Rick Shea & The Losin' End at Maui Sugar Mill Saloon, 7-15-26 Concert Review

The third Wednesday of every month, Rick Shea holds his "Swingin' Doors" music series at Maui Sugar Mill Saloon, playing two great sets of music with his band, Rick Shea & The Losin' End, and inviting a special guest to play a set in between. Last night that special guest was Jodie Siegel. It was a wonderful night of music.

Rick Shea & The Losin' End

Rick Shea & The Losin' End started right at 8:30, Rick saying, "Good to be here at Maui Sugar Mill Saloon, where the air conditioning is working." For those outside of Los Angeles, we are experiencing a heat wave, and it's always hotter in the valley anyway, where the venue is located. And maybe you knew that already, for apparently folks are experiencing high temperatures all across the country. It certainly was good to be at Maui Sugar Mill Saloon, mainly because of the music, but the air conditioning helped too. Rick Shea opened the first set with "Shelter Valley Blues," one of my personal favorites. That "foolish dream" line always speaks to me. By the way, Brian Whelan joined the band on guitar for this show, filling in for Tony Gilkyson. On "Shelter Valley Blues," he not only delivered some good guitar work, but also provided some nice backing vocal work at certain moments. Rick Shea mentioned his new album, Smoke Tree Road, and told the crowd he was going to do a few songs from it. The first of those songs was "Guardian Angel," the band delivering a sweet, pretty rendition, with Brian again providing some good backing vocal work. This song perhaps got folks thinking about their own crazy chances, and their own guardian angels. That was followed by "A Week In Winnemucca," the lead track from the new album. There's something about this song that just feels right, just like "a breath of country air," as Rick sings early on. Then in introducing "An Irishman's A Laborer At Heart," Rick talked a bit about how the Irish contributed to the building of this nation's great cities, such as New York and Boston. Whenever he plays this song, I think about my dad, this music drawing out certain memories. "Not one to show his feelings/Or speak of them out loud." The band delivered a tender rendition last night.

Rick Shea then gave us "Mexicali Train," Dale Daniel creating the gentle rhythm of the train with brushes on the drums. And without turning around to confirm it, I could swear that Jack Kerouac and Neal Cassady were in the back of the room, taking it in and enjoying the song and a drink. Jeff Turmes then took a turn at lead vocals, choosing his "Don't The Moon Look Real," which had a delicious, jazzy vibe. Brian delivered some excellent work on guitar, to which Jeff responded, "Yeah, man!" And that was even before the leads. Both Rick and Brian took turns leading on this one, receiving applause from the crowd. That was followed by another of my favorites, "Mariachi Hotel," a seriously cool song. It's a song that creates a world so clear and so vivid that we can not only see it but taste it too. That song featured some beautiful guitar work from Rick. The band then picked up the energy with "Hold On Jake," and wrapped up the first set with "(Down At The Bar At) Gypsy Sally's," another cool number, another that creates a delicious atmosphere. There was a certain great vibe to this first set, which ended at 9:15 p.m. 

Jodi Siegel

Jodi Siegel began promptly at 9:30, joking that it was "kinda past my bedtime." She performed solo, on guitar, as well as percussion with her left foot, delivering an excellent set. She opened with "Wrong Side Of A Dream," a cool, soulful number that featured a great vocal performance and a nice guitar part in the middle. "It's a lot of work being a one-woman band," she commented afterward. She followed "Wrong Side Of A Dream" with "Louisiana Wake Up Call," a song she wrote with Gary Nicholson. "Interestingly enough, we've never met in person," she said in the song's introduction, adding that their songwriting partnership began during the pandemic. It was a totally delicious song with a bluesy groove. Jodi connected with the audience, joking about how the last time she'd played that venue, "I was younger, and taller." That was followed by "I'll Go Your Way, You Go Mine," with Jodi singing "We don't have a clue/What it is they're going through," and then by "Love Is Gonna Find You," in which she sang, "Love is gonna find you/In its own sweet time." She joked about how the room had gotten quiet, and encouraged people to order drinks or something. And then she herself got the crowd louder with her "Barbecue" song, a good blues number with some really nice guitar work. The lines "You see, I never get the blues/When I'm eating barbecue" received both laughter and applause. She followed that with "Heartbreak Coming Soon," "That Makes One Of Us," and then "I Drive By Your House," that one having an especially good vocal performance. Her set also included "Come Up And See Me Sometime," a song that Teresa James has covered, and "At The Border Of Broken Dreams," a pretty song about seeking asylum. She wrapped up her set with "There's A Little Bad In Every Good Girl," which contained a little nod to "In The Midnight Hour." The crowd wanted more, and so she played "Permanent Change," in which she sang "There's nothing more temporary than a permanent change." Her set ended at 10:32 p.m.

Twenty minutes later Rick Shea & The Losin' End were back on stage for their second set, opening it with "Midnight Shift," a song that Buddy Holly had recorded and that Rick included on his new album. That was followed by "The Town Where I Live," a song that is beautifully sad. "The town where I live/It is ragged and old/Too hot in the summer, and the winter's too cold." And he mentioned that he grew up in San Bernadino, which has "gotten a little rough." He returned to the new album then, playing "Georgia Bride" and delivering a particularly good rendition. That was followed by "Juanita (Why Are You So Mean)," which is always fun, and last night featured some especially good work from Brian on guitar. One of my favorite tracks from Smoke Tree Road is "El Diablo Manda," and that song followed "Juanita." "El Diablo Manda" featured some really nice drumming, Dale playing with his hands at the beginning before grabbing his sticks. "All innocence is gone." Indeed. A highlight of the set, "El Diablo Manda" was followed by another of the set's highlights, Jeff Turmes' "Early Train." This was the best version of this song I've heard the band do. Everything was working perfectly, and Jeff's vocals were excellent. "Summer's coming, and I love someone/And I love someone." The music made us feel that perhaps we were all dreaming still. An absolutely fantastic rendition.

Rick changed a line of "The Starkville Blues," singing "I knew a girl at the Maui Sugar Mill Saloon." Funny how that line got me thinking of all the various characters I've met at that venue, lots of nice people, friendly people, and nary a lunatic in the bunch. "It's just a rough and dirty town," Rick sang at the end of "The Starkville Blues," and the band then went right into "Sweet Bernadine," which made complete sense, that song being about San Bernadino. This was a really good rendition, with some great stuff on guitar. It was followed by a fun rendition of "Blues Stop Knockin' At My Door," which featured a delicious bass line and more excellent stuff on guitar. There was a bit of trouble with Rick's guitar at the end of that song, and, while smacking the amp didn't help, it was soon fixed. They then played another Jeff Turmes song, "I Heard You Were In Town," which began with some cool stuff on drums. "I got that idea from a dream I had," Jeff mentioned afterward. The set concluded with a cover of "Honky Tonk Blues," which featured excellent work on guitar from both Rick and Brian. But the audience wanted a little more, and the band chose to finish the night with another cover, "Long Black Veil," delivering a rocking rendition. The show ended at 11:53 p.m. 

Set Lists

Set I

1. Shelter Valley Blues
2. Guardian Angel
3. A Week In Winnemucca
4. An Irishman's A Laborer At Heart
5. Mexical Train
6. Don't The Moon Look Real
7. Mariachi Hotel
8. Hold On Jake
9. (Down At The Bar At) Gypsy Sally's

Set II

1. Midnight Shift
2. The Town Where I Live
3. Georgia Bride
4. Juanita (Why Are You So Mean)
5. El Diablo Manda
6. Early Train
7. The Starkville Blues
8. Sweet Bernadine
9. Blues Stop Knockin' At My Door
10. I Heard You Were In Town
11. Honky Tonk Blues

Encore

1. Long Black Veil

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