We Are The West at 701 Santa Monica Blvd, 4-5-25 Concert Review

We Are The West playing "Darlin' If"

These are strange, unsettling times, and so perhaps more than ever we need great music to keep our spirits up. On a day when a good portion of the country's population was rightly protesting the fascist regime currently at work dismantling democracy, We Are The West delivered what could turn out to be the final concert in that special garage series the group has been doing for many years. Or, at least the last show for a while, anyway. Singer and guitarist Brett Hool lost his home in the recent fires, and is moving out of California. In fact, he is moving today. So last night's concert was also a sort of farewell party. Yesterday also happened to be his birthday. Once upon a time, this concert series was a monthly enterprise, and then was held quarterly. But this was the first show since January of 2024.

Nicky Fisher was in charge of the music playing as the audience arrived and got settled in the garage. Gerard Lollie, who was the longtime DJ of the music series, died from cancer recently, and the night was in part a celebration of his significant contribution to these magical concerts. Multiple times over the years, I'd ask Gerard about a song he was playing, and then end up going out and purchasing those albums. He was always happy to share his love and knowledge of a particular song or artist. He is going to be missed, surely. Nicky Fisher started things off with Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now" and Grateful Dead's "Throwing Stones," the latter a particularly good choice on this day of protests. The parking garage was transformed into a place of magic and beauty not just by the music, but also by artwork, this time created by David Sota and Janel Raihl of Art Wavy. They brought some really wonderful pieces to help produce the right atmosphere. The artwork did not just function as cool backdrops for the music, but also was hanging over sections of the audience, giving the larger space a good vibe.

Daniella Lollie

As for the music, Brett Hool began the evening with a solo number, which was a surprise. I don't recall him doing that before. But it was his young daughter's first garage concert, and he mentioned that she was likely going to fall asleep in two minutes and he wanted to get in one song for her before that happened. That one song was titled "Dancing Air," a wonderful start to the evening. Brett then introduced the actual opening act, A Violet In Youth, a band led by Gerard's daughter, Daniella Lollie. "I know a lot of you knew my dad," she said when she took the stage. She then explained the origin of her band's name, that it is a Shakespearean phrase. For those who are curious, it comes from the first act of Hamlet, when Laertes is talking with Ophelia. He tells her, "For Hamlet, and the trifling of his favor,/Hold it a fashion and a toy in blood,/A violet in the youth of primy nature." The band opened the set with a couple of new songs, the first of which established a strong atmosphere before the vocals came in. Afterward, she said the song was like a meditation. Much of the set had a similar effect, and it felt so good being immersed in the sound. The final song featured a seriously cool jam near the end. Both my girlfriend and I wanted to purchase whatever CD or record these guys had for sale, but it turned out that, for now at least, their music is just streaming online.

A Violet In Youth

"Good Luck (And All That Stuff)"

"Well, friends, here we are," Brett said when We Are The West was ready to start, just before 10 p.m. The band eased in, giving everyone a moment to come together, the sound building, gathering us in and washing over us. John Kibler used a bow on his bass for those initial moments of "A New Haven," then put it away, creating a pulse on the strings. And there was the sense of all of us on a journey, on a vessel from the past. All of this was before the first line of the song was delivered, "Ships lost at sea." "A New Haven" was the lead track from the group's first EP, and We Are The West followed it with "Good Luck (And All That Stuff)," the second song from that same EP. That song made me happy the moment it started. It always does. It has that kind of vibe. And it featured some really nice stuff by Sylvain Carton on saxophone. Apart from the main duo of Brett Hool and John Kibler, the makeup of band has always been a little different at each show, and last night it was a seven-piece affair (including Brett and John), and the entire band played on most of the songs. In addition to Brett, John and Sylvain, last night's show featured Brett Farkas, Paul Cox, Corey Fogel and Joe Kennedy. It was cool, the band starting the set with that entire first EP, all three songs played in order, something I don't recall ever seeing them do before. For the third song, "Groene Hart," Sylvain switched to clarinet. Before they started that song, Brett mentioned how performing these shows was pretty much his favorite thing to do in the world. He started "Groene Hart" on guitar. This was a particularly beautiful rendition. Perhaps because this might be the last concert in this series, at least for a while, and because they began it with these early songs, the line "You know the past is gone" stood out to me last night. And the jam was like a powerful mantra that opened gates into other realms, light shining in from the heavens, as if the universe itself were excited and pleased by what was happening, and offering encouragement. It was one of those incredible moments, the very reason I catch live music as often as I can, and the crowd responded enthusiastically. Afterward, Brett told the crowd, "That was our first EP, which we recorded down here."

Interestingly, they followed those initial three songs with the first song from the group's second EP, "The Hammer." For this one, Sylvain switched to flute, delivering some wonderful work, and guitarist Brett Farkas joined Brett Hool on the "La la la" backing vocals. That was followed by "Cauliflower Ears," which, yes, was the second track on that second EP, and I'm sure there were at least a few folks in the audience who briefly wondered if the band might play their entire oeuvres in order for this special concert. That would have been something! Brett and John started this song, and partway through, Joe Kennedy came in, adding some nice touches on keys. The rest of the band sat this one out. Brett delivered a beautiful vocal performance. Any thoughts of the band playing its entire catalogue in order came to a halt when the guys followed "Cauliflower Ears" with "The Golden Shore," the title track to the band's 2018 album. John got this one started with some great work on bass, and soon the others joined in. This song had a deliciously jazzy beginning, featuring some seriously cool work on clarinet. This song was another highlight of the night even before the vocals came in, and there was a beautiful build to it. Just completely wonderful.

"Sea Of Light (Dirty Ditty)"

Before starting "The Watchers," a song also from The Golden Shore, Brett mentioned that John had just gotten back from Big Sur, and that Big Sur had inspired this song. I love "The Watchers," in large part because of the powerful vocal work, and also because of the way the song grows intense as it progresses. It grabs hold of you, pulls you into the story told, and then begins to rock you, toss you around. I noticed that people reacted to it like a heavy rock song, that "head-banging" motion. There was a much-needed breath, a pause, before that final, softer section of the song. John then switched from upright to electric bass for "Sea Of Light (Dirty Ditty)," another song from The Golden Shore. This song featured some particularly good stuff by Brett Farkas on guitar, especially toward the end. They followed that with a cover of Spirit's "Darlin' If," from that band's The Family That Plays Together album, dedicating the song to Gerard Lollie, who had turned them onto that band. It was a tender, touching rendition. John played electric bass on this one too. He then switched back to upright bass for "Don't Worry About It," from We Are The West's 2021 album Only One Us, with Sylvain on saxophone and Brett Farkas on tambourine rather than guitar. There was a great deal of power to this song.

Someone in the audience called out "Happy birthday" to Brett Hool, and Brett mentioned that it was also his mother's birthday. He then talked about rehearsing for this show the night before, the first time he'd had a chance to play with these guys in a long time. "And it was amazing, wonderful, beautiful," he said. We could feel the truth of it, and hear the love for the music in every note he sang last night. I've said it before, but there is magic in those garage shows, which Brett himself mentioned: "A few hours ago, it was just a garage, with nothing going on. The second we all come down here, the spirit takes hold." And as he spoke, they began "Only One Us," and everything felt just right. This is another one of those songs that work to raise our spirits, make us feel good about being alive, about being on this silly, glorious planet. Not only that, but the music encourages us, letting us know we have the power to make our lives something special. John then led the crowd in "The New Birthday Song" for Brett, and a cake was brought to the stage. "Another year has passed/You made the grade/Today's your special day/Some things will change/And some will not/But the thing that won't change/Is that you're a special person/Today's your birthday/Happy birthday to you." They wrapped up the show with "Hey God, I'm Alive!" The crowd sang along. A perfect ending to a fantastic show. I hope it won't be too long before we're all able to gather again, because we need this.

Set List

1. A New Haven
2. Good Luck (And All That Stuff)
3. Groene Hart
4. The Hammer
5. Cauliflower Ears
6. The Golden Shore
7. The Watchers
8. Sea Of Light (Dirty Ditty)
9. Darlin' If
10. Don't Worry About It
11. Only One Us
12. The New Birthday Song
13. Hey God, I'm Alive!