Michael Doherty's Music Log: Old Californio at Claremont Craft Ales, 6-21-25 Concert Review

Old Californio playing "Knockin' On Your Screen Door"

This weekend, Claremont Craft Ales celebrated its thirteenth year in business. And if that seems an odd milestone in particular to celebrate, well, this brewery apparently celebrates every year that it remains in business. And why not? For its annual celebration this time around, the brewery hired one of southern California's best bands, Old Californio, to perform yesterday evening. Great music and great beer, that guarantees a wonderful time for all. Before the band even began setting up, I started with the brewery's triple IPA, deciding to jump right in, but it arrived in such a tiny cup that it looked more like a shot. Even at House Of Blues, I'd never been handed a beer so small. When I questioned the bartender about the size of the cup, I was told it was because the beer was so strong. Well, right, that's why I ordered it. Anyway, it was delicious, though as I was walking back to our table, a little splashed out on my hand, and I thought, "Well there goes two dollars." The place had tables inside as well as outside, but outside is where the band was going to be playing, so that is where we settled in. There was a second, smaller bar in a different section, and also a pizza oven and a burger truck outside. Basically almost everything one could want. The place was crowded, inside and out, and the "normal line," as it was labeled, remained quite long inside, so it was to the smaller bar that I next went and where I ordered the 13th Anniversary Lager. No line at all, and a normal-sized cup. And by then the band was setting up.


"Mother Road"

After some tuning and whatnot, and more drinking on my part - this time a beer called Truism (an interesting name, in the vicinity of truth, or the belief of truth) - the band was introduced just after 5 p.m., and the guys kicked off the show with "Mother Road," a fun number with the right energy, and featuring some good stuff from Jon Niemann on keys. Rich Dembowski then thanked the crowd, and wished everyone a "Happy Saturday evening." He and his band mates were guaranteeing everyone a happy Saturday evening with their music. "Mother Road" is on Westering Again, and they followed that with another song from that album, "Harmony." Their vocal work is always so good, and you might expect it to be particularly remarkable on a song titled "Harmony," and you wouldn't be wrong. Woody Aplanalp delivered some excellent stuff on guitar, receiving applause from the appreciative crowd. That was followed by "Keep On Rollin'" with its great sweet sound, its vibe working so well in the sunlight.

"Because"

This band has a whole lot of great original material, but also delivers its own excellent takes on some well-known songs by other artists, and yesterday gave us a phenomenal rendition of "Ring Of Fire," featuring a delicious jam. These guys really own this song. They followed that with "Destining Again," one of my personal favorites from the band's 2023 album Metaterranea. Rich playfully introduced the song as "off our last album, which skyrocketed up the charts then tanked completely." It's a wonderful song, and if you haven't heard it, I recommend picking up a copy of that album. The band then delivered another cover, The Beatles' "Because," a song that features their beautiful harmonies, and also included a pretty jam yesterday. They followed that with a really good rendition of their "City Lines." "Take the time to look around and see who you are." And then we were treated to "Midnight Moonlight," a song I first heard on the Old & In The Way album. This is another cover that I love seeing the band perform. That was followed by "I Won't Cry," a song included on the band's 2022 album Old Californio Country. Listening to that song, you can't help but think that these guys are southern California. Everything we love about this place is present in this band's music. They wrapped up the first set with another song that was included on that album, "The Cuckoo," a song I think I first heard sung by Janis Joplin. The first set ended at 6:03 p.m., with Rich telling the crowd that they were going to take a break and have a beer with us. At that point, we were in the shade and everything was right with the world.


"Willin'"

Just after 6:30, they opened the second set with a cover of Little Feat's "Willin'," a nice way to ease into the set. The song featured some wonderful work on keys. That was followed by "Old Kings Road," a song from Metaterranea, a song that always feels so good. The band then jammed on "Allon Camerado," that song having a great energy. "Lyre Of Orpheus" followed. "Lately I feel like I'm not really here at all/Life, it seems, is just one long summer day beneath a shady tree." And when it seemed the song was ending in a gentle and pretty way, Jason Chesney set it back in motion on bass. "Chilao" followed, this song featuring a sweet, pleasant jam. This is what life is all about, isn't it? "We may never ever want to come down." Things then got a little funky with their cover of John Prine's "Knockin' On Your Screen Door." This was a lot of fun. Jason then introduced "Warmth Of The Sun" by telling the crowd, "This snappy little number used to feature Justin on the tambourine." He added that since drummer Justin Smith didn't have a tambourine, we should keep our eyes on him and see what he comes up with. Justin Smith always comes up with great stuff on drums, and can make do with whatever might be on hand, whatever might be within reach, everything always flowing smoothly and wonderfully. "Warmth Of The Sun" is a great, bluesy rock number, and was a highlight of the set.

"I Lost It"

Toward the end of the show, the band focused on covers, delivering a great rendition of Lucinda Williams' "I Lost It," a song from her 1980 album Happy Woman Blues. It's a fun song, and after it, Woody changed his string. His band mates joked about cutting his pay, since he had been playing only five strings. "We're going to have a big meeting about this." They then delivered a seriously fun rendition of "Kansas City Southern," written by Gene Clark. Rich introduced the band, and they then gave us an energetic rendition of Neil Young's "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere." That was followed by the delightful "Styrofoam," which featured a fun jam, Woody and Rich engaging in a little back-and-forth on guitar at one point. They wrapped up the show with "Lie To Me," one last fun jam, with each member getting a chance to shine. Jason, before his lead, said his hands were cramping up, but of course he still delivered some wonderful work. I'm not sure these guys are capable of delivering anything less than excellence. The show ended at 8:05 p.m.

Set List

Set I