Amilia K Spicer, John Surge And The Haymakers, and The Macat Persico Band at Maui Sugar Mill Saloon, 11-27-24 Concert Review

The Macat Persico Band

Last night’s concert featuring Amilia K Spicer, John Surge And The Haymakers, and The Macat Persico Band, was part of another music series held at the Maui Sugar Mill Saloon, this one on the fourth Wednesday of each month. This venue hosts lots of great music, clearly. It was a good night to get out of my apartment anyway, as the technician from the gas company alerted me that my stove was leaking both gas and carbon monoxide. He was surprised I didn’t suffer from headaches. Anyway, he unhooked the appliance, so I won’t be cooking anything for Thanksgiving, and I headed out to catch some good music. This series is hosted by The Macat Persico Band, the only group on the bill I hadn’t seen before. They took over this series when John Surge stopped hosting. John Surge, as you likely know, now hosts his own music series down in Long Beach. But it’s great to see him closer to home.

Amilia K Spicer

Right at 8:30 p.m., Sandra Macat and Scott Persico introduced Amilia K Spicer, and mentioned that this was the final show of the year, since the fourth Wednesday of December is Christmas and the venue won’t be open. Amilia K Spicer, performing with a full band, opened her set with “Train Wreck,” easing in. This is a pretty song from her Wow And Flutter album, and was a sweet way to begin the night. It featured a nice lead on electric guitar by Zachary Ross. Amilia then picked up the energy with “Faraday Suit,” a fun number that also featured good stuff on electric guitar. Michael Starr joined the group on violin for “Fill Me Up,” the lead track from Wow And Flutter. He then delivered some gorgeous, haunting work at the beginning of the next song, “Radio Radio,” a song that also featured gorgeous vocal work. “How’s everybody doing?” Amilia asked the crowd. The audience responded enthusiastically. All right, it was a good night for everybody. How about that? The place was crowded, and I guess it was effectively a Friday night.

Amilia K. Spicer performing "Shotgun"

Amilia moved to the keyboard for “What’s The Skinny,” a totally fun song that had the crowd hooting and whistling. That kind of tune. It had a delicious groove. Christopher Allis was on drums, and Tom Felicetta was on bass. Amilia remained at the keyboard for “Windchill.” This was such a pretty song, particularly her vocal work. “Baby, it’ll be all right,” she sang. Oh yes, we need to hear that these days. She then moved back to guitar for “Little Town” That was followed by “Shotgun,” Amilia delivering a captivating performance. She wrapped up her set with “What I’m Saying,” a song that had me feeling good. “I want better things to matter.” Her set ended at 9:18 p.m.

John Surge

John Surge And The Haymakers were up next, taking the stage at 9:42. “Let’s play some music,” John said, and the band led off the set with “Ricochet,” the lead track from Your Wonderful Life. It was a delightful, high-energy start. They kept things moving with “You Don’t Know Me,” the lead track from his recent EP, Maybe You Don’t Know Me. This is one of my favorite songs from this band. It’s a lot of fun, and that’s what everyone in the room seemed to be looking for last night. There was hardly time for a breath after that song before the band went into “One Promise At A Time.” It was after that song that the band paused to tune for a moment, the first pause of the set. John took the opportunity to offer a shout-out to Amilia K. Spicer. “One Promise At A Time” comes from Your Wonderful Life, and so does the song that followed it, “You’re Really Good,” its main line being “You’re really good at making me feel bad,” while John Surge And The Haymakers are really good at making everyone in the room feel good. “So we haven’t been here in almost a year,” John told the crowd, and then said it was good to be back.

"Marisol"

“Marisol” is another fun track from the recently released EP, and the band delivered a particularly good version last night. “There’s nothing better than going to Thanksgiving with a hangover. So work on it,” John joked with the crowd after that song. Teresa Cowles added, “I’m doing my part.” They followed “Marisol” with a cover of “Christine’s Tune,” the Flying Burrito Bros. song, which last night featured some great work on pedal steel, particularly toward the end. The set also included “You’re So Right,” “Your Wonderful Life” and “Rattle Me,” maintaining a wonderful energy that the whole room enjoyed. “Happy Thanksgiving, everybody,” John said before the band began the set’s closing number, a cover of “Six Days On The Road.” This song featured excellent leads on pedal steel and guitar, and toward the end John mentioned what he was thankful for, including that he “remembered most of the words tonight.” “And I’m thankful for this great band.” So was everyone in the room. Their set ended at 10:23 p.m.

"Water"

 

Twenty minutes later The Macat Persico Band was ready to go. While they were setting up, I realized that the band’s drummer is John Palmer, whom I’d recently seen play with Lisa Finnie & Friends. One of the things that struck me about his work that night was his ability to play both drums and harmonica simultaneously (and without a harmonica holder). I also remembered his Close Encounters Of The Third Kind lunchbox. The Macat Persico Band opened with “Louisiana Girl,” a fun number to start the set, featuring a good rhythm. And John was playing both harmonica and drums right at the start. They followed that with “Sittin’ By The Fire,” which featured a passionate vocal performance from Sandra and some nice work on guitar. Scott then switched to acoustic guitar for a cover of Tyler Childers’ “Feathered Indians.” Sandra joked about being asked to talk while Scott tuned. “Any questions?” she playfully asked the crowd. The band delivered a sweet rendition of “Water,” a song Sandra also did with Sandra Macat And The Wild Cards. This song too featured some nice guitar work. They followed that with “Choices,” a pretty song, Scott delivering a great lead on acoustic guitar.

"Dust And Desperation"

Scott switched back to electric guitar for “Austin.” This is a song the band has recorded, but apparently they’re going to record a new version of it. It was one of my favorites from the set, and I was digging David Dieckmann’s bass line. That was followed by “Stairway”  and then “Blue Bird.” They closed out the set with another of my personal favorites, “Dust And Desperation.” It’s a great song, and Sandra delivered an absolutely beautiful vocal performance on it. The set ended at 11:27 p.m., but folks wanted more, calling for an encore, and the band obliged, closing out the night with a cover of Jim Shumate’s “Country Baptizing,” a fun country number that Gram Parsons And The Fallen Angels had performed. The show ended at 11:30 p.m. What a great night of music, just what I needed.

"Little Town"

"One Promise At A Time"

"Sittin' By The Fire"

"Sittin' By The Fire"

Maui Sugar Mill Saloon is located at 18389 Ventura Blvd., in Tarzana, California.