Charlie Faye & The Fayettes at The Federal Bar, 8-12-18 Concert Review

Charlie Faye And The Fayettes

Democracy is truly in danger of being extinguished in this country, and the entire right wing couldn’t care less. In fact, they cheer its destruction. It’s bewildering, infuriating and depressing. More and more, I seek refuge inside of a song. And today I found joy and spirit at The Federal Bar in North Hollywood. Charlie Faye & The Fayettes headlined the latest concert in the Mimosa Music Series, hosted by Gary Calamar. I love attending these shows, and today’s was a bright burst of cheerful pop with an early 1960s flavor, just exactly the right thing to momentarily push aside our fears, our anger, our despair. This music couldn’t help but raise the spirits of all who attended the concert.

At 11:49 a.m., Gary introduced the opening act, Whispertown, a band I hadn’t seen before, but whom I immediately liked. They did songs from their 2017 release, I’m A Man, including “Big Fish,” “Born To Ride” and “Free Faller,” as well as newer material. Then, after a very short break (less than fifteen minutes), Charlie Faye & The Fayettes took the stage. The band actually got things going with a brief instrumental tune, titled “Party Song,” as the girls danced onto the stage. They then went straight into “I Don’t Need No Baby,” and the fun early sixties sound immediately took hold and made me smile. They followed that with “Stone Cold Fox,” which featured some nice stuff on guitar, and then got into some of the material from their self-titled 2016 release. “Eastside” is a whole lot of fun, and the girls have synchronized moves which are wonderful. This song never fails to make me happy, and the band jammed on it a bit at the end, which I appreciated. They followed that with “Sweet Little Messages,” another cool tune from that album.

“That’s What New Love Is For” is a sweet, pretty song, and after it Charlie Faye mentioned the group’s upcoming release. “Here are a couple of new ones,” she said. They played “1-2-3-4” (which I had assumed was titled “Elementary”) and “The Whole Shebang.” “That’s what we decided we’re going to call the next record – The Whole Shebang,” she said afterward. Well, from what they played at this show, the new album is bound to be something special. They went from something new to something old, a cover of The Ramones’ “Rockaway Beach,” which, as I’m sure you can imagine, was a lot of fun. They did that song the first time I saw them perform too, which was nearly two years ago now (geez, time is racing along).

That was followed by “Cream Rises” and “Tonight’s The Night,” and then “Green Light,” the lead-off track from their debut release. They finished off the set with an absolutely delightful cover of “Seven Nights To Rock,” a song that was originally done by Moon Mullican in the 1950s, and has been performed by Bruce Springsteen, Nick Lowe, The Refreshments and others over the years. This rendition by Charlie Faye & The Fayettes featured some excellent work on keys. All it was missing was a saxophone. The band continued to play as the girls danced off the stage into the audience. There was no encore.

Set List

1. Party Song
2. I Don’t Need No Baby
3. Stone Cold Fox
4. Eastside
5. Sweet Little Messages
6. That’s What New Love Is For
7. 1-2-3-4
8. The Whole Shebang
9. Rockaway Beach
10. Cream Rises
11. Tonight’s The Night
12. Green Light
13. Seven Nights To Rock 

Here are a few photos from the show:

"Stone Cold Fox"

"Stone Cold Fox"

"Sweet Little Messages"

Whispertown

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