Another Great Night Of Music At The Mayan

Ben Vaughn

The new (three months old at this point) concert series at the Mayan Bar & Grill in Monrovia has become one of my favorites in the entire Los Angeles area. The venue, the atmosphere, the people, and, most importantly, the artists they book for the monthly series are fantastic. Last night we were treated to sets by Victoria Jacobs, Dan Janisch And The Sallys, and The Ben Vaughn Ensemble (and next month I hear Ted Russell Kamp will be part of the lineup). At the previous concerts in this series, the first band played outside in the courtyard, but it now being winter in Los Angeles, last night all three bands performed on the indoor stage. And no, for those outside L.A. who might be wondering, it was not all that cold, particularly as the show had an early start time.

Victoria Jacobs and Paul Lacques playing "Today"

At 6:10 p.m., series host Gwendolyn Sanford introduced Victoria Jacobs. I’d seen Victoria Jacobs many times in her role as drummer (and occasional vocalist) in the band I See Hawks In L.A., but last night was the first time I got to see her front and center, and on guitar. Accompanying her was fellow Hawk Paul Lacques on guitar, with Hawks front man Rob Waller joining them on a few songs. She opened her set with “Today,” and then mentioned how she and Paul Lacques had played together twenty-five years ago. “So we figured, what the hell, let’s do it again,” she joked. The first song Rob Waller joined her on was “Spinning,” a song included on the I See Hawks In L.A. 2018 album Live And Never Learn. As he took a seat on the throne-like chair, he offered to let folks come sit on his lap and tell him what they want for Christmas. A woman called out that she wanted his hat. One of my favorite songs of her set was a new one, about skipping stones. “This is a new song, so if I mess up, I mess up,” Victoria said as she started it. It was a fun number, with a bit of Bo Diddley thing happening, and Paul Lacques got a chance to really deliver on guitar. And there was no messing up, not that I could tell, anyway. Rob Waller returned for the last three songs of the set – “Open Door,” “Kensington Market” and “My Parka Saved Me.” Before that final number, both Victoria and Rob put on parkas. Rob Waller played guitar on that one, which freed Victoria to stand and really get into the sometimes playful nature of the lyrics. It was a delightful way to wrap up the set. Her set ended at 7:05 p.m.

Dan Janisch And The Sallys

At 7:15 p.m., while Dan Janisch was setting up, someone in the audience teased him, shouting “Let’s go!” And a moment later The Sallys started their set, opening with “Here She Comes.” A strong start. A line that stood out to me was, “But now I feel like I found a piece of me that I lost a long time ago.” They followed that with “Wild Fun,” one of my favorites. Things were rocking now! By the way, David Serby was sitting in on bass for this show, another treat. “Are you guys having fun?” Dan asked the crowd after that song. Oh, there was no question about it. The set also included “Sweet Mercy,” “Like You Best,” “Honey Bee,” “Where Your Demons Can’t Go” and “Ego Junkie,” that last featuring some nice work on harmonica and a funny spoken word section. “There’s a new upstart named Ben Vaughn after us,” Dan joked toward the end of the set. They finished with “Brother Damnation.” Their set ended at 8:07 p.m.

Ben Vaughn Ensemble

At 8:23 p.m., Gwendolyn introduced Ben Vaughn, and things were off to a hopping start, at least until Sister T experienced some bass amp problems partway through the first song. They soon seemed to be fixed, and she even did a brief lead on bass, but no, there was still trouble, and a team of technicians got right to work on it at the end of that first number. “Kevin, it’s just you and me,” Ben Vaughn said to his drummer, and the two of them began “Percy’s Blues,” a sweet song. Before the end of it, the bass was back in the mix, leading Ben to say, “The unsinkable Sister T.” They followed “Percy’s Blues” with “In My Own Reality” and “Too Sensitive For This World,” two songs I love, two that I connect to strongly. “It’s a wonder anyone survives,” Ben sings in the latter. I also love his sense of humor, which even at times comes across in his guitar playing, as it did last night in “Deep In The Weeds.” And of course his humor played a big part in “Miss Me When I’m Gone.” The crowd cheered as soon as he started that one. The audience then provided some finger snaps during “Blind Alley,” a song on which Ben delivered some wonderful stuff on harmonica but did not play guitar. The band’s set also included “Walkin’ My Way (Back To Your Heart),” “Hey Romeo,” “Heavy Machinery,” “New Jersey Rock ‘N’ Roll,” and “Asking For A Friend.” Before “Asking For A Friend,” Ben remarked on the ceiling fans all being connected. Sister T added, “And they’re powered by ghosts.” And after that one, some requests were called out, including one for “Two Mile Road,” which Ben Vaughn then played. “Thank you,” Ben said afterward. “We haven’t played that one in a long time.” The set wrapped up with “Here Comes Trouble,” which had a big finish on drums, Ben urging Kevin to keep going. The shows of this concert series are scheduled to end at 9 p.m., and though it was already after 9 at that point, everyone was having too good a time to let it end, and so Ben Vaughn Ensemble gave us an encore. They kept everyone dancing with “My First Band,” with multiple endings. Ben Vaughn kept starting it up again. Hey, who wanted this great night to come to a close? The show ended at 9:42 p.m.

Here are a few photos from the night:

Victoria Jacobs performing "Spinning"

Victoria Jacobs performing "Open Door"

Victoria Jacobs performing "My Parka Saved Me"

Dan Janisch

 

Dan Janisch performing "Ego Junkies"

Dan Janisch

Ben Vaughn Ensemble

 

Ben Vaughn Ensemble

Ben Vaughn Ensemble performing "Percy's Blues"

 

Ben Vaughn Ensemble

The Mayan Bar & Grill is located at 317 W. Foothill Blvd., in Monrovia, California. See you there on January 7th for Ted Russell Kamp.