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"Ride My Soul" |
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Friends and family gathered at McCabe’s last night to
celebrate the music of Paul Lacques. It was a beautiful, touching and joyous
night featuring some of southern California’s best musicians, people that Paul
Lacques had played with throughout the years in bands like The Underthings,
Rotondi, Earthworm Ensemble, Double Naught Spy Car, and I See Hawks In L.A. And
the money raised from the tickets to this sold-out show went to help Victoria
Jacobs pay remaining medical bills (same is true of all money made at the
merchandise table). This night provided a much-needed opportunity for people to
come together to show their love and appreciation for the music, for Paul, and
for each other.
Even before the doors were opened, folks were meeting in
line outside, greeting each other with hugs,
checking in with one another and sharing fond memories. It was the kind
of night where you knew everyone else there, or at least their faces were
familiar to you, and so you were comfortable when the tears came. The music
began at 8, Victoria Jacobs opening the night with “Clever,” a song she wrote
when she and Paul Lacques got engaged. She stopped when there was feedback, a
moment that actually lightened the mood for everyone. For this song, she was
joined by Paul Marshall on bass and Dave Zirbel on pedal steel. It’s a
beautiful song, and its last line, “There’s
no end to our love,” was especially moving last night.
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"Clever" | |
Rob Waller said that the celebration would move largely
in chronological order, giving a taste of the different music that Paul Lacques
gave to the world. One thing that was striking was the wonderful diversity, the
great range, of his material. I had first heard Paul in Double Naught Spy Car
in the late 1990s, followed quickly by I See Hawks In L.A., two bands that
themselves are quite different from each other, and was only vaguely aware of
what had come before. But when Richie Lawrence and Katie Thomas took the stage,
along with Simeon Pillich and Shawn Nourse, to play a couple of waltzes, it
quickly became clear how wide Paul’s musical tastes spread. And those songs – “Leaving
You,” from the Rotondi album
Preaching +
Confessing, and “The Wonderful Waltz” from the Goin’ South Band album
Home In My Heart – were absolutely
wonderful. Anthony Lacques, Dave Markowitz and Mike Stinson then joined them
for the delightfully playful “Corn.” A fun number from Earthworm Ensemble’s
self-titled album that had folks smiling and laughing.
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"Corn" | |
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"Brand New Mind"
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It’s interesting to me how Paul Lacques worked with certain
musicians on multiple projects. Richie Lawrence and Simeon Pillich remained on
stage as The Underthings, led by Stefanie Naifeh, continued the celebration
with a fantastic rendition of “Home In My Heart.” I know my girlfriend will say
the last thing I need to do is buy more records and compact discs, but how
could I not want to add all this music to my personal collection? They followed
“Home In My Heart,” with “Voulez Vous Danser,” a song written in French.
Stefanie said that the lyrics translate, in part, to “
There is no reason to dance/I will dance.” Wonderful! That seems to
be the philosophy of the music right there. Peter Lacques then joined them on
harmonica for “Brand New Mind.” By the way, Marcus Watkins of Double Naught Spy
Car played guitar on these songs. Then Double Naught Spy Car followed, with
Danny McGough on keyboard. They played “Danger High!” (and, yes, the crowd
shouted out the song’s title at the end), “Kay Sara Sarah” and “jan-michael vincent
rehab.com,” Marcus Watkins on lap steel for those last two. McCabe’s doesn’t
really have enough room for dancing, but those around me were bouncing in their
seats.
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"Kay Sara Sarah" |
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"Teresa" |
Paul Lacques was part of a musical family, and four of
his brothers came together last night to perform the I See Hawks In L.A. song “California
Country.” They were then joined by the fifth brother, Gabe Lacques, for an
energetic rendition of “Hecker Pass,” also an I See Hawks In L.A. song. Anthony
Lacques switched from bass to drums for “Teresa,” with Bubba Hernandez (of
Brave Combo) joining them on bass and vocals, and Richie Lawrence was on
accordion. What a fun song! It raised my spirits tremendously. Bubba Hernandez
encouraged people to dance if they wished, and through there wasn’t much room,
some people did. This song was on Rotondi’s
Play
On album, which I need to pick up at some point. Tony Gilkyson and Rick
Shea then took the stage to deliver a couple more Hawks numbers. Tony sang lead
on a beautiful, slow, touching rendition of “Hope Against Hope,” a song from
Grapevine.
Rick sang lead on a pretty rendition of that
album’s title track, the audience singing along at the end.
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"Hope Against Hope" |
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I See Hawks In L.A. is one of my favorite bands, and last
night Rob Waller, Paul Marshall and Victoria Jacobs were joined by Rick Shea,
Tony Gilkyson, Richie Lawrence and Dave Zirbel. They started with one of the
band’s more recent songs, “Salvation,” with Paul Marshall on lead vocals. In
the introduction, Paul said it was the last song he and Paul Lacques wrote
together. It’s an excellent song, and after the show a guy looking at the CDs
for sale asked which one had that song on it. Unfortunately, it has not been
included on any album, though I know a new album had been planned. They
followed that with an energetic rendition of “Humboldt,” with Mike Stinson
joining them on vocals. A seriously great jam. They kept the spirits high with “Good
And Foolish Times,” with Rick, Tony, Dave and Richie all taking turns at leads.
“
We certainly had some good and foolish
times,” Rob said before they started that song. Indeed. You could feel
everyone in the room reflecting on some of those times, remembering and even
rejoicing at those memories, and thankful to have experienced them. Then,
in introducing “The River Knows,” Rob mentioned writing that song
with Paul Lacques one morning while they were staying in Ireland. It was a
beautiful and moving rendition. A certain number of songs had been planned, but the
Hawks decided to add two more – “Carbon Dated Love,” which Victoria mentioned
had not been rehearsed by the folks playing with them, and “I See Hawks In L.A.”
The moment Dave Zirbel began that one on pedal steel, everyone in the room recognized
it.
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"Humboldt" | |
The Lacques Brothers, along with their sisters and the
other musicians, joined the Hawks for the final song of the night, “Ride My
Soul,” a song that was included on the Rotondi album
Preaching + Confessing. Everyone in the audience was singing along
too. It was a wonderful conclusion to the night. When the music was over, no
one was in any particular hurry to leave. Eventually, an announcement was made
asking folks to move to the front room so that the chairs could be put away. It
was in that room that the merchandise table was set up, with all the money from
sales going to help Victoria Jacobs covers the medical bills. I added two
Rotondi records to my collection –
Preaching
+ Confessing and
Polka Changed My
Life Today – as well as a cassette copy of the self-titled release from The
Underthings. Obviously, there is a lot more music that I wish to explore, and
that makes me happy, knowing that there are other Paul Lacques recordings that
I have yet to hear. It’s not the same thing as getting to see him perform, but
it is a way to keep that spirit going. His music is going to live on in these
recordings, and in all those who continue to listen to the magic.
Set List
- Clever
- Leaving You
- The Wonderful Waltz
- Corn
- Home In My Heart
- Voulez Vous Danser
- Brand New Mind
- Danger High!
- Kay Sara Sarah
- jan-michael vincent rehab.com
- California Country
- Hecker Pass
- Teresa
- Hope Against Hope
- Grapevine
- Salvation
- Humboldt
- Good And Foolish Times
- The River Knows
- Carbon Dated Love
- I See Hawks In L.A.
- Ride My Soul
Here are a few more photos from the night:
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"Corn" | |
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"Home In My Heart" |
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"Danger High!"
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"California Country"
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"Hecker Pass"
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"Teresa" | |
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"Grapevine" | |
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"Salvation" | |
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"Good And Foolish Times" |
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"Ride My Soul" |
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