COLIN BLUNSTONE LAST MINUTE BOOKING - courtesy photo
TOMORROW! FRI 2/28 - Even the people who voted for Trump (but not Elon) are crying from the pain he is causing needlessly. So many of us are wailing, what can we do!? Yes, it is very hard to resist the combination of incredible sums of money, social media control, and a powerful established political mechanism. But what do we have? Numbers. Numbers! Not even 50% of voters marked “Trump,” not to mention the millions who did not vote. He has no “mandate.”
As Jane Fonda so passionately articulated at the SAG Awards last Sunday, we are now in the middle of our own “documentary.” Like those we’ve seen for women’s vote, civil rights, gay rights, reproductive rights (human rights). We can’t just watch this one to see how it turns out. Every one of us must act. We can all do that, starting at midnight.
A nationwide one day economic strike is asking that all Americans speak out by boycotting all money transactions, except with local mom and pop businesses. Don’t buy gas, groceries, don’t take a doctor’s appointment (if possible - I postponed mine), don’t eat out at a corporate restaurant, definitely don’t order anything online. If you think our democracy and rights are being attacked by the insanely greedy, speak their language. Withhold your wallet. There is more to come, but we all have to pitch in.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED:
Tonight! - COLIN BLUNSTONE – I have talked him up for some 50 years. Cautiously. Who? Um, lead singer for The Zombies. But, you should hear his solo work. Very different from the rockin’ Zombies. Unashamedly utterly romantic, melancholy, even the faster numbers. Cello as lead instrument. Lots more violins than electric guitars. Gently plucked acoustic guitar. Music sites list the genre as “chamber rock,” something I don’t recall seeing anywhere else. Gorgeous self-penned songs like “Far Away” and “Caroline Goodbye,” an emotional treatment of Tim Hardin’s “Misty Roses.” This is the 50th anniversary of that first solo album, “One Year.” But that’s a very long solo career and he will be appearing with his band, so I don’t know what to expect. (But probably a couple of Zombie hits worked in.) Comments on his recent concerts assert his voice is as good as ever, so that’s important. McCabe’s booker Wayne Griffith, who deserves some sort of golden statuette, told me he received notice at 11 a.m. of the cancellation of Blunstone’s scheduled Beverly Hills Saban Theatre concert, immediately jumped on it, and had sold out more than half the house in two hours. This convergence of talent and history is rare, and once again it has landed in our little city known for great music and the musicians who choose to live here. You know, the one where Councilmember Jesse Zwick says we need to tear down the Civic Auditorium and put a hotel there (and maybe some housing?). Take advantage of this perfomance, if it’s not too late already. Thurs 8 p.m., McCabe’s, Santa Monica, $38.
Tonight! - DUDAMEL, LA PHIL, MAHLER Symphony No. 7 in E minor, “Song of the Night” – Hope you are lapping up all this Mahler, from one of his most passionate acolytes and interpreters, Gustavo Dudamel. Here are two reasons why you must be there. For all his love of the Austrian composer and his many performances of all his works, Dudamel has never before performed the 7th with the LA Phil, in nearly 20 years (he’s barely 45). Reason number two: This is how he describes the symphony - “a symphony of everything, from chaos to glory, sarcasm to tenderness, from a funeral march to a seductive tango. It is a cosmic symphony of perfect construction and galactic emotional scope.” Walt Disney Concert Hall, Thurs 8 p.m., Fri 11 a.m., Sat 2 p.m., LA, $79-339.
MAHLERTHON I, Santa Monica High School Chamber Orchestra+Symphony Orchestra – Gosh, I hope you heard about this a while ago, maybe in the listings in this column for the past several weeks, or maybe you read Thomas Leffler’s excellent front page story on it Monday, Feb. 17, because… it is sold out. They will be performing Gustav Mahler’s “Movement 1 from Symphony No. 4,” “Totenfeier,” and Mahler’s arrangement of Schubert’s “Movement 1 from String Quartet No. 14 in D minor, ‘Death and the Maiden,’ for String Orchestra,” with their conductor Jason Aiello. Quite an accomplishment, and recognition of the program and musicians. Perhaps after the Civic Auditorium is restored for performance, the LA Phil will return the favor and perform there. Wouldn’t that be great? Why not? Sun 2:30 p.m., Walt Disney Concert Hall, LA, sold out.
HOT CLUB OF LOS ANGELES – You can go to the Cinema Bar any Monday night, 9-11:30, for more than a decade now, and hear these hot players run through Django Reinhart-style ‘30s jazz. This amazing ensemble is a treasure. Mon 9 p.m., Cinema Bar, Culver City, free.
RECOMMENDED:
TOLEDO DIAMOND – His decades-long Sunday night residency at Santa Monica’s Harvelle’s, the oldest blues bar in LA (almost a century!), is a treasure that you shouldn’t assume will always be there. Toledo choreographs (literally) a truly unique show, a blend of ‘50s hipster jazz and his dancing dames and a most modern smokin’ hot band that gets better all the time. Every Sunday 9:30 p.m., Harvelle’s, Santa Monica, $12
COMING ATTRACTIONS (also recommended): DUDAMEL, LA PHIL, MAHLER Symphony No. 7, Disney Hall, 2/27, 28, 3/1; MAHLERTHON I, Santa Monica High School Chamber Orchestra+Symphony Orchestra, Youth Orchestra LA, Inner City Youth Orchestra of LA, Disney Hall, 3/2; TOLEDO DIAMOND, Harvelle’s, 3/2, 9; MAHLERTHON II, UCLA Philharmonia, USC Thornton Symphony, Colburn Orchestra, LA Master Chorale, Disney Hall, 3/2; HOT CLUB OF LOS ANGELES, Cinema Bar, 3/3, 10; DAMN WELL PLEASE ORGAN TRIO, Harvelle’s, 3/4; GUSTAV + ANNA with DUDAMEL, Disney Hall, 3/6, 7, 8, 9.
DOWN THE ROAD (also recommended): TOLEDO DIAMOND, Harvelle’s, 3/16, 23, 30, 4/6, 13, 20, 27; HOT CLUB OF LOS ANGELES, Cinema Bar, 3/17, 24, 31; MOZART’S “COSI FAN TUTTI,” LA OPERA, Dorothy Chandler, 3/8, 16, 19, 22, 27, 30; LIBRARY GIRL, Ruskin, 3/9, 4/13, 5/11, 6/8, 7/13, 8/10, 9/14, 10/12, 11/9, 12/14; LA FOLK FESTIVAL/EMMYLOU HARRIS, Bellwether, 3/22; REVEREND SHAWN AMOS, Broad Plaza, 3/22; FRANZ FERDINAND, Wiltern, 3/29; TONY GILKYSON & RICK SHEA, CINDY LEE BERRYHILL, McCabe’s, 4/6; POPAGANZA, Pacific Opera Project, Ebell, 4/7; PUSSY RIOT, Lodge Room, 4/20; ALBERT LEE, McCabe’s, 4/26; LUCKY STARS, Broadstage, 4/26; PATRICE RUSHEN, Disney, 5/2; BEETHOVEN with ESA-PEKKA, Disney, 5/2, 3, 4; JACK WHITE, Hwd Palladium, 5/12, 13; JOHN BATISTE, Disney, 5/19; GERSHWIN, “Also Sprach Z,” LA PHIL, Disney, 5/23, 24; LOVE, Echo, 5/31; PAUL SIMON, Disney, 7/7, 9, 11, 12, 14, 16; ALISON KRAUS, UNION STATION, Greek, 7/13; FATHER JOHN MISTY, LUCINDA WILLIAMS, Greek, 7/25; TEDESCHI TRUCKS BAND, Greek, 8/13; NEIL YOUNG, Hwd Bowl, 9/15; NINE INCH NAILS, Kia Forum, 9/18, 19.
Charles Andrews has listened to a lot of music of all kinds, including more than 3,000 live shows. He has lived in Santa Monica for 39 years and wouldn’t live anywhere else in the world. Really. Not even Kauai. Send love and/or hate mail to: therealmrmusic@gmail.com
