Sandy Rogers Band at Jeweled Universe, 12-7-25 Concert Review

Sandy Rogers

It was a lovely warm December Sunday in South Pasadena, a perfect day for a little afternoon music magic at Jeweled Universe, with the great Sandy Rogers headlining. The Acoustic Jewels music series is hosted by Mike Berman, who put out two new excellent releases this year, and who opened the show. Both Sandy Rogers and Mike Berman were backed by the same stellar group of musicians, including I See Hawks In L.A. members Paul Marshall and Victoria Jacobs on bass and drums respectively, along with Dan Janisch on electric guitar. If you haven't yet visited Jeweled Universe, it's a cool venue that is also a store selling handmade jewelry and other interesting artwork. The idea of a jeweled universe informs much of the look of the venue, with a starry sky backdrop on the stage, a giant full moon in the center, with a couple of stars hanging above the stage along with an interesting Saturn-like lit-up  ornament. Even the tables have sparkling blues positioned within otherwise black tops. And there is a warm, inviting air about the place.

Mike Berman

Mike Berman started the show at 2:36 p.m. with "It Should Be Raining Today," a song from his Where I'm From album. "And the way that I'm feeling/It should be raining today." It seems almost cruel when the weather is at odds with what is happening in your life, especially when tragedy and despair are met with a beautiful, sunny day. "This is the Sandy Rogers Band minus Sandy Rogers," Mike told the audience after that first song. He followed that with a new song, "Good Luck Story." It begins with the line, "I've had my share of hard times," but then changes, as Mike sings, "Darling, you're my good luck story now." This was the first time he performed the song in concert. "It was kind of my attempt to write a Merle Haggard song," he said about it afterward. That was followed by a different luck song, "No Luck At All," from Ghosts, the first of his two 2025 releases. This song featured a especially wonderful vocal performance from Mike. And the song's main line, "There's no luck in these stars at all," is particularly striking at that venue. Mike then chose another song from Ghosts, "In The Clear Morning," and then wrapped up the set with "Farthest Thing From The Blues," a delicious blues number that even opens with the phrase "Well, I woke up this morning." Dan delivered a great lead on electric guitar. The set finished at 2:59 p.m.

"Tingling Blue"

Ten minutes later, Sandy Rogers was ready to go. Mike Berman introduced her, and Sandy mentioned her new album, Tingling Blue. She then opened her set with that album's title track, a totally fun, energetic number that is certain to make you feel good. Dan delivered a nice lead on electric guitar, and at the end of the song, Sandy told the audience, "And if you don't know what that means, figure it out." That was followed by "One Of Those Kind," which also follows "Tingling Blue" on the album. It sounded so good, so sweet. Sandy followed that with "Fool For Love." "This is the song that got me started, 'Fool For Love,' in music," she said in introducing the song. For those who don't know, Sandy Rogers is the sister of playwright and actor Sam Shepard, and she wrote several songs for Robert Altman's film version of her brother's play Fool For Love. Interestingly, the title song she wrote for it was not included in the film, though it was later used in the film Reservoir Dogs. There was a bit of trouble with her guitar during this song today, but it was still a wonderful rendition.

"In Her Auto-Mobile"

Sandy introduced "Train Fare To Memphis" as one of the first songs she ever wrote. It's a beautiful song. "And that is not a true story," she said afterward. "I would not be that stupid." That was followed by "Lonesome Man," which featured a fantastic vocal performance. I especially loved her delivery of the line "You're gonna be crying all night." After the song, she told the audience, "That's my favorite one from the new record." That was in turn followed by another highlight, "Missouri Blue," a song from her Wonderin' album. I love the whole vibe of this song. "Who's ending this?" she playfully asked her band mates during the song's final section. Sandy then returned to her new album for "In Her Auto-Mobile" and "Wild Bill," the latter of which was written by Paul Lacques. "And we all miss that guy," Sandy said of Paul afterward. She wrapped up the first set with "Trailer Up On A Hill" from Green Moon. The set ended at 3:54 p.m.

"Fun For Christmas"

Fifteen minutes later the band was back on stage, and Sandy opened the second set with "Let's Ride," a song from the Fool For Love film, the song used for the title sequence. That was followed by another song written for Fool  For Love, "Why Wyoming." After that one, Sandy mentioned that the version heard in the movie was the demo, not the version she considered the better one. She then played "Turn Around," another of the highlights from the new album. I love this song. It makes me feel good every time I hear it. "Everybody doesn't have a clue/Nobody knows what to do." She reached back to a song from much earlier in her career, "No Antidote" before wrapping up the show with two more from the new album, "Fun For Christmas" and "Run Out Of West." "Fun For Christmas," as I mentioned in my review of the album, is that rarity, a Christmas song you can listen to the whole year round. And it is a perfect song for the holiday season this year. If you haven't yet heard it, I highly recommend checking it out. Sandy got the whole audience singing along. And "Run Out Of West," which closes the new album, was a great choice to end the afternoon. The show ended at 4:39 p.m.

Sandy Rogers Band Set List

Set I

1. Tingling Blue
2. One Of Those Kind
3. Fool For Love
4. Train Fare To Memphis
5. Lonesome Man
6. Missouri Blue
7. In Her Auto-Mobile
8. Wild Bill
9. Trailer Up On A Hill

Set II

1. Let's Ride
2. Why Wyoming
3. Turn Around
4. No Antidote
5. Fun For Christmas
6. Run Out Of West

Here are a few more photos:

"It Should Be Raining Today"

"It Should Be Raining Today"

"No Luck At All"

"In The Clear Morning"

"One Of Those Kind"

"Lonesome Man"

"Missouri Blue"

"Fun For Christmas"

Jeweled Universe is located at 1017 Mission St. in South Pasadena, California. Tickets for the show were $20. Sandy Rogers' next show is December 16th at Unurban Coffee House in Santa Monica.