Patrolled By Radar at Tom Bergin’s, 8-27-23 Concert Review

Patrolled By Radar

Summer concert music series across Los Angeles are coming to an end, though judging by the current temperature summer is still in full swing around here. Friday saw the close of the Brand Library & Art Center summer series with a great set by Eva And The Vagabond Tales, and Sunday brought to a close the Bigtop Bandstand Summer Concert Series at Tom Bergin’s, hosted by RJ Bloke (Jay Souza). For the final hurrah of the season, there was an excellent double bill, Kilo Bravo and Jay’s own band, Patrolled By Radar. Last month,, Kilo Bravo played at Mick Jagger’s 80th Birthday Stones V Beatles Bash, a special four-hour show where each artist played a Rolling Stones song, a Beatles song and an original. Kilo Bravo delivered one of that day’s best original numbers, so I was excited to see a full set by these guys. It wasn’t quite as hot yesterday as it was for that Mick Jagger show, but still hot enough to have the misters going, providing a bit of relief to folks as they arrived and grabbed spots at the various picnic tables set up under the tent.

At 5:40 p.m., Kilo Bravo took the stage. At first I thought it might be the soundcheck, and perhaps it started as such, but these guys were ready to rock right out of the gate, and that first song, “Zen,” led straight into their second song, “Somewhere In The Middle.”  Kris Butcher then told the crowd, “We have vinyl records for sale, like big CDs.” I wanted to get a record, but this Hollywood strike is dragging on long enough that now I am nervous about spending any money, so that purchase will have to wait. They played some songs from the record, as well as some new material. And they ended the set with “Don’t Count On Me,” which was the original song they played at that Mick Jagger birthday show. That song has such a great groove, and it featured a delicious jam. Their set ended at 6:32 p.m.

As Patrolled By Radar got ready to play, a dog barked in the audience. Jay told it, “Zippy, be quiet.” And it obeyed. The band then opened the set with a fun cover of “I’m A Lover Not A Fighter,” with Jay adding some good work on harmonica. The set contained a mix of covers and original material, and “I’m A Lover Not A Fighter” was followed by “Widow Next Door,” an original song from the band’s 2011 album Be Happy. The next cover was another fun choice, Billy Swan’s “I Can Help.” That was followed by “Coat Of Disappointment,” one of my favorite Patrolled By Radar songs. I’ve put it on more than one mix CD for folks, and yesterday that section where the harmonica and electric guitar work together was particularly good. During that song, someone from the audience brought up a fresh beer for Jay. That was followed by a newer song, “Where Are You Now,” which was included on the RJ Bloke album Hold Drugs Dear.

“We’re Patrolled By Radar,” Jay told the audience. “It’s important to know.” He then led the band into a cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Waiting On A Friend,” which was the Stones number the band chose to play for that birthday bash. That was followed by “El Norte,” a song it’s always good to hear, and then “God Is A Scarecrow,” which Jay joked was a concept song. A cover of Bob Dylan’s “Highway 61 Revisited” was next, the band delivering a solid, rocking version. “Be Happy,” the title track from the 2011 release, featured some great stuff on electric guitar. On that disc, “Be Happy” is followed by “Walking,” and so it was yesterday as well. Jay Souza is a talented songwriter, and sometimes at a bar gig like this one his lyrics might not get the attention they deserve. So when you have a moment, and can fully pay attention, check out this song (and, really, any of the others he’s written). The band then did a few more covers, starting with CCR’s “Lodi” (with Jay changing the line to “Stuck in Tom Bergin’s again” near the end), and followed by Paul Simon’s “Kodachrome” (with a slight lyric change at the very beginning) and then Cheap Trick’s “Surrender.” They wrapped up the set with “Rally,” which is probably still my favorite Patrolled By Radar song. It was included on the band’s 2014 release, Cool Your Jets. Jay joked that the chorus should go on a coffee mug. And, really, the lines “It’s not the end of the world/It’s just the end of the day” are ones that I find playing in my head fairly often. The show ended at 8:11 p.m.

Patrolled By Radar Set List

1. I’m A Lover Not A Fighter
2. Widow Next Door
3. I Can Help
4. Coat Of Disappointment
5. Where Are You Now
6. Waiting On A Friend
7. El Norte
8. God Is A Scarecrow
9. Highway 61 Revisited
10. Be Happy
11. Walking
12. Lodi
13. Kodachrome
14. Surrender
15. Rally

Here are a few photos from the show:

Kilo Bravo performing "Somewhere In The Middle"

Kilo Bravo playing "Somewhere In The Middle"

 

Kilo Bravo playing "The Tantrum"

 

Patrolled By Radar playing "Widow Next Door"

Patrolled By Radar playing "I Can Help"

 

Patrolled By Radar playing "Where Are You Now"

Tom Bergin’s is located at 840 S. Fairfax Ave. in Los Angeles, California.

Eva And The Vagabond Tales at Brand Library & Art Center, 8-25-23 Concert Review

Eva And The Vagabond Tales

There are many summer concert series in Los Angeles, something that I love about this city. One that I only just learned about takes place at the Brand Library & Art Center in Glendale. And the first show that I caught there happened to be the final in the series for this year. Eva And The Vagabond Tales put on a wonderful set last night at a pleasant picnic spot behind the building, playing a mix of covers and original songs. Apparently, they were scheduled to play the series last year, but got rained out. There are a couple of picnic tables in front of where the stage was set up, but most folks brought their own blankets and chairs.

The band kicked off the set with a cover of “Bei Mir Bistu Shein” (which is also sometimes written as “Bei Mir Bist Du Shein” and “Bei Mir Bist Du Schön“), getting the crowd clapping along at the beginning, and putting folks in a good mood. There was a tiny lantern hanging from the neck of Eva Mikhailovna’s guitar. It was my first time at this venue, as I mentioned, but when I was looking up information about it, I saw that there are hiking trails in the park as well. We didn’t have enough time before the show to go exploring, but during that first song Eva noticed some folks emerging from the trails. “I keep seeing people running out of the bushes,” she said before introducing the next song. That next song was an original, “Thieves,” which was included on the band’s Letters From The Moon album. Kully Stiles switched from clarinet to pedal steel for this one. This song also featured some nice work by Jasmine Capitulo on accordion. They followed that with a cover of The Beatles’ “I’ve Just Seen A Face” and then “Falling Off This Earth.” Kully started “Falling Off This Earth” on clarinet, but then switched to bass clarinet partway through. He then went back to pedal steel for the band’s cover of Harry Styles’ “As It Was.”

If you live outside of Los Angeles, you might be aware that we recently had a hurricane, but you might not be aware that during the storm we also had an earthquake. Eva mentioned that the band had decided to rehearse that day for this gig, and so some of them spent some time on the road during the storm, which she did not recommend doing. They then played “Mirage,” another song from Letters From The Moon, and followed that with a cover of “I’m Not Okay (I Promise).” Eva introduced it as a pop song that came out when they were in their teens, and my brain stupidly got prepared for a fun song from the 1980s, thinking of my teens and forgetting that I am oh so much older. After the song, she asked the crowd if they knew what band did the song originally. No one knew. We were all older, I guess. The band was My Chemical Romance, a group I knew nothing about. I listened to a little of the original song today, and I can say that the version by Eva And The Vagabond Tales was much, much better.

They played “Please Keep Me,” which was included on the band’s 2019 release, Uncharted Ocean. And then Eva asked the crowd to howl like wolves in preparation for the audience participation part in their cover of “Li’l Red Riding Hood,” a song by Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs.  That was followed by another cover, this one from the Disney movie The Jungle Book. Apparently, the band has a regular gig at Downtown Disney, and Eva said the song, “I Wanna Be Like You,” was one of their favorites to play. It was a fun one to revisit, particularly the way they delivered it. Kully was on clarinet, and switched to bass clarinet during the drum solo. Yes, there was a drum solo. And the song also featured a seriously cool lead on bass. Who would have guessed that a Disney song would be a highlight of the set? Another highlight for me was the song that followed it, “Sea Will Return You,” another song from Uncharted Ocean. The set then concluded with “Goodnight My Darling.” As the song progressed, Kully and then Eva switched to accordions, so there were three accordions on stage. Mark San Filippo on drums kept the beat while adding melodica, and Max on bass also played melodica. The encore was “Keep Me In Your Shadows.”

Set List

1. Bei Mir Bistu Shein
2. Thieves
3. I’ve Just Seen A Face
4. Falling Off This Earth
5. As It Was
6. Mirage
7. I’m Not Okay (I Promise)
8. Please Keep Me
9. Li’l Red Riding Hood
10. I Wanna Be Like You
11. Sea Will Return You
12. Goodnight My Darling

Encore

1. Keep Me In Your Shadows

Here are some photos from the show:

"Bei Mir Bistu Shein"

"Bei Mir Bistu Shein"

"I've Just Seen A Face"

"Falling Off This Earth"

 

"Falling Off This Earth"

"I Wanna Be Like You"

 

"Goodnight My Darling"

"Goodnight My Darling"

"Goodnight My Darling"

Brand Library & Art Center is located at 1601 W. Mountain St. in Glendale, California. By the way, there is a parking lot there, so no worries about finding a spot on the street.

Tom Paxton & John McCutcheon: “Together” (2023) CD Review

I really hope someone is now hard at work on a comprehensive book on the music that came out of the pandemic. So much anxiety and fear and sorrow were experienced during that time, which we are well aware of. But so much incredible, and often beautiful, music has also resulted from it. Friends Tom Paxton and John McCutcheon helped each other through the time with weekly (and of course remote) songwriting sessions, which resulted in a whole lot of new material. Now we are getting the first album of that material. Appropriately titled Together, this album contains fourteen songs, most of which feature the vocal work of both artists. They clearly used the time well, something that wasn’t true of all of us. John McCutcheon actually released a solo album quite early in the pandemic that addressed these crazy times. Titled Cabin Fever: Songs From The Quarantine, it was a true solo album, with John McCutcheon providing all the vocals and playing all the instruments. And that was just the first of three albums he released since the pandemic began. Tom Paxton released a double album with Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer last year, All New (which contains the succinct “Trump Lost, Biden Won”). These two incredibly accomplished and talented songwriters don’t seem to be slowing down, and for that we can be grateful. And if the rest of the material they wrote during their pandemic sessions is as good as what is contained on this disc (and why wouldn’t it be?), let’s hope more releases will be coming soon.

The album opens with a heartfelt number about the war in Ukraine, “Ukrainian Now.” The song was written approximately a month after the Russian invasion of that country, and touches upon the sense of fellowship and solidarity many here in this country felt with the people of that nation. “I am Ukrainian now/I will stand and I will not bow/A half-world away but somehow/I am Ukrainian now.” I remember immediately seeing Ukrainian flags and stickers on cars and so on. John McCutcheon plays both guitar and hammer dulcimer on this track. This track also features some really nice work by Stuart Duncan on fiddle, and by Pete Kennedy on electric guitar. JT Brown is on bass and backing vocals, and Steve Fidyk is on drums. Yes, there is a lot of talent here. That’s followed by “This Campfire.” A song about a campfire must feature harmonica, and this one does. That’s Charlie McCoy on harmonica. “We’re passing round the bottle/And this battered old guitar/Everything sounds sweeter/Beneath this prairie star.” It’s a song with a timeless appeal, and it reminds me of some wonderful evenings spent listening to folk and country musicians in a back yard right here in the San Fernando Valley. “Sing us a song you’ve known forever/Or a story that we’ve heard again and again/It takes more than a fire to keep a body warm/Take us back to you can’t remember when.” This song also contains a reference to Utah Phillips. And I love that work by Stuart Duncan on mandolin, and by Jon Carroll on accordion.

Tom Paxton and John McCutcheon switch gears with “Do The Work,” a delicious, jazzy number featuring some wonderful stuff by Jon Carroll on piano and Stuart Duncan on fiddle. Here is a taste of the lyrics: “And you spend all your day/Just courting the muse/But there ain’t no fire/If they’re ain’t no fuse/Do the work/Just do the work.” Oh yes, this song provides a good reminder, gives us that push that we certainly need from time to time. Even when we have the time, it is sometimes difficult to actually sit down to it. I love and appreciate this song (though now I should get back to that short story I’ve been working on). “Success should not be your concern/Do the work, just do the work.” Some pretty work on piano begins “Invisible Man,” a sweet and moving song about those people who surround us but whom we may not notice or acknowledge, sung from their perspectives. “When you come to a stop on the street/My eyes are the ones you won’t meet/With my sign,‘I haven’t eaten yet today’/I watch as your car pulls away/I am the invisible man/This was really not my plan/Wherever you don’t look, there I am.” There is a beautiful lead on fiddle in the second half.

“Same Old Crap” is a playful, fun and funny song about having no new ideas as songwriters. There is an odd and delightful joy in their voices as they sing about their frustrations, and not just at coming up dry, but with people’s reactions to what they’re doing. “Each day I pour my heart out on the paper/I open up a vein and let it bleed/I think I’ve got a hit/But no one gives a shit/So I guess I’ll give ‘em what they think they need/Same old crap tonight/Same old crap tonight. ” But the saddest line by far is “So here I am again at Shakey’s Pizza.” If you’ve never eaten there, consider yourself lucky. It is among the worst pizza I’ve ever eaten, in a place without a hint of atmosphere. By the end, they do have new material, but no one cares, and they refer to it as “brand new crap.” Again, this track is a delight. And wouldn’t Same Old Crap be a fantastic title for a greatest hits collection? That’s followed by “In America.” I just finished reading a novel about a Jewish family that comes to the US in the early 1900s, the book then following these characters for the next seventy years. This song begins in the same place, same time, and is about making a home in a new country, and then learning about how those who did not make the journey are being murdered by the Nazis (the book I read also dealt with that, how the family members who remained behind perished in the holocaust). “It cannot be forgotten/And it cannot happen here.” Ah, but these days a percentage of the population is dangerously flirting with fascism, still following a racist conman who just had his mug shot taken for trying to overturn the results of a fair election. This song features some excellent vocal work, plus some strong stuff from Jim Roberts on electric guitar. And I love Steve Fidyk’s work on drums.

“Letters From Joe” is delivered a cappella by Tom Paxton. This song also takes us back to World War II through a series of letters found within a wall. “The letters start in ’43/When he shipped overseas/They reached her nearly every day/‘Til they ended in Normandy/You’re with me all the time, he wrote/I miss you every night/It’s you who gives me courage/When I go into the fight.” That’s followed by “The Fan.” I am a big baseball fan, even now when MLB seems determined to destroy the game with its horrible new rules (pitch clock, not having to throw the four pitches for an intentional walk, having a runner start on second base in extra innings, etc.), and so I am naturally inclined to love this song. “I was a fan when they stunk up the cellar/I was a fan when they brought home the gold.” I started going to Red Sox games in 1978. If you want to learn about heartache, read about that season, and how it ended. But then forty years later, in 2018, I was able to go to a World Series game with my brother. What an incredible experience that was, particularly as the Sox came from behind to win it. This song addresses how the game has changed, mainly because players no longer stick with a team. My favorite player growing up was Yaz, who spent his entire career with the Red Sox. This track ends with the shout of “Play ball!”

“Complete” is about the thrill for a songwriter of getting to hear an artist he respects cover his material, in this case Johnny Cash. And in the lines “You do the work, you give them wings/And hope that they might fly,” they touch briefly upon that theme addressed in two earlier tracks, “Do The Work” and “Same Old Crap.” The song in question, by the way, is Tom Paxton’s “I Can’t Help But Wonder Where I’m Bound,” which was included on Johnny Cash’s American VI: Ain’t No Grave. What’s interesting is that it is a song from the beginning of Tom Paxton’s career, included on his debut album, Ramblin’ Boy, and it came at the end of Johnny Cash’s career, included on an album released posthumously. Two very different feelings from the same song. “Complete” features some good work by Charlie McCoy on harmonica. Then John McCutcheon performs “Everything” solo, just vocals and banjo. And it is delightful. This short song is an answer to those so-called Christians who speak against gay people, just a little reminder that Jesus said absolutely nothing about homosexuality, and delivered with a sense of humor.

“Life Before You” is a sweet number, a love song about the changes a child brings to a parent’s life and heart. “I had a life before you/But it all seems empty now/When I feel your hand in mine/The world is right somehow.” This track features some warm work on piano and some beautiful soaring moments on fiddle. That’s followed by “Christmas In The Desert,” which has a somber sound and mood, and is about a woman giving birth in the desert. This is one to add to your holiday play list, and it includes some pretty work on fiddle. In “This Campfire,” the phrase “prairie star” is heard. And then toward the end of the album comes a track titled “Prairie Star.” It’s a gentle, beautiful number. “For it’s only in the dark now/That we can see so far/We can see halfway to heaven/In one shining prairie star.” The album concludes with its title track, “Together,” another beautiful song, Tom Paxton’s voice supported just by piano. There is some humor regarding their age, heard in a line like “Not too fond of flights of stairs.” These lines are particularly moving: “We hope for just a little more/But no one knows what lies in store/I know we can’t go through that door/Together.”

CD Track List

1. Ukrainian Now
2. This Campfire
3. Do The Work
4. Invisible Man
5. Same Old Crap
6. In America
7. Letters From Joe
8. The Fan
9. Complete
10. Everything
11. Life Before You
12. Christmas In The Desert
13. Prairie Star
14. Together

Together is scheduled to be released on October 13, 2023.