Sandy Rogers Band at Cinema Bar, 8-30-26

After catching Pulsars at Echo Park Rising Sunday afternoon, I got in my car and drove to Culver City to see Sandy Rogers Band at Cinema Bar. Is there anything better than catching two great concerts in one day? Sandy Rogers was scheduled to go on at 7 p.m. I got there just before 5 o' clock, and the music was already in swing, Tom Gramlich's band delighting the crowded room. In fact, all the seats in front of the stage were already taken, but I managed to grab the last chair off to the side and settled in for a wonderful evening of music. Tom's band was cooking. 

A table in the front opened up before Sandy Rogers' set, so I grabbed it. During the soundcheck, Paul Marshall sang a bit of Sam Cooke's "Good Times." There was playful vibe even before the show began. And then Sandy Rogers opened with "Tingling Blue," the title track to her latest release, and there was a great joy in the room the moment the band began. It seemed Sandy held onto the first syllable of the word "losing" a bit longer than usual, another example of the sense of play which was so appealing. And the energy was high. Dan Janisch delivered a good guitar lead. And Paul was all smiles, a clear indication that everything was right, and that it was going to be a good set. "Tingling Blue" was followed by "One Of Those Kind," which featured more good work by Dan on guitar. Paul came in on backing vocals on "Oh yeah," again highlighting the special vibe of the show. "How about Sandy Rogers, back from a broken ankle?" Paul said to the crowd after that song. Yes, it was great seeing her on stage again. At least a couple of shows had to be canceled, or postponed, after she broke her ankle.

The band delivered a nice rendition of "Fool For Love," Sandy first mentioning how the song was written for one movie and ended up in another (the move it is in is Reservoir Dogs). Victoria Jacobs gave the song a delicious rhythm, and Paul delivered some particularly excellent work on bass. "I have the best band," Sandy said afterward. One of the outstanding numbers at this show was "Train Fare To Memphis." It was a beautiful rendition with a fantastic vocal performance and a pretty lead on guitar from Dan. Everything was working perfectly, and everyone in the room could feel it. Sandy joked around afterward, saying that Dan should sing "Honey, here's your train fare to Memphis." And so he did. And it was funny. Again, it was that kind of show. I'm just so happy I was there to see it. And the band followed "Train Fare To Memphis" with another highlight, "Lonesome Man." Sandy mentioned in introducing the song that it's her favorite from the new album. And from the reactions of people in the crowd when she introduced it, it was clear she was not alone in favoring that song. The band gave a great rendition, with tremendous passion, particularly in Sandy's vocal delivery.

"In Her Auto-mobile" is a always fun one, in part because of its rhythm, and in part because of the way Sandy delivers the lyrics, holding onto certain words, stretching them. And it didn't hurt that there were some particularly delicious moments on guitar during that song Sunday. That was followed by "Missouri Blue," another highlight. This was an especially cheerful rendition, featuring some great work on bass. This was the kind of set where after each song, I thought, "Wow, that was a great version," one of the best I've heard. The band was giving a little extra something to seemingly every song. "Trailer Up On A Hill," for example, had a playful beginning. And then "Let's Ride" featured a seriously cool vocal performance right from its opening moments. Sandy had someone in the audience retrieve her cowboy for her before starting "Why Wyoming." Did the presence of the hat have any bearing on how good that rendition of "Why Wyoming" was? Maybe. It was a phenomenal rendition, and the crowd reacted strongly to it. Who can say the hat was not responsible in some way? Sandy kept the hat on after that one, following "Why Wyoming" with "You Lied Your Way." Perhaps the hat's magic had run its course, because this was the only song of the set to get a bit messy. But even that didn't detract from the audience's enjoyment of it. Sandy and her band had the crowd on their side. Someone called out, "Broke Ankle Blues," and Dan obliged with a nice blues lick. The band then played "No Antidote" and wrapped up the set with a great rendition of "Run Out Of West," with something of a haunted vibe at the start, and featuring a wonderful vocal performance as well as a really nice lead on guitar. This was a great set.

Set List

1. Tingling Blue
2. One Of Those Kind
3. Fool For Love
4. Train Fare To Memphis
5. Lonesome Man
6. In Her Auto-mobile
7. Missouri Blue
8. Trailer Up On A Hill
9. Let's Ride
10. Why Wyoming
11. You Lied Your Way
12. No Antidote
13. Run Out Of West

Cinema Bar is located at 3967 Sepulveda Blvd. in Culver City, California. By the way, the crummy photo I included was taken with my cell phone. Please forgive the poor quality. I had my good camera with me, but something about that venue makes photography a losing game.