Andrew Sandoval Delivers Special Set At Permanent Records Roadhouse, 9-22-24

Yesterday evening Andrew Sandoval treated a crowd at Permanent Records Roadhouse to a delightful set of mostly original songs from his albums. He had a great band backing him, which included Kaitlin Wolfberg on violin, Emily Elkin on cello, David Nolte on bass, and Nick Vincent on drums. The set was full of pop gems, delivered with a good deal of joy. It was the kind of set that had folks smiling from beginning to end. No nonsense, just good music.

The show was listed as having a 6 p.m. start time, but it turned out that was the time that the doors were to open. Normally, that would annoy me. But not at this place, because the back building is a record store, and this gave me a little time to go through some of the boxes. I ended up finding a couple of cool records at a seriously low price. I am going to make a point of getting back there when I have more time. The guy behind the register was really nice, and that helped too. Actually, everyone who worked at this place was nice. The venue is a record store, a music hall and a bar, so it felt like a slice of heaven to me. What more could you want? In the concert area, there were a few booths, giving it the feel of a diner. The black and white checkered floor added to that vibe. And while the back building was the store, there were plenty of records on either side of the stage too, and along the walls in front of the stage. My eyes of course automatically went to the Leonard Cohen records.

At 6:24 p.m., the musicians started making their way to the stage and soon were ready to go. Andrew Sandoval opened his set with “What Do You See In Me?” from his A Beautiful Story album, and followed that with “Something For You.” “This is a selection of songs from my records from decades ago,” he told the audience. After “I Can’t Be Lonely,” he mentioned that he hadn’t brought any records to sell at the show, that he was happy just to have folks listening to the music without having to make any purchases. That was cool, but I do wish he had brought at least one or two, because I’d like to add them to my collection. After “Singing Only Songs,” he talked a bit about living in Los Angeles, and said that he wrote “High Tower” in his car, a perfect L.A. thing to do. We spend so much time in our cars in this city that we have to occupy ourselves with other activities occasionally just to remain sane, especially when stuck in traffic that doesn’t seem to be moving at all. He followed “High Tower” with “Someone New” and “Allyn White.”

While most of the set was original material, he did play a couple of covers. The first was “You’re My Number One,” a song recorded by Tony Jackson Group in the mid-1960s. If the name doesn’t ring a bell, well, you know him more for his work in The Searchers. The other was Scott McKenzie’s “Like An Old Time Movie.” Hearing that song made me realize that all I really know of Scott McKenzie’s work is “San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair).” But clearly he recorded more interesting material. I enjoyed both covers, but I preferred Andrew Sandoval’s original material. His set included “I Wish You Would,” from his Happy To Be Here album, and “Temporary,” which was on From Me To You. He wrapped up the set with “Above The Clouds,” which featured some gorgeous string work. It was an absolutely wonderful set. Tickets were only $5, and that admission price not only included Andrew Sandoval’s set but also a set by EZ Tiger. Why bother with the big expensive tours, when the magic happens at these small local venues?

Set List

1. What Do You See In Me?
2. Something For You
3. I Can’t Be Lonely
4. Singing Only Songs
5. High Tower
6. Someone New
7. Allyn White
8. You’re My Number One
9. I Wish You Would
10. Like An Old Time Movie
11. Temporary
12. Above The Clouds