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| Dave Mason |
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It has been a fantastic weekend
of music. For me it started Saturday at the Simi Valley Cajun & Blues Music
Festival at Rancho Santa Susana Community Park in Simi Valley. Plenty of good
music on two stages (set far enough apart that the music from one doesn’t bleed
into the other), as well as food, drinks and positive vibes make this an event
I enjoy every year. Saturday’s lineup featured Dave Mason, Bo Dollis Jr., Devon Allman
Project and Chubby Carrier.
I started the day off at the
blues stage, where Lightnin’ Willie got things underway with a really good set
featuring music from his 2017 release
No Black No White Just Blues. I’ve been digging this album, and
was glad to get a chance to see him perform. When introducing “Eyes In The Back
Of My Head,” he said it was a song about cheating, and urged folks not to cheat
because they’d end up hurting themselves more than the other person. That tune
featured some cool work on harmonica. He had a horn section come out for “Locked
In A Prison,” and I loved Lightnin’ Willie’s cool and passionate delivery of
lines like “
She used to love me/She used
to call my name.” That song had a great slow blues groove, and those two
saxophones sounded wonderful. Lightnin’ Willie also gave us some delicious work
on guitar, not scrimping on his solo, but letting it go on long enough for the
audience to get caught up in it. After that guitar solo, the next line he
delivered was “
Well, that’s my story,”
as if the guitar itself had told the story, which of course it did. The horn players
then remained on stage for “Heartache” and “Phone Stopped Ringing.”
The set-up was a bit different
from last year. There was still that fenced-off section in front of the blues
stage for people who purchased what they called “Super Tickets.” But the size
of the photo pit was cut in half, and just behind it, but in front of the Super
Ticket section was a new area for folks to dance. And they certainly made good
use of this new section. Bo Dollis Jr. & The Wild Magnolias got folks
moving, opening their set with “Hey Pocky Way.” (They started while I was in
the bathroom. The beer was going right through me that day. By the way, the
bathrooms backstage were like palaces. Seriously, those portable toilets were bigger
than my bathroom at home.) The Wild Magnolias delivered a completely fun set,
and a couple of the band members wore beautiful, elaborate costumes with lots of
feathers. A couple of times, Bo Dollis Jr. stepped down off the stage, even
entering the Super Ticket area and popping over to the sponsors’ tent, while continuing to sing. (He wisely walked
around through the backstage area to get back on stage, rather than trying to
jump back up.) Things got funky with their very cool, fun rendition of “Papa
Was A Rollin’ Stone,” featuring delicious work on bass. Somehow things got even
funkier from there, with some wonderful stuff on keys and drums. Their set felt
like a celebration, and the crowd was really into it, even joining in with
tambourines and whistles. In addition to some band members going out into the
audience, a few audience members were invited on stage toward the end of their
set, as the line between performers and audience was blurred.
I wanted to get over to the Cajun
stage for Chubby Carrier & The Bayou Swamp Band, but decided to first catch
a bit of the Devon Allman Project. The band members huddled toward the back of
the stage before beginning their set, and when they started, they immediately
began jamming. No talk, no nonsense, no easing in, just straight into a good,
heavy jam. The crowd was certain appreciative, as were other musicians (I saw
Lightnin’ Willie down front snapping a couple of photos of Devon Allman). After
two or three songs, Devon said, “What a
perfect day, y’all.” Indeed!
I then made my way across the
park over to the Cajun stage to see Chubby Carrier. He was already into his set
when I got there, and folks were dancing. There is an actual dance floor set up
in front of the Cajun stage, and lots of folks were enjoying themselves there,
grooving and moving. As in previous years, I got the sense that this stage was
where the party really was. “We’re going
to have a Louisiana gumbo in California,” Chubby Carrier told the crowd. He
did a good rendition of “Josephine,” rock and roll with that great New Orleans
flavor. And that washboard player seemed to be in a glorious state of ecstasy
throughout the set. After a great instrumental number, Chubby Carrier tossed some items out
to the crowd, asking them to visit Louisiana. And in introducing “Zydeco
People,” he told the crowd, “You are my
zydeco people, you know that?” At one point, drummer Jayme Romain stepped
to the microphone to deliver a nice rendition of “Tennessee Whiskey,” while
Chubby Carrier took over on drums. He sang another number, and then the bass
player took over on lead vocals and squeeze box, while the drummer played bass,
and Chubby Carrier remained behind the kit. Then Chubby Carrier returned to his
spot at the microphone for the ridiculously fun “Jalapeno Lena.”
I headed back to the blues
stage because I didn’t want to miss a single second of Dave Mason’s set. He
opened with “World In Changes.” And, hey, was that a plush teddy bear
attached to the drum kit? Yes. “Nice to
be here,” Dave said after the opening number. He then added, “Nice to be anywhere, as a matter of fact.”
He then played “Rock And Roll Stew,” a song from the Traffic days, and one that
got the audience excited. That dance area in front of the stage was packed with
folks. Gretchen Rhodes then joined the band for a very cool rendition of “Low
Spark Of High-Heeled Boys,” singing lead on a verse. Oh man, there was a moment
when Dave Mason held onto a note on guitar, and it was so delicious. The crowd
responded enthusiastically. Gretchen also sang on “We Just Disagree.” Dave
Mason followed that with “Look At You Look At Me,” which featured a really nice
section on keys. Gretchen returned for “Can’t Find My Way Home.” She then sang
lead on a cover of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “Pride And Joy,” with Dave Mason
stepping aside (he didn’t play on this one). Gretchen really belted out the
lyrics, totally owning it. They followed that with “Dear Mr. Fantasy,” a song I
used to love seeing the Grateful Dead perform. “Shouldn’t Have Took More Than You
Gave” and “Only You Know And I Know” followed, with Gretchen playing tambourine
on the latter. Dave Mason closed out the set with “Feelin’ Alright,” first
mentioning that he was nineteen when he wrote it. “I want you to join on the chorus of this song, ‘cause I know you know
it.” Indeed, everyone knew it. But I think everyone knew all of the songs
from his set. At any rate, everyone around me was dancing and singing. He did
an encore that began with a good dose of classic rock and roll, “Shake, Rattle
And Roll,” which had everybody dancing and smiling. He followed that with a
great, rocking version of “All Along The Watchtower,” Dave delivering a short
guitar solo at the end. It was a really good set, and it ended a little after 6
p.m.
I had intended on staying to
catch at least the first couple of songs of Alex Nester’s set. I had missed her
last year, and had heard only good things about her performance. But it took
quite a while to get her band set up, and I had to get down to Santa Monica for
the We Are The West concert. Perhaps next year I’ll be able to see her?
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