Michael Doherty's Music Log: Sandy Rogers Band Headlines A Fantastic Show at Highpoint Brewery, 2-15-26

What a lineup!

On Sunday, Highpoint Brewery in San Dimas became one of my favorite places in southern California. It's a friendly, relaxed spot, with some of the best beer I've had and with some incredible live music. A wonderful combination, right? Also, there was no cover, and the beer was reasonably priced (no Barkley Restaurant here, I assure you), so the place is basically a nice slice of heaven. Sandy Rogers Band headlined a great lineup Sunday that also included Laura Lovelace, Tranquilina, and Victoria In The Jimsonweed.

Laura Lovelace

Laura Lovelace was up first, with Gloria Delgado and Sophia Delgado of The Firkins and Tranquilina backing her, and Tom Dunne adding a little percussion on a couple of songs from his seat in the audience. Tom did so on the first song, "Easily Distracted," a wonderful number that immediately endeared Laura to the audience. After that song, Laura mentioned she was collecting signatures for an extension of Proposition 55, regarding education. She dedicated "Spike" to her mom, "Who can sing along if she wants to." I don't know if she sang along or not, but several folks in the audience certainly did. It was a delightful song, and it featured it a nice lead by Sophia on acoustic guitar. Laura delivered a short set, only five songs, leaving me wanting more.

Tranquilina

Sophia remained on stage then, starting the Tranquilina set with a solo number, "Brighter Than A Star," a really nice song that included a reference to Paul Lacques' "Ride My Soul." Though gone for two years now (has it really been that long?), Paul Lacques is still an important part of the southern California music scene, as was especially apparent at this show. After all, much of Victoria's solo work is inspired by him and by their time together, and Sandy Rogers' most recent album features his work on most tracks and includes a song he wrote, which she played at the show. "I see you when I look at the stars," Sophia sang in "Brighter Than A Star." Beautiful. Gloria and Tom then joined her, and the band played "I Know My Luck." Their set also included a fun number about finally making it to Nashville, as well as "Victory At Sea," a song that is a Firkins number. "It's been a hard year," Gloria sings in this one, and that is a line that is true now even though it's only February. "So all these songs we're playing tonight, Sophia wrote," Gloria mentioned after that one. It was a great set, and it included one instrumental tune that had a jazzy vibe. The set concluded with "In The Clouds," a very cool number.

Victoria In The Jimsonweed

Victoria Jacobs was up next. You know her from her work in I See Hawks In L.A., and here she was performing as Victoria In The Jimsonweed, with Aaron Bakker on electric guitar. She opened her set with "Without You." "I'm trying to live my life without you/It's not easy to do," she sings in this one. As I said, Paul Lacques has an undeniable presence in the music here. She followed that with "Shed Those Tears." When in that song she repeated, "It's okay," we could all feel it, believe it. There is a great release in this music. "Star-Filled Night" featured an excellent lead by Aaron on electric guitar, and the next song, "Winding Stream," included the line "Get some perspective on the unexpected." In that song, she also reminded us to trust love, to trust that it will find a way. "Misery Loves Company" had a deliciously bluesy vibe, and Aaron deliverd some really nice work on electric guitar.

Victoria has a solo album in the works, and has been getting some help on it from several of the area's most talented musicians. A couple of them, including Rick Shea, were in the audience at this show. Victoria delivered a wonderful version of "Santa Fe," one of my personal favorites. That was followed by "Forever Shine," in which she sings, "Follow your heart, and stay true to your vision." She wrapped up the set with the beautiful "Dancing Like A Feather."

Sandy Rogers Band

Victoria then got behind the drum kit for the Sandy Rogers Band set. "Well, Victoria got right to my bones," Sandy said before the band began its set. And surely she spoke for everyone in the room. "I've never been to this place before," she then mentioned, adding, "It's a great place." Indeed! Sandy Rogers started the set with "Tingling Blue," the title track from her newest album, with Paul Marshall delivering some wonderful stuff on bass. Guitarist Dan Janisch was not able to make it to this show. During "One Of Those Kind," Sandy joked, "There is where the guitar player comes in." That was followed by "Fool For Love" and then "Train Fare To Memphis," a song that grabs me every time. She then gave us an excellent rendition of "Lonesome Man," mentioning that it's her favorite song from the new album. If you've not yet heard that song, I recommend checking it out. But, really, Tingling Blue should be in your CD collection.

Sandy introduced "In Her Auto-mobile" by saying that Dan counts it off, joking that it's usually faster than it should be. That was followed by another song that is a highlight of any set in which it appears, "Missouri Blue." And Sunday night's rendition included some very cool work on bass. Sandy talked about Paul Lacques when introducing "Wild Bill," which he wrote. The band delivered a tender, touching rendition of fhe song at this show. That was followed by the fun "Trailer Up On A Hill" and then "Suburban Boys," which had a great groove. Another stand-out was "Let's Ride." Sandy's vocal performance was fantastic, and the song's opening moments drew cheers from the audience. A wonderful rendition of "Why Wyoming" followed "Let's Ride." Sandy then gave us "You Lied Your Way," a fun and energetic number that has recently found its way into the set lists (or back into the set lists, I suppose). There was some qusetion about how to end it, with Paul joking that she was dazzled by the bass solo. The set also included "Turn Around," "No Antidote" and "Run Out Of West," that last one featuring a tremendous vocal performance. The show ended at 8:01 p.m.

Sandy Rogers Band Set List