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| Eddie Money |
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After catching the Dave Alvin
& Jimmie Dale Gilmore concert in North Hollywood, I raced back out to Simi
Valley for the second day of the Simi Valley Cajun & Blues Music Festival.
I knew I was going to miss some good artists, but would get there in time to catch
Lost Bayou Ramblers, as well as Eddie Money, who was the headliner at the blues
stage. As I pulled into the lot, while the guard looked for my name on his many
lists, I could hear The Chamber Brothers playing “Time Has Come Today.” It took
a while, but my name was finally located, and I drove in to park. Fortunately,
The Chambers Brothers did such a deliciously long version of the song that I
was able to park, walk in, and get to the front of the stage to snap some
photos while they were still playing it. What I caught of the song was
excellent, and I knew the band must have put on a really good show. I was
totally energized just from the few minutes that I was able to see.
After a couple of beers, I was ready
for the next band, Lost Bayou Ramblers. They are from Louisiana, and had
performed on the Cajun stage Saturday, but at that point I was seeing The Wild
Magnolias on the blues stage. It’s difficult sometimes to plan your schedule at
this festival, because you’re bound to miss at least a couple of good sets.
This year, however, I managed to see basically everything that I wanted to,
thanks to bands like Lost Bayou Ramblers performing both days. The microphone
stand came apart during their first song, leading to some good jamming while it
was being repaired, and immediately you got the sense that this was a fun band,
with a whole lot of energy. And I love to see a band that includes fiddle and
accordion totally rock the way these guys did. They got the audience dancing.
At one point, they even had some folks waltzing. It was that kind of crowd, you
know? Good people.
It seemed more crowded on
Sunday than it was on Saturday – both out front and backstage. And it turned
out that was at least partly due to Eddie Money being the headliner. Folks were
excited to see him, though of course he’s not really a blues artist, not by any
stretch of the imagination. I have his early material on vinyl, but guess I
didn’t know all that much about him, because when he arrived backstage with a
saxophone, I was caught by surprise. I didn’t know he played sax. I had also
forgotten just how many hits the guy had recorded. He opened his set with “Baby
Hold On,” a song from his 1977 debut LP, and followed that with “No Control,”
on which he played harmonica. After that, he talked a bit about his television
program. Apparently, he has his own so-called “reality” show, which I knew nothing
about. He joked, “I wish they’d shot it
ten years ago and ten pounds ago.” The band then played a song called “Tonight”
without him. That was followed by “We Should Be Sleeping.”
Then Eddie Money brought out
his saxophone for “Wanna Be A Rock And Roll Star,” a song from his first album.
(I just pulled that record off my shelf, and – sure enough – it mentions that
he plays saxophone on it, so I guess I did know that and just forgot. Ah, my
memory isn’t perfect.) He got the audience singing along, shouting out “Star.” He followed that with “Endless
Nights.” His energy was impressive. By the way, he wore a Dodgers shirt, with
his name on the back, with the number “00.” As it was Memorial Day weekend, his
“One More Soldier Coming Home” fit perfectly. On the line “We salute you,” he actually offered a salute. He followed that with
“Walk On Water.” He then asked the crowd if they wanted to go back to the
1980s. Some people near me screamed, “I
wanna go back!” And, indeed, Eddie Money then did “I Wanna Go Back,”
playing saxophone on it.
He wrapped up his set with
three of his most popular songs – “Take Me Home Tonight,” “Think I’m In Love”
and “Two Tickets To Paradise.” When he started “Take Me Home Tonight,” a woman near
me exclaimed, “I know this song!” The
audience sang along with that one. Before beginning “Two Tickets To Paradise,”
he dedicated it to his wife, joking that he might get lucky that night. He also
said something about the crowd being on television, so apparently someone was
filming his set for that “reality” show. The encore was “Shakin’” and he
finished just before 6 p.m.
As always, a portion of the
crowd left after the headliner. But those who stayed were treated to an
excellent set by 3 Sista Blues, which is a group led by three female vocalists –
Kelly Zirbes (of Kelly’s Lot), Deb Ryder and Shari Puorto. The set consisted of
original material, with each of them singing lead on a few songs, while the
others provided backing vocals. Yes, we were back to the blues, with this group
delivering some good, thumping, rocking blues numbers. The band backing them
was great, and included Perry Robertson (from Kelly’s Lot) on guitar. And at
one point, there was the welcome addition of trumpet (Shari introduced the
trumpet player as being her boyfriend). The last couple of numbers then
featured all three vocalists. Their set ended at 7:17 p.m. What an excellent
conclusion to a fantastic weekend of music.
Here are some photos from the
day:
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