Richard T Bear at The Write-Off Room, 7-26-24 Concert Review

Richard T Bear playing "The Letter"

Richard T Bear put on one hell of a great show last night at The Write-Off Room in Studio City. The show focused on music from his new album, The Way Of The World, which came out in March, along with some songs from his previous release, Fresh Bear Tracks, and some excellent covers. The band was made up of Richard T Bear on vocals and keys, Laurence Juber on guitar and backing vocals, Ricky Cortes on bass and backing vocals, and Tony Braunagel on drums, with Lauri Reimer joining them on vocals on some songs.

They took the stage at 8 o’clock, and T Bear joked, “Good evening, I’m Johnny Cash,” Laurence Juber adding to the joke by playing a brief Cash lick on guitar. They launched into “The Way Of The World,” the title track from the new album, a great start to the evening. The song featured some excellent work on guitar. Afterward, Richard said the song was in homage to Bob Dylan, that he was thinking of how Dylan might approach the subject when he was writing it. They followed that with “Your Husband’s Got A Gun,” which had a wonderful groove. And Laurence’s guitar lead received some appreciative applause. I also enjoyed the playful aspect of the song. Richard established a good rapport with the crowd early on. When introducing “Jewel,” he mentioned that there was a story behind it, but said he’s spare us the sordid details. “No, tell us,” someone shouted out. “Okay,” he agreed, and told an anecdote about a woman named Julie who was given the nickname Jewel. You hear a bit of it in the song’s lyric, “You got your nickname Jewel from your famous friend.” This song had such a cool vibe, and featured some delicious work on keys and a beautiful guitar lead.

"They Can Kill You"

Lauri Reimer joined the group on backing vocals for “They Can Kill You,” a song with a good, funky bass line. The album version features horns, but even without the horns, this song is something special. “What a beautiful way to go,” indeed. Richard T Bear followed that with “Before The Fall,” introducing it by saying it’s a mashup of Mozart, Brian Wilson and Amy Winehouse. It’s one of my favorite tracks from the album, and the band delivered an excellent rendition last night, with Lauri again on backing vocals. Lauri then left the stage, and the group went into “A Change Will Do Me Good,” a song that Richard T Bear mentioned went to number one in The Netherlands. There was a fantastic energy to this song last night, particularly in his vocal performance. Plus, I always dig that Bo Diddley rhythm. And at one point during the song, T Bear called out, “Bo Diddley.” He then switched gears, delivering a beautiful rendition of “Breathe,” my personal favorite song from the new album. And from the reaction of folks around me, I am far from alone in my love for this song. “I left my crystal ball at home/Wishing it would turn to stone.”

"Give It Up"

Every song played up to that point came from the new album. The first song not from that release was a great cover of The Zombies’ “She’s Not There,” a song that T Bear included on Fresh Bear Tracks. He gave it a cool, kind of psychedelic intro, and then a strong groove. These guys put their own wonderful spin on the song. It was part blues, part soul, part jazz, part rock. And what a great vocal performance! Plus, they jammed on it, and the jam, which featured some particularly good stuff on guitar, just got better and better as it went. They followed that with “Give It Up,” a song that was also included on Fresh Bear Tracks, but whose origin was many years earlier. T Bear talked a bit about that in his introduction to the song, mentioning that he found a cassette labeled “Stills/Bear,” and had to go purchase a cassette player to listen to it. What he discovered was a seriously good song, and so he went about finishing it. On the album version, Laurence Juber trades licks with Walter Trout and Stephen Stills, Stills obviously being the song’s co-writer. The band delivered a fun rendition last night. That was followed by “All Your Love,” played in tribute to the great John Mayall, who died earlier this week. Ricky Cortes played bass in John Mayall’s band for several years, and Laurence Juber had also worked with him, so it was a particularly powerful and moving moment. “All Your Love” was written by Otis Rush and included on The Beano album. Laurence was on vocals for this one, and also delivered some outstanding guitar work. The song was a great blues jam. “This is my take on John,” Richard T Bear then said, and they played “Goin’ Down Slow” to wrap up the set with another wonderful blues number. The first set ended at 9:10 p.m.

"The Letter"

The band was back on stage twelve minutes later, T Bear telling the crowd, “I’m going to fulfill a request because it was on the list anyway.” The band then opened the second set with a cover of “The Letter,” with Lauri Reimer on backing vocals and tambourine. Their version was inspired by the Mad Dogs & Englishmen rendition, not the original Box Tops version, and it featured a wonderful lead on keys.  They followed that with a fun cover of “Tulsa Time,” with Lauri Reimer again on backing vocals and tambourine. After that, Richard T Bear went back to original material, playing a request for “Love To Be Lonely,” a song from Fresh Bear Tracks. This is such a beautiful song, and it was a treat to hear it last night. He followed that with another song from Fresh Bear Tracks, “Woe Is Me,” a cool blues number featuring some phenomenal work on guitar. This ended up being a highlight of the set.

"Hey Pocky Way"

T Bear asked those in the audience if they were Cat Stevens fans, and from the response it seemed that most were. He said they were going to do a Cat Stevens song, but in a minor key and as reggae. And they launched into “Wild World,” giving it their own reggae interpretation, quite different from that of Jimmy Cliff. This song featured some delicious work on drums. Just before the end, T Bear said to the others, ”Let’s do a record ending,” and they did their best to fade out the song, which was funny. The last original song of the show was “Bring On The Night,” which was included on Richard T Bear’s first record, Red Hot & Blue, released in 1978. It’s a song he also revisited on the more recent Fresh Bear Tracks. T Bear mentioned that Mike Finnigan played on both album versions. Anyway, the version the band delivered last night was excellent and featured some exceptional work on keys. There was a great section where the keys were supported by just drums. The group then got the audience dancing with a cover of “Hey Pocky Way,” which led directly into “Iko Iko,” in turn segueing into “When The Saints Go Marching In” to close out the show. The concert ended at 10:10 p.m. It was quite a night. I highly recommend checking out this band when you get the chance. Apparently, T Bear has a special birthday show scheduled for August 11th, with Deb Ryder.

Set List

Set I

1. The Way Of The World
2. Your Husband’s Got A Gun
3. Jewel
4. They Can Kill You
5. Before The Fall
6. A Change Will Do Me Good
7. Breathe
8. She’s Not There
9. Give It Up
10. All Your Love
11. Goin’ Down Slow

Set II

1. The Letter
2. Tulsa Time
3. Love To Be Lonely
4. Woe Is Me
5. Wild World
6. Bring On The Night
7. Hey Pocky Way >
8. Iko Iko >
9. When The Saints Go Marching In

Here are some more photos from the show:

"Your Husband's Got A Gun"

"They Can Kill You"

"They Can Kill You"

"All Your Love"

"Goin' Down Slow"

"The Letter"

The Write-Off Room is located at 11502 Ventura Blvd. in Studio City, California. It is a cool venue, with a fairly laid-back atmosphere, and, most importantly, good sound. It’s in the spot where Oil Can Harry’s used to be. Remember those Saturday night disco parties?