Michael Doherty's Music Log: Old Californio Headlines Excellent Night At Backyard Party, 2-7-26

Sunday, February 8, 2026

Old Californio Headlines Excellent Night At Backyard Party, 2-7-26

Old Californio playing "Kansas City Southern"

Backyard Party is not in anyone's back yard, at least not that I could see. It is a sort of warehouse space located in Pasadena. It's small, to be sure, and without a bar or anything, but it's all about the music. That's always been the main drive for me to visit any venue. And it has an important mission in addition to delivering excellent shows. Run by Brandon Jay, who lost his home in the Eaton fire last year, this venue is part of the Altadena Musicians project, which gets instruments to those musicians who are in need. That Altadena fire had a devastating impact on the music community of Los Angeles, with many musicians losing everything. Instruments that have been donated, but not yet given to those in need, are stored in a special room at this venue. And last night between sets Brandon said that Altadena Musicians will also be donating records to those who lost their collections in the fire. People who lost their homes will be able to come and pick out records to replace some of what was destroyed. It's a great cause. If you have an instrument or records to donate, you can reach out to Altadena Musicians through their website.

Evan Ziegenmeyer

Last night's concert was an all-ages show, and it began with Evan Ziegenmeyer performing a solo acoustic set. I could tell he had a really good voice even during his brief soundcheck, and he delivered a wonderful set, opening with an original number titled "Moonlight Dance," which featured some excellent guitar work. After that song, he talked a bit about the fire, and about going back to his home and seeing just the chimney remaining, describing a strange and unexpected peace coming over him. He played mostly original material, ending the set with a song about Altadena, in which he sang, "Altadena, Altadena, where the city meets the sky." Dead Lawn was up next, a trio that opened with a song titled "New Ways To Let You Down," a fun rock song with some pop elements. Singer and guitarist Nate revealed that he was playing a guitar given to him by Altadena Musicians. The band has an album coming out, saying it will fit nicely on our record shelves between the Dead Kennedys and the Dead Milkmen, and the set focused on material from it. From what I heard, this is going to be an album to check out.

Dead Lawn

"Lazy Old San Gabriels"

Before Old Californio's set began, Brandon led the crowd in singing "Happy Birthday" to Gwendolyn. It's cool that both of Old Californio's gigs in the last week or so were in celebration of a birthday. The band eased into its set, starting things with "California Goodness," such a sweet opener, a song from Westering Again. By the way, Bob Roach was on bass and backing vocals for this show, filling in for Jason Chesney. They followed "California Goodness" with another song from Westering Again, "Lazy Old San Gabriels." I love Woody's guitar part, which feels like the heart of the song to me and has a catchy thing about it. And there is that great moment when the energy of the song suddenly increases. There was then a bit of jockeying of positions so that Woody could have a vocal microphone for their beautiful cover of "Because," which featured good leads on both keys and guitar. Rich thanked the crowd for sticking around for the late set, explaining that 9 o' clock is late now. And the band went into "Unknown Engineer," a song that became a great jam, with a fun lead by Jon on keys followed by a vibrant burst by Woody on guitar.

"Harmony"

"Allon Camerado" is one of my favorites to see Old Californio perform, in part because of that fantastic moment when the band really begins to rock. There is a great force to this song, and there is a joy in being overwhelmed by it. They followed that with another solid rocker, "Mother Road," with Jon rocking the keys even before that delicious lead. The whole band \was cooking, and it was after that song that Rich introduced Bob on bass. "City Lines" is another phenomenal song from Westering Again (five of the nine songs the band played came from that album). "Let's get hard to find," Rich sings in this one, a line that becomes more and more appealing in these strange and unsettling times. I also love the way this one builds in power. But if I were forced to pick one highlight of the show, it would be "Harmony." The band gave us a spectacular rendition last night, with Woody delivering some wild, exciting work on guitar, and Justin driving things forward with his fantastic work on drums. They then wrapped things up with a fun cover of "Kansas City Southern." The show ended at 10:07 p.m.

Set List