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As many of the summer concert series in Los Angeles come
to a close, other outdoor concert series are beginning. The third annual
Americana In The Park series began yesterday with Dead Rock West headlining.
This series takes place at Gandara Park in Santa Monica, and is put on by the
Santa Monica Cultural Affairs Department in partnership with McCabe’s. And
these guys do an excellent job. Not only do they hire some great bands, but
they organize food trucks and even reserve two parking lots, which, by the way,
are free. Yes, free parking in Santa Monica. I’m pretty sure that counts as
some kind of major miracle in most religions.
Opening the show yesterday afternoon was the duo Eleni
& Milo, a married couple who played some beautiful original material. As
they began their set just after 4 p.m., Eleni said: “It’s just beautiful out. And we’re happy to be here.” And indeed,
it was a gorgeous day. The weather forecast had at one point included rain, but
there was not a single cloud in the sky. It was warm, and a nice breeze kept it
from being too hot in the sun. Eleni Mandell did most of the talking during the
set, and at one point Milo Jones admitted he didn’t talk too much, likening
himself to “the guy in Sparks.” Their
set included “Lemon Tree,” “It Wasn’t The Time, It Was The Color,” “Man On
Fire,” “Evelyn,” and “I Belong To You.” My personal favorite was one of Eleni’s
older songs, “Dreamboat,” which at moments reminded my girlfriend and me of
Julie Delpy’s song at the end of Before
Sunset (the way she delivered certain lines). They wrapped up their set
with “Little White Car.” The set ended at 4:55 p.m.
Dead Rock West took the stage at 5:12 p.m., kicking off
the set with the title track from More
Love, the band’s 2017 release. The band focused on material from that
album, following “More Love” with “Boundless, Fearless Love,” “Radio Silence,” “Nail
Gun,” “Darkness Never Tells” into “Bleeding Blue,” “Singing On The Telephone”
and a cover of Sam Cooke’s “Bring It On Home To Me.” Yes, the first eight
songs of the day were from that album, with Cindy Wasserman mentioning that it
was produced by John Doe of X. The energy was high, and Cindy was rocking some red
sparkly shoes. DJ Bonebrake was not behind the drum kit for this show, because
he is on tour with X at the moment. Sitting in for him was Matt Lynott. One of
the early highlights of the set for me was “Darkness Never Tells” into “Bleeding
Blue,” with Phil Parlapiano playing both accordion and keyboard. I also love
the bass line from David J. Carpenter. The first song not from More Love was “God Don’t Ever Change,”
from Bright Morning Stars, and that
was another of the set’s highlights. It featured a cool drum beat, some nice
touches on harmonica by Frankie Lee Drennen, and a fantastic power.
In 2015, Dead Rock West released an album of Everly
Brothers songs titled It’s Everly Time!
and yesterday they performed some songs from it, including “(Why Am I) Chained
To A Memory,” “Cathy’s Clown” and “Gone, Gone, Gone.” And later in the set they
covered “Long Time Gone,” which they included on Glitter & Gold. The band also played a new song (I’m not sure
of its title), which had a great energy. Before playing that one, Cindy thanked
McCabe’s, saying it’s their favorite place to play. It’s also one of the best
places in the Los Angeles area to see a show. The sound is always excellent
there, and the audience is attentive. It’s a great listening room. Then Phil
Parlapiano switched to guitar for “Sunflower,” and Geoff Pearlman switched to
lap steel. And yes, that was yet another highlight of the set. They concluded
their set with “Burning House Of Love,” an X song that Dead Rock West recorded
and released on Honey And Salt. The
show ended at 6:26 p.m. After the show I picked up a copy of It’s Everly Time! and a T-shirt. I had
to get that album in part because of the guest musicians who play on it, Rob
Wasserman (Cindy’s brother, who I saw play with Bob Weir several times), Elliot
Easton (of The Cars) and Dave Alvin. I’m looking forward to listening to this
album.
The next show in the Americana In The Park concert series
is on September 10th, and features Mara Kaye, New Orleans Traditional Jazz Band,
and Dr. Soundgood featuring Doug Legacy. That is going to be a fun show.
Here are a few photos from yesterday’s concert:
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| Eleni & Milo |
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| Eleni & Milo |
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| Dead Rock West |
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| Dead Rock West |
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| Dead Rock West |
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| Dead Rock West |
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