Michael Doherty's Music Log: February 2026

Old Californio playing "Chilao Flats"

Last night Old Californio put on a magnificent show at a small club in South Pasadena, delivering three sets and playing until after one in the morning. The show was to a celebrate a fiftieth birthday, and the crowd was certainly in the mood to have a good time. I met the man who was celebrating, and it turned out he was a Grateful Dead fan (he had on a cool dancing bears shirt). It also turned out he's the mayor of Alhambra. And a big fan of Old Californio. If you haven't yet seen or heard Old Californio, I highly recommend checking out this band. These musicians are all incredibly talented, and they also write some damn fine lyrics. Besides that, they can jam on a song, take it to interesting places, make it breathe, give it a life that feels like a great story. They don't play nearly often enough, so when you get the chance to see them, take it. These are strange times, and music is more and more looking to me like the only, or at least best, remaining evidence of humanity. Of what humanity can, and should, be. Seeing a great band, and experiencing it with an audience that appreciates it in a similar way, connects us to something bigger than ourselves, connects us to each other in a meaningful, if fleeting, way. And we still need that, to feel connected to each other. We are social creatures, after all.

"Chilao Flats"

Old Californio took the stage just after 9 p.m., easing into the show with "Chilao Flats," a nice mellow jam with some good stuff on both guitar and keys. By the second song, the power was beginning to build. And on "Lyre Of Orpheus," Woody Aplanalp was rocking the guitar, and Jon Neimann was delivering some delicious stuff on keys. For their rendition of The Beatles' "Because," Rich Dembowski got out his harmonica and delivered some good work. The main appeal of that song, though, was the band's great harmonies. Jason Chesney then asked, "Anyone ready for a boogie?" And, yes, folks certainly were. It was a celebration, after all. And the band delivered a rendition of "Mother Road" that had a fantastic energy, the keyboard dancing. Woody's guitar lead had a fiery drive. And Rich took a turn leading on guitar too, and everything felt just right. This is what it's all about, isn't it? "Unknown Engineer" followed, and then a fantastic version of "City Lines" that was a highlight of the first set. They then concluded the set with a rocking cover of The Who's "Squeezebox," featuring lots of great stuff from Woody on guitar. The set ended right at 10 o' clock.

"Ring Of Fire"

A half hour later, the band was back, opening the second set with a cover of "Kansas City Southern," which became a great jam. And then their version of "Ring Of Fire" began with a delicious funky jam before any of the lyics were delivered. I love what this band does with this song, and last night Woody was going wild on guitar. The jam got into some bluesy territory at one point. Wherever they went with the song, that was the place to be. After that one, Rich started to strap on the harmonica again, then changed his mind, and they began their cover of Little Feat's "Willin'." But Rich did end up playing harmonica on this song, just holding it. They gave the song a nice, gentle ending. Of course there was nothing gentle about "Allon Camerado," which featured some excellent drumming by Justin Smith. This is another song that became a great jam last night with a ton of energy. That was followed by "Midnight Moonlight," always a fun one to dance to. And of course those of us in the audience who are Grateful Dead fans were especially happy to hear it, for it's one of the songs that Jerry Garcia turned many of us onto. A kind of sweet rendition of "The Cuckoo" followed. Yeah, this set featured quite a few covers. "Warmth Of The Sun," a song from Westering Again, came on strong, and at one point took on a sort of Bo Diddley beat. After that song, Rich told the crowd they were going to do one more, but then play a late set for anyone who wants to hang out. That was the moment we learned there would be a third set. They wrapped up the second set with a fun cover of "Lonesome, On'ry And Mean." This set ended at 11:28 p.m.

A celebratory shot

Just after midnight, the band began the third set. A lot of folks had decided to hang out for this late-night set. And why not? This is one of the best bands going these days, and everything was clicking, cooking. They started things off this time with a cover of "Hard To Handle." It was a good, hoppin' rendition, with some playful aspects too. Woody's lead on guitar received some deserved cheers. That was followed by "Jewels And The Dross," and the jam got good and loose. Then there was a great deal of joy in "Destining Again," a song that had me feeling good about the world. Shots were distributed to those members of the band that wanted a drink, and there was a toast to the birthday boy (isn't it odd how we still say "birthday boy" or "birthday girl" even if the person in question is fifty?) before the band started "Keep On Rollin'," that song having a sweet sound. That was followed by "Comes Undone" and then "Lean Into It," the latter featuring a good jam on that delicious rhythm. The few people who were not able to stick around for this set certainly missed something fun and special. The band delivered a fantastic rendition of Neil Young's "Everybody Knows This Is Nowwhere," before wrapping up the set with an absolutely delightful "Styrofoam." At some point during "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere," someone moved a light close to the stage, or perhaps turned on a stage light that was already there, giving the stage a different glow. The set ended at one in the morning, but the crowd was pretty insistent on an encore. "In general, we don't do overtime," Rich joked. The encore was a ten-minute version of "Lie To Me," with a great beat, and with every band member getting a chance to shine as Rich introduced them. What a show!

Set List

Set I