The other Blasters had been setting up for a while and here comes Phil. In no time they were playing. And what a set. Opening with a rocking American Music, we knew this was going to be one hell of a show. Another highlight was Dark Night. Really sounded great. Then we got one of my faves, Shakin'. The band took a break and so did we. When they came back, the crowd seemed to have finally woke up.(Some were a bit sluggish the first set). Now the place was really jumping!
Keith Wyatt's guitar playing was just masterful. He's digs really deep on his solos and plays with all his heart. Phil was in great form, dedicating songs in the most obscure fashion. Really a funny guy. More highlights: Trouble Bound, John Lee Hookers "Dimples", Help You Dream, Long White Cadillac, Red Rose and, of course, Marie Marie! After the show we headed to the bar for one more for the road. Keith was packing up his gear, so my wife and I thanked him for a great show. What a nice guy. Shook our hands, and being as great a player as he is, really humble. Jerry Angel was packing up too and shook our hands, thanking us for coming. Our response: Thank you for playing! It was great. I asked when their next gig was, they said that Long Beach was it for a while. I'm surprised they don't play more, they have a lot of fans who would love to see them!!
Back at the bar Phil came by. I thanked him for a great time. He came over and shook our hands. My wife said "We heard you were running late tonight". Phil says, "Well, I think that's just a rumor. Problem is, a lot of times those rumors are true!" We asked him to please come down to San Diego. We told him of a great place to play and said he'd like to come down. He gave my wife a kiss on the cheek, (which made her night!!), thanked us and said goodnight. Really nice guy.
If I had one complaint about the evening, it would be about the "Swing" dancers. The Blue Cafe isn't very large, so I think people should use discretion about showing off their dance lessons. Frankly, there just isn't room there for spinning girls around. All in all, a great show. We'll see you down the road.
Dave Alvin also plays here quite a bit. I've lost track how many times I've seen him in Denver. Gotta be 7 times in 4 years. He likes to stick around after the show and talk music. He signed my CD cover,"I LOVE YOU MAN." When I showed Phil he wrote, "Dave may love you, but I respect you!"
Denver has a thriving ROOTS/ROCKABILLY/BLUES scene. Wayne Hancock, BR5-49, Derailers, Kim Lenz, Big Sandy, Lucinda Williams. They all played her within 60 days of each other. You gots to check it out.
So, the January '99 Blasters show: It was real good. They played in a large room, with a professional staff. Unlike a couple of times I've seen them in the past. Everything was very professional. The concert hall even had a couple of big goons standing by after the show to keep an eye on things. But, even the goons were nice, they brought out pens for people to get autographs. Very cool. No lie, Jerry gave me a T-shirt, and a brand new copy of the Blasters Bootleg. He told me to open it so they could all sign it. I talked to Phil for a while about jazz music, and Charlie Rich. I didn't think anyone remembered Charlie but me and my family. We also got to talking about using the Internet as sort of the master tape for an album. My thought was to put different things on there and let people download a customized CD. Dude, that guy is smart.
They played 90 minutes. Everything off of the 'Bootleg' and a bunch more. They said they were gonna play San Diego next, then a few dates in San Francisco. There were about 500 people at the show. Years ago. 1982, to be exact. I wanted to move to L.A. and join a band like the Blasters. Of course it never happened, but 15 years later I'm hangin' out and talkin' with' em.
The Blasters 3/22/97 Setlist
Dark Night American Music Border Radio Love Is My Business 4/11/44 All Your Fault Ain't Gonna...(Phil solo) Rebound You Rascal You So Long Baby Goodbye Slip of the Tongue Long White Cadillac Help You Dream I'm Shakin' Blue Shadows Daddy Rollin' Stone One Red Rose One Bad Stud Encores: Hear Me Cryin' Marie, Marie Samson and Delilah MatchboxJust days after their record label went under, The Blasters played their first Seattle show in over 2 years. Despite all of that they put on an excellent show.
The band came on 'round midnight and tore through a 90 minute set. Sound problems plagued the first few numbers (Dark Night, American Music, Border Radio). They hit their stride with Love Is My Business featuring some tasty work by new guitarist Keith Wyatt. That was followed by a great song about playing the lottery, 4/11/44. The next number was dedicated to "everyone who's gone through rehab that wasn't court ordered", All Your Fault. After that song, while Keith and Bazz were tuning up Phil played an old folk/blues tune called "Ain't Gonna..." something or other. I should have asked him what it was! The biggest surprise of the evening was a jump blues version of the old standard You Rascal You featuring Phil on harmonica.
Of course at every Blasters show some drunk guy always yells out Marie, Marie after every song, to which Phil responds "If we don't play that I'll cut my toes off with a brick!" Other highlights were an extended version of Slip of the Tongue, I'm Shakin' (for James Brown, Jackie Wilson and Rudy Toombs) and the set closer, One Bad Stud "to Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson but Evander's probably a better date". The first encore was Hear Me Cryin' followed by Marie, Marie which incited the usual dancing frenzy in the crowd. For the second encore Phil did Samson and Delilah which I'd only heard him do once before. The last number was the old Carl Perkins tune Matchbox. Let's hope it's not 2 years until the next show.
What a night!
Things started out right when my girlfriend and I arrived at the show and found out that James Intveld would be playing as well. The concert was extremely well organized, with bands performing 45 or 30 minute sets that alternated between the main stage and the second stage. The time limits were strictly enforced and everything ran like clockwork. The Blasters walked onto the main stage at 1:15 on a beautiful sunny southern California day. Phil immediately made a crack about the bands making bets on who was going to be the one to wake Jerry Lee Lewis up. The band then launched into Long White Cadillac. The sound was excellent, especially for an outdoor venue. The guitarist, who Phil briefly introduced at the very end (I thought he said Steve, but I guess it was Keith Wyatt), was adequate, but I never really felt like he was totally part of the band. That's partially due to the fact that he didn't have much stage presence. He just stayed off to his side of the stage and played! He certainly didn't have the cool presence that James Intveld had, nor did he have his chops. But, all told, he was fine, though I was kind of disappointed to find out that he was named the permanent guitarist.
The band then played Dark Night, featuring some extensive jamming, after Phil dedicated the song to the people who live in the hills here. The next song, Border Radio, was prefaced with some mumbling in Spanish from Phil. I didnt catch the exact words. Love Is My Business was next, followed by what Phil introduced as una rosa roja, One Red Rose. While the band played, the crowd grew bigger and bigger. I was in the front row, so I couldnt tell how many people took time off from the merchandise booths, the custom cars, and the long lines for the porta-potties, but it looked like a sizable crowd that was a mixture of people who knew all the lyrics, those that just wanted to hear Marie Marie, and those who didn't really know the band but thought Phil was a crazy guy. When one person yelled for Marie or I'm Shakin' (I can't remember which), Phil grinned and said that he'd cut his foot off if they didn't play that one. The band was plainly there to please, and plainly succeeded. There wasn't much dancing, but there was a bunch of bopping in place in the first couple of rows. At one point a female blow-up doll flew through the air and almost made it to the stage, causing the usually relatively stoic John Bazz to break into a grin. There were also members of some of the other bands watching from the side of stage.
As usual, Phil dedicated So Long Baby Goodbye to Lee Allen. It was the only song that Phil played harmonica for. Slip of the Tongue then started with a long introductory guitar solo because Phil was searching for a lighter. The band then ripped through Rebound, a great song that should be on their next album (if I were in charge, I'd make it the single, if one is planned). Blue Shadows was next. The audience was definitely into the music and just having a good time. Somebody threw what looked like a small flexible billy club (or a sex toy) onto the stage. Phil looked at it amusedly, and someone yelled, Give it to your girlfriend. Phil threw the club toward the backstage area where one of the be-Stetsoned Supersuckers was watching the show, and said something like, That guy in the hat is my girlfriend! This outdoor concert stuff was turning out to be a lot of fun.
American Music was dedicated to all of us in the crowd. At the end of the song Phil was informed that the band had time for one more song. Phil then good naturedly, but emphatically, informed the world that the band was going to do two more songs, not one, explaining, I set my watch, I've got 10 minutes left. (Or words to that effect.) True to his word, they played two more: I'm Shakin' and Marie Marie. It was a good solid crowd-pleasing performance that we didn't have time to savor because James Intveld was playing at 2:00 at the neighboring second stage.
So off we rushed to the second stage where James had just started his first song. He was playing an electric acoustic guitar, and was accompanied by a very good electric guitar player, a stand-up bassist, and a drummer. James and company immediately had people up dancing, and I do mean dancing - there was some mean swinging goin on -and shouting for more. If it were 1959, James Intveld would be one of the biggest stars in the country and people might never have had to talk about rock and roll dying. As it is, he should be huge right now. He rocked in the finest and purest rock sense. Unfortunately, I don't have his set list, but I know that he played several songs from his Bear Family record. I'm pretty sure that he played these songs: Perfect World, Cryin Over You, Standing On A Rock, and Your Lovin'. 30 minutes passed too quickly, and James was gone from the stage....but not done for the day. The Paladins, who put on a great second stage performance, finished their set by calling for a few people to join them on stage. James was one of them, and he sang some back-up vocals and then shared the guitar, playing with his left hand (doing the fret work), while the guitarist used his right. It was fun, and also nice to know that other bands dig James as much as his fans do.
The trip west was well worth it, though we faced the prospect of a cross-country flight back home while suffering from the ache of post-concert depression. But then we volunteered to get bumped from our flight, and scored free flight vouchers. That means we can return west to catch a Wednesday night jam session by the Blue Shadows at the Bar Deluxe in Hollywood (see The Grindstone Magazine #6), or one of James regular appearances as Jimmy and the Gigolos, or maybe another Blasters show, or maybe all three. Even with these possibilities though, I'm still suffering pangs of jealousy, especially since tomorrow night is Wednesday. So until I get back in front of a stage and hear Phil's mumbled asides and passionate singing, or James smooth stylings, I'll just be killin' time in these East Coast shadows.
1. Dark Night
2. American Music
3. Border Radio
4. All Your Fault
5. Long White Cadillac
6. Gangster of Love
7. Rebound
8. I'm Shakin
9. Love Is My Business
10. 4-11-44
11. ("Hear Me Cryin"?)
12. So Long Baby Goodbye
13. Slip Of The Tongue
14. Blue Shadows
15. Help You Dream
16. Red Rose
17. Daddy Rollin' Stone
18. Marie, Marie
--------Encore:
19. Matchbox
20. One Bad Stud
I've never been disappointed by a Blasters show, and this night's
performance was no exception. The addition of guitarist Keith
Wyatt (I think I've got his name right) proved to be no
detraction for me. His guitar has a good sound and he seems to fit in
well. Being a drummer myself, I watch drummers more than I watch
anyone else on stage. Jerry Angel has a style that
fits the music well, and he plays hard, as do all the Blasters. The
Blasters were rockin' the house; they give each song their all. For
me, that's what rock 'n' roll is all about. I get a feeling from this
band that I don't get from many; they know their stuff and choose their
cover tunes from what looks to be an encyclopedia of quality, heartfelt
music. They play all songs like they're playing for their life, like
they need to persuade every last person at the show, like they're
playing ten feet off the ground.. Smokin' and sweatin', for almost two
hours.Phil Alvin was as usual working without a set list, a move that necessitates quick conferences before many songs and calling out of key signatures. Once the songs kicks off, though, there's not much doubt about who is supposed to be playing what; I recall only one slightly botched ending. Spontaneity is a great thing.
As you may know, the great Johnny Guitar Watson died on May 16, the day before this show. Johnny was a blues man, as is Top Jimmy, who preceded the Blasters on stage and sang some great blues while a killer band (including the Blasters' John Bazz) cranked along with him. Top Jimmy turned the tables and joined the audience for the Blasters' set, and was quick to request Watson's Gangster of Love to Phil. Phil was planning another song, but readily agreed with Jimmy's suggestion; this song caused probably the longest pre-song band huddle of the night, and sounded great.
There were a few song dedications, including So Long ... for Lee Allen, and Red Rose for sister Mary Conchita (I don't recognize this reference). By the time of the encores, Phil was soaking wet with sweat. I mean REALLY wet, like he just hopped out of a dunk tank - I think it was something about whatever material his pants were made from, it acted like a sponge and clung to his body when wet. Phil works hard on stage, and even remarked during a thank you to the crowd that he was glad to see a good crowd even though James Brown was in town, and that James once told Phil that (rough quote here) "I'm the hardest working man in show business, but (Phil) you're the second hardest working man."
After the show I spoke with Jim Fletchall, who's seen the Blasters around 50 times (40 more than I) and we exchanged set list notes. Jim gave me the titles for most of the non-album songs, which I didn't know, and between the two of us I don't think we missed any titles. ("Hear Me Cryin") couldn't be pegged by either of us, but had other lyrics that went "I'm beggin' please . . . come on in this house . . . love you so ".
After Jim & I finished talking, I saw John Bazz standing at the top of the stairs that lead to the dressing room, and after telling an employee that John & I had talked before (at a Slim's show around 18 months ago), the guy let me back to talk to John. I mentioned to John that I had just received all 11 Blasters newsletters from Billy Davis in New York, and after some additional smalltalk, John suggested that I go downstairs and talk to Phil before he leaves.
Well, down the stairs I went to find our hero, along with his co-heros, in the very tiny (7' x 8') dressing room. I introduced myself, but didn't get much of chance to converse with the band as they were busy with about 8 other friends already in the room. They were all very gracious when I offered praise of the show, and we all needed some prodding by staffers to empty out and go home, as it was around 2:00 a.m. I spoke to Phil a little on the way out and said goodbye; hope to get the same chance next time.
Blast on!!
Excellent song near the end of the gig, which I had not heard before. May have been called "Just Like Me."
Editor's Note: The new guitarist was ex-Blaster, Greg "Smokey" Hormel, who was just sitting in. The band is still looking for a permanent replacement.
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Last modified 8Sep99.
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