Sunday, November 27, 2011

The Tubes at The Coach House - November 25, 2011

Sometime the best nights at the Coach House are the ones when the house isn’t full. Friday night with the Tubes was one of those nights. I guess most of the OC was either still stuffed from Thanksgiving dinner or exhausted from Black Friday shopping and didn’t make it down to the show. I’m glad I got my butt off the couch and decided to go. The Tubes were quite the show back in the late 70’s through the 80’s. Back then there were about 7 or 8 members in the band. The shows were full of theatrics and choreography that were outstanding and they were one of the most entertaining acts during this time period. They definitely were ahead of their time as music videos and MTV were just starting to make their mark in the early 80’s. Fee Waybill portrayed several characters during the live shows but the one that stood out was Quay Lewd a drunk, drugged out, barely coherent lead singer, wearing flashing glasses and stilt-like tall platform shoes. Check out some old concert footage at these links



Now the band consists of five members and not as much theatrics although Fee still does several costume changes that are relevant to the particular songs or mood they are trying to get across. The last time I saw this band was back in the mid 80’s and I was blown away.  It’s amazing that 30 some years later they had the same effect.  Although there are less of them on stage and they are that much older they still are great players and put on a fantastic show. The old guys played for over 2 hours and even managed to hang around for a “Meet & Greet” with their fans. At one point in the show they commented to the audience that it sounded like there were more of us out there than there actually were.  It was another amazing night at the Coach House.

Also on the bill that night were two other bands. The first was Third Rail Blue  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Third-Rail-Blue/164472700303345 a local OC Band. They play mostly Rhythm & Blues cover songs. The band was plagued with some sound issues for the few few songs but seemed to have them worked out as their set progressed. These boys are pretty talented players and they seemed to connect quite well the audience.  Band number two was The Brett Cohen Band. I ran into a friend of Brett’s earlier in the evening who told me that Brett was a fantastic player that someday would be famous. After sitting through his 30 minute set I will have to agree with the gentleman. He peeled what little paint is left off the Coach House walls.  What this guy is doing playing at J. Carters Tavern & Grill in Murrieta is beyond me. Someone needs to take him out of the tavern and get him on tour. Apparently he does have a following as I saw several folks wearing T shirts that say “I Know Brett Cohen” roaming around the Coach House. I hope that Gary invites him back sometime soon. He is supposed to have a CD coming out in late January. Check out his Facebook page  http://www.facebook.com/BrettCohenBand and “Like” him. You’ll be glad you did!

Here’s a link to the photos from the evening with the Tubes. Enjoy!

Friday, November 18, 2011

Robert Cray At The Coach House - 11/17/2011


Alright,  this blog thing is a lot more work than expected. I get all excited to sit down and write something about the event I've just attended and the next thing I know a few weeks have gone by and I got nothing. The last thing I posted was about the Buddy Guy show back in September. Since then .........

Susan G. Komen Race For The Cure


Kenny Wayne Shepherd

The Zombies


Leon Russell


Drum Clinic With Ray Luzier of Korn


Girltopia

I could take another month or two and write about how fantastic each and every event was but as they say... a picture is worth a thousand words. Go out and check out the photos at the above links and see how busy and how much fun I've been having. If you have any questions or comments drop me an email. I promise to try for a prompt reply.

Now let's get caught up to last night. Robert Cray and Shawn Jones. First Shawn Jones. If you have not heard of him yet you need to. Shawn is a great guitar player / Singer / Song writer. He has opened for Leon Russell, Jimmy Vaughan and B.B. King to name a few. My first encounter with him was the Doheny Blues Fest a few years back. He opened Day 2 on the Main stage. To say the least I was totally blown away. I've seen Shawn several times since that day and have never been disappointed. Last night's 45 minute set was no exception. Shawn said that his new CD would be out sometime in January and hinted that there might be a CD release party at the Coach House to celebrate the event. Here's a link to the Shawn Jones web site. http://www.shawnjonesmusic.com/

Robert Cray didn't disappoint either. I'm not sure what's up with him though. When I saw him  at the Doheny Blues Festival after a song or two they sent people into the audience to stop the photographers (with professional gear) from shooting pictures. They also cut the video feed to the screen by the stage. Last night was almost the same. Some band say that you can only shot during the first 3 or 5 songs. This varies from band to band. Some bands could care and let you shoot the whole show. Last night I only got to shoot during the first song. I think he did this so that I could focus my attention on enjoying the show. I can say that I think I got my first songs worth of images. The show was fantastic. The band was extremely tight as they ran though his catalog of songs, opening with Phone Booth and ending up with Smoking gun. They came back with 2 more songs for the encore. I think the show clocked in around an hour and fifty minutes. You can get a look at the images from the show at this link.


To finish out the year looks like I'll be seeing  the following shows at The Coach House.

The Tubes - November 25

Gary Hoey - December 16

The Motels - December 23

Dick Dale - December 30

Come on down and have some fun. If you see me be sure to say hello!

Bob