Fernando Perdomo Celebrates His Birthday at Kulak's Woodshed, 8-16-25

Fernando Perdomo celebrated his birthday with a special concert last night at Kulak's Woodshed in North Hollywood (though his actual birthday is today, and this evening he is playing at the Wild Honey Backyard Amphitheater before a screening of The Power Pop Movie). You might already be aware that he is turning 45, because his new compilation titled 45's The Best also celebrates that fact. And, yes, that compilation is in addition to his monthly Waves albums and other current projects, some of which I learned about at the concert. Clearly, he does not sleep. After the concert last night a woman told me she was certain there are five of him. I'm not quite ready to discount that possibility. In addition to creating an album of new original material every month this year (the Waves series), putting out a new album with Matt Tecu (Getting Warmer), and helping out on other artists' projects, it turns out he's also been at work on a new Broken Sound album. And if that's not enough, he and another songwriter are creating a rock opera. So, five Fernandos does not seem out of the question. Right?

He started the show last night with a short solo set of new material, including "Harmonics And True Love," "Meet Me Down On Love Street," "One Way To L.A." and "Find Me" (the last two being from the upcoming rock opera). And then he had a string of special guests come to the stage, including Jay Asher, Michael Culhane (of Circus Guy), Craig Mirijanian (who did a wonderful rendition of "Norwegian Wood"), James Houlahan (I was especially happy to finally see him in concert after enjoying his CDs for years; he played "Ben Riley"), Robert Lopaka Souza, and the great Feef Mooney. Feef played "Cleo September" and "The Long Ago," the latter of which has the line "Nothing matters more than music." That is a line I appreciate. Then the duo of Fernando Perdomo and drummer/vocalist Michael Collins, known together as Broken Sound, did a great set of tunes, including "Sky Girl," "Company Man, Factory Girl," "Melt The Bots" (one of my favorites, which found them in special electronic masks, a delightful moment), "Everybody Wants To Screw The World" and "Zupruder's Other Films." That was followed by a short set by The Fernando Perdomo Band, including a beautiful rendition of "California Moon," "Searching For Myself," "Fill My Sky" and "Absolute Silence." The evening ended as it began, with Fernando Perdomo performing solo, wrapping things up with "Home." I've mentioned this before, but I don't believe I've ever heard a bad song titled "Home." The show went a little later than planned, and certainly no one was upset about that.

Here are some photos from the night: