It was beautiful day in Los Angeles yesterday, a perfect day to catch an outdoor concert. And fortunately for us, there was a damn good lineup at Music Garden L.A. in Highland Park, a lineup that included Mini Mendez & Tom Dunne, The Smokey Lonesome, and The Oddity. How's that for a Saturday afternoon in the sunshine? Can you beat this city?
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| Mini Mendez & Tom Dunne |
Mini Mendez and Tom Dunne kicked off the show at 4 o'clock. The previous day, Mini Mendez had described the show online as "
a set of our sappy love songs played with semi-correct chords." He loves to sell himself short, but that description does capture the delightfully loose and playful vibe of the set. Mini was on vocals and guitar, and Tom was on drums and backing vocals. They opened the set with "Friday Night I'm Wearing Blue," a song that was released as a single in 2018, Tom using brushes on his snare. It's a wonderful song, and it's over before you know it. Sappy? Not at all. "
Too loud?" they asked afterward. Also, not at all. In fact, someone mentioned that Mini Mendez's guitar should be turned up. On the next song, he sang, "
I would fall in love with you," and then whispered, "
Again," which was striking. As he repeated the word "
Again," it grew in power. They then played just a bit of The Bay City Rollers' "Saturday Night," because it was that kind of a fun gig. And, I suppose, because it was Saturday night. Well, Saturday afternoon. And don't The Glimmer Stars have a song about The Bay City Rollers? The set also included a sweet rendition of "Paulina," with some nice harmonies on "
Her name, her name, her name." Mini Mendez then began belting out that line. "
That chick broke my heart," he said afterward, adding that he has many songs with women's names. Indeed! Later in the set he played a song titled "Cynthia." They're all about a girl, as he said. The line "
And I'll try to be real cool, but I'm not fooling anyone" made me laugh aloud. Then from "You Dropped The Bomb," a line that stood out to me was "
Dressed up in sweet despair." What a great line! That was to be the end of their set, but folks called out for more. "
We don't have any more," they said. What they ended up doing was "Nice," a Glimmer Stars song, with Mini Mendez adding "
Highland Park" to one of the lines. That led straight into a bit of Big Star's "In The Street," with Tom providing some finger snaps, to wrap things up.
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| The Smokey Lonesome |
The Smokey Lonesome was up next, with guitarist Dave Porter sporting a Tranquilina T-shirt (Tom was in the audience at that point, and so were Gloria and Sophia Delgado). The Smokey Lonesome kicked off the set with "Koa Box," and immediately the energy we've come to associate with this duo was crackling. I love it when Natalie Fratino attacks that standup bass. Natalie then sang lead on a cover of "Ophelia." I always dig the guitar work that Dave adds to that song. That was followed by "Frontera," the lead track from the band's 2024 EP
Desert Run, a fun one every time they perform it, and then "Heartbroken Heartbreaker" and "Jasmine." After a brief mention of the merchandise table, they went into "Ways To Be Wicked," and if the energy was high before, the duo was really rocking things now. Natalie then told the audience they were going to need a little help on the next song, asking the crowd to call out "
California" at the appropriate moment. No need to explain just when that moment is, for the song - "Cannabis" - is one of their most popular songs, and everyone in the crowd seemed to know when to join them in shouting "
California!" "
Cannabis is legal, oh, in California." I sometimes forget that cannabis is still illegal in other parts of this country. While switching guitars, Dave told the crowd, "
You know, it's Gabriel Johns' birthday week." The duo then played "The Smokey Lonesome," one of my personal favorites. It's a song to sing around the campfire, if you've just managed to escape the law and you're burning some evidence in that campfire. So good! It was followed by a kick-ass version of "Desert Run" and then a cover of "Silver Threads And Golden Needles" to close out the set. But the audience demanded more from these guys as well, and they played a request for "Paulito's Old Lady," a fun, wild number with a punk energy.
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| The Oddity |
The Oddity closed out the afternoon. For this show, the group was the duo of Gabriel Johns on vocals and guitar and Boomer Bearman on drums (Michael Gavigan was unable to make it). You probably know Gabriel Johns from his work in Slamdinistas. "
We are The Oddity, minus one," he announced before kicking off the set with "My Turn To Die," which has the lines "
I'm not wasting my time/Waiting for my turn to die." It was a great choice of openers. "
I write a lot of songs about death," Gabriel said afterward, adding that tomorrow is promised to no one. Indeed. That's something that's been on my mind a lot lately, and very few things irritate me more than someone wasting my time. That was followed by "Whose Life," which asks the question, "
Whose life is it anyway?" And then we were treated to a cover of "Mixed Up, Shook Up Girl." There was a positive, even empowering, sense to this music, and Gabriel introduced "Difference" by saying that he believes we can all make a difference somehow, somewhere. That song was one of the set's highlights, and it was followed by another highlight, "I Don't Want To See You," which had a jazzy vibe and good rhythm. "
See if you recognize this," Gabriel said before Boom Bearman began the next song on drums. The song was a cover of "Pocketful Of Rainbows," which Elvis Presley recorded for the movie
G.I. Blues. That was followed by a new song, "Speak Free," a very cool number that ended up being another of my personal favorites. Then "I Get Sad" featured a delicios beat, and was yet another of the set's gems. There was also some excellent drumming in "Truth," and then a great energy to "We're Coming Home." That song led straight into "Girl With The Big Surprise" to wrap up the set. But once again, the crowd wanted more. The Oddity chose to do a cover of "Wild Horses," with Mini Mendez joining Gabriel on vocals. What a great afternoon of music!
Music Garden L.A. is located at 5133 York Blvd. in Highland Park, California.
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