescript members of ALO spun out 10-15-minute instrumentals with incidental lyrics, all with a lilting rhythm that had the audience bobbing, first in their seats but by set’s end all standing. It was perfectly pleasant, and I didn’t feel I was missing anything when I stayed seated, closed my eyes and let the sounds flow. But after an hour of what seemed the same I took off for home.

I had gone to the show in the expectation that Donavon Frankenreiter would be the headliner; that was how it was advertised on the Lobero website. But he opened and, arriving late, I only got to hear the last half hour of what might have been a 45-minute set. All his songs had a rolling rhythm that was easy on the ears. With his cowboy hat, suede jacket and husky voice he was a magnetic presence–more frontman than anyone in ALO. I didn’t know any of his numbers, but I felt quite familiar with each by their end. He wasted no time on patter, although I wouldn’t have minded some insight into personality. One song followed another, catchy and compact. It was enough to make me want to tune into Spotify the next day for more.

Elvis Costello and the Imposters put on a B+ show at the Santa Barbara Bowl last night and Daryl Hall (formerly of Hall & Oates) put on a C-, or maybe D+ show. For some reason–political, financial, or era–Elvis’s 75 minutes came first, accentuating how flat Hall’s following 75 minutes were. Based on comments Costello made, I think more concertgoers had come for him than for Hall, even though his heyday was more ’70s while Hall was ’80s.

Costello pleased the crowd by playing his most familiar songs–Pump It Up, Watching the Detectives, Everyday I Write the Book–amid a dozen I liked but didn’t know, then brought down the house with an encore of (What’s So Funny About) Peace, Love and Understanding and concluding with Alison. His voice left something to be desired, though not in volume, but he won us over with his enthusiasm and 70-year-old energy. His backup band was spare, but each of the four was a personality. My guess is that two or three have been playing with Elvis for most of his career, and the only “youngster” was Charlie Sexton, a semi-headliner in his own right. My accidental seatmate Dave, a rock guitarist around town, knew and admired the band’s musicianship.

By contrast, he referred to Hall’s larger ensemble as “like a wedding band.” The guitar player was good, he said, but as a group they disappeared along with the music. For starters, there aren’t any Hall & Oates songs I really love, even had they been featured more frequently (my favorite, She’s Gone, was missing). Whereas Costello knocked us out with his encore, when Daryl came back, in response to polite applause, he introduced a song of his new album–not why any of us was there. When he did play a familiar song, it regularly morphed into a 5-10 minute jam of little interest. A number of his songs were slow and boring, not the rockers we were primed for after Elvis. Nor did Hall have the edgy persona of Costello. He never lit a fire. In all, it was about the least interesting concert I’ve attended at the Bowl