Nina Diaz at The Federal Bar, 3-11-18 Concert Review

Nina Diaz performing "Dig"

Is there any better way to start your Sunday than with good music, good food, good people and a couple of drinks? The Mimosa Music Series continued on the eleventh with an excellent double bill – Nina Diaz and Chris Price. Nina Diaz started the show at 11:48 a.m., and focused on music from her 2016 release The Beat Is Dead, her first solo album (Nina Diaz is the singer and guitarist of the band Girl In A Coma). She played acoustic guitar, and was accompanied only by her husband on bongos, so the songs had a different feel and sound than on her album. It was a treat for me to get to hear the songs performed this way, in a stripped down, more immediate setting.

She kicked off her set with “Trick Candle,” followed by “Down.” “It’s about those people who kick you when you’re down,” Nina said in her introduction to “Down.” She then played a new song, “Twilight Serenade,” the only song of her set not from The Beat Is Dead, and one of my favorite songs of the show. “I see the sun is rising/I feel our time is running short/But it’s a cold and quiet night/Yes, it’s a cold and quiet night.” The cha-cha-cha-type ending surprised me and made me smile.

She talked about her struggles to get sober, and said that “January 9th” is “kind of my apology to my grandparents for being a shit.” This song was probably the most emotionally engaging of her set, an effective and moving rendition. She followed that with “Dig” (“It’s about karma,” she told the crowd). Nina ended her set with “For You,” mentioning that there is an upcoming video for this song. She said she’s a fan of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and wanted the video to have that kind of vibe. She performed this one solo, without the accompaniment on percussion. The set was exactly thirty minutes, ending at 12:18 p.m. Yeah, it was a bit short. I would have loved to hear more, maybe “Rebirth” and “Morticians Musician.” Perhaps next time.

Set List

1. Trick Candle
2. Down
3. Twilight Serenade
4. January 9th
5. Dig
6. For You

Here are a couple of photos from her set:

"Down"

 

"Dig"

 

The Federal Bar is located at 5303 Lankershim Blvd. in North Hollywood, California.