Last night there was an outstanding lineup at Bar 10 inside Corbin Bowl as part of the International Pop Overthrow festival, which wrapped up today. There were six bands on the bill, and Fernando Perdomo played in four of them. Remember, this is the same musician who has been releasing an album of new material every month for the last year and a half, so playing four sets in one night is no big feat for him. International Pop Overthrow celebrates power pop artists and those who play similar music, and this year was the first time that the festival has come to Corbin Bowl. And I hope it won't be the last, because it's a pretty cool venue, and the sound was really good.
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| Gerald Emerick |
Right at 8 o' clock, festival founder and host David Bash introduced the first artist of the night, Gerald Emerick, who folks likely know from his band Quincy, that cool power pop band from the late 1970s and early 1980s. Last night he performed in a trio, opening the set with "I Was So Lonely," which had something of a country vibe, and featured some nice work by Anthony Cook on bass. After that first song, he introduced his bandmates, adding that he met drummer Jeffrey Shapiro just two days earlier. Crazy. But, hey, this was that kind of night, with a sort of spontaneous magic. "In My Head" followed, a fun song featuring a totally delicious rhythm. Gerald then slowed things down a bit with "Passport," which featured a particularly good vocal performance, as well as more nice work on bass. Then "Where's My Money" was a fun number, one we could all relate to. That was followed by a song about Margaret Chase Smith, a politician who was among the first to criticize Joseph McCarthy. "Gotta Get up" was a fun, rocking song that began with some wonderful guitar work. Then "My Old School Days" had a delightful pop thing happening. "
Joined a band, and we made some noise/We had a real good time." Gerald Emerick wrapped up his set with a good cover of "Route 66." An excellent start to this special night.
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| The Motion |
The Motion was up next, taking the stage at 8:45 p.m. and kicking off the set with "Winding Down," which was a lot of fun. Then the drums got "Minimum Love" going (including cowbell). This was exactly the kind of pop we all want more of, with its great energy and with a vibe that is always youthful, music that lets us tap into that thing we had in our youth, that thing we believe we still have. When listening to this music, we do have it, don't we? Then we learned that Fernando Perdomo's birthday wasn't the only birthday being celebrated at that show. It was guitarist Paul Riopelle's birthday too. Another reason to celebrate. Another element making this night something special. That was followed by "Spinning," a slower number. And then Paul, the birthday boy, took a turn on lead vocals on "Naked," a song with a totally delicious groove. Another highlight of the set was "Breakfast On Tuesday," a song with a great bass line from David Jenkins, and one that featured drummer Ryeland Allison on lead vocals. The audience, by the way, was having a good time. Someone called out a request for "Somewhere In My Future (There's A Broken Heart)," and the band joked with him that he must have seen the set list. Before they started playing it, they mentioned that it got airplay in Japan. David then mentioned that Steven Wolfson wrote "Prove It" with his arm in a cast after an accident, and that his mother suggested the song be slower. They ignored her suggestion then, but last night began the song at a slower pace, calling it "the Naomi version." After a bit, the song then kicked into a higher gear. David said afterward that they ran into John Entwistle, who signed Steven's cast. "Going Home" then began with a good pounding on the drums. It was such a treat to get to see this band perform. The set concluded with "Affair With A Stranger." When the song was announced, several people cheered. It was a lot of fun, featuring some good drumming. The set ended at 9:18 p.m.
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| Broken Sound |
Up next was Broken Sound, the duo of Fernando Perdomo and Michael Collins. And once Fernando took the stage, he wouldn't leave it for the rest of the night. And I'm certain there is no other way he'd prefer to spend his birthday. The set opened with "She Likes Running," the lead track from the duo's debut album. There was a tremendous energy from the song's first moments. The guys were rocking more at this venue than at, say, Kulak's Woodshed, where I'd seen them perform before. The song had a delicious, heavy pulse. And there was something seriously catchy about it. "
Nobody walks in L.A., but she's running." That was followed by "Sky Girl," which had a sweeter vibe, particularly in Fernando's vocal delivery. The song featured a cool instrumental section that rocked, before returning to that sweeter vibe for the end. Michael then sang lead on "Company Man, Factory Girl," a song from
Dos, which was released last year. In addition to lead vocals, Michael provided the song with an excellent beat. That was followed by "Release," a song that urges musicians to put out their music for folks to hear and appreciate. It had a good, heavy groove. Fernando said that speaking of "Release," both Broken Sound releases were available on the merchandise table. Michael sang lead on "Constellation," also from
Dos. And then Fernando introduced "Melt The Bots" as "
the only protest song I've ever written," adding that it was inspired by the final scene of
The Terminator. That song is a favorite of mine, and last night's rendition was especially good, with a wild final section. That was followed by another highlight, "Everybody Wants To Screw The World," which was introduced as a song about the current state of the world. "
Everything is fucked" was the succinct way of putting it. The set concluded with "Zapruder's Other Films," which featured some excellent drumming. And Fernando was like three musicians up there: a lead guitarist, a rhythm guitarist and a bass player. The set ended at 10:09 p.m.
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| David Bash introducing Broken Sound |
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| Andras Jones |
Andras Jones then took the stage. For his first song, a good cover of Jon Brion's "Hook, Line And Sinker," he was backed by Fernando Perdomo on electric guitar, Tony Ruiz on bass, Kaitlin Wolfberg on violin, and Julia Albert on backing vocals. For the first moments, Andras' vocals were supported just by Fernando, and then one by one, each of the others joined him. That song was followed by "Hating The Haters." Now Andras was on acoustic guitar. Kaitlin left the stage, and Michael Collins joined the group on drums. There was a catchy aspect to this song, particularly to some of the vocal work, and it was one of my personal favorites. It led straight into "I Saw Them Everywhere," a cool kind of pop song, with Fernando switching to Mellotron. Fernando was back on electric guitar then for "Semiquincentennial," delivering some bluesy work. "
Because two hundred and fifty years/That's a long time to wait." Andras then mentioned that he likes to release singles on the solstices and equinoxes, and that the next song, "Party Spoiler," was going to be his single for the fall. "
I don't want to spoil the party, but I might." That song featured some really nice work on bass. The set also included "Delicious Pizza" and "Dink You In The Face," which seriously rocked. He wrapped up the set with "Record Store," in which Andras sang, "
Is my town still a community/Well, maybe hypothetically." The important thing is "
My town has still got a record store." This was such a cool set. It ended at 10:54 p.m.
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| Fernando Perdomo |
Fernando Perdomo then delivered a set of his own material, backed by Michael Collins on drums, Kaitlin Wolfberg on violin, and Janet Thompson on bass. When David Bash intoduced him, he called Fernando "
the Zelig of pop," adding that whenever something cool is happening, you can be sure Fernando will be there, will be a part of it. Fernando opened the set with a really nice rendition of "Photographers In Love," with Kaitlin delivering some beautiful work. He then mentioned how he wrote "I'm No Fun" on Ruby Friedman's couch. This song is one of my favorites, and he gave us a good rendition last night. Michael and Janet then left the stage, and Fernando and Kaitlin did three songs as a duo. The first was a pretty rendition of "The First Day Of Fall." That was followed by another of Fernando's best songs, "Home" (also known as "Home Is Wherever You Are"), this song featuring a particularly excellent vocal performance. A highlight of the set, to be sure. The final of those three songs was "Harmonics And True Love," Fernando switching to acoustic guitar for that one. He switched back to electric for "Goodbye Sun," which he introduced as one of his favorite songs that he's written. Michael and Janet rejoined him for a wonderful rendition of that song. And then the full band wrapped up the set with "Girl With A Record Collection," a delicious pop rock number. The "
na na" part was so cheerful, and that song left us in a great mood. "
Every day is Record Store Day with you."
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| Happy birthday to Fernando Perdomo |
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| The High Frequencies |
Before the last set, Kaitlin Wolfberg led the crowd in singing "Happy Birthday To You" to Fernando. The final band of this great night was The High Frequencies. For this show, the band was Lisa Mychols and Tom Richards, with Fernando Perdomo joining them on drums. So, if you're keeping track, that's the fifth different instrument Fernando played on the night (I'm counting acoustic guitar and electric guitar as two instruments). The band opened the set with "See You Again," and I fell in love with these guys immediately. Seriously. There was a delicious joy and an excitement to their music, and I loved the vocals. That first song was a whole lot of fun, and they did not let up after it, following that with "Eleven" and then "Tonight And Every Night." Lisa has such a delightful voice. Listening to her brought me immense joy. And the music was fun. This is the sort of stuff that should be filling the Billboard chart. Tom joked that the next song was called whatever Fernando says it's called, and Fernando said it was "Cleanup Time." It was during that song that I decided I had to buy their album, but unfortunately they didn't have copies of the CD with them. I hope these guys will be back in Los Angeles soon, and that they'll have copies of the album for sale then. I definitely need to have this album in my collection. A physical copy. Streaming doesn't count. They followed "Cleanup Time" with "Miss Me When I'm Gone" and then wrapped up the set with "Strataplastic." The show ended at 12:13 a.m. By the way, it was clear Fernando was having a great time playing with these guys. It was one hell of a great birthday show.
Bar 10 is located inside Corbin Bowl, at 19616 Ventura Blvd. in Tarzana, California.
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