Review: Evils Ways - House Of Blues - February 19th

Review
Evil Ways
February 19, 2011
House Of Blues

By now if you have been reading my stories and reviews for the past two years on clevelandrockandroll.com, you know how I feel about going out and hearing live music. There is nothing better, I mean nothing…….but on the flipside there is nothing worse than going out and hearing music played badly.

That’s why on Saturday I was a little apprehensive about making the trip to the House Of Blues to hear Evil Ways, a Cleveland based Santana tribute band headlining there. Look I didn’t know anything about the band before going to hear them on Saturday. During the day I tried to remember if I ever heard a Santana tribute band live before but couldn’t come up with one. I’ve heard plenty of bands over the years in bars and festivals play some Santana and for the most part, they shouldn’t have. There are just some bands that trying to replicate the sound, especially a sound as classic and iconic as Santana’s, you just shouldn’t unless you have some serious talent.

That’s why I said I was a little apprehensive about going. I even told Mrs. Bear before arriving “let me know if you want to leave” especially with her not being a big Santana fan in the first place.

Guess what…We didn’t leave.

After catching the last few songs of the opening act which being polite didn’t blow me away, I was starting to wonder if I made the right decision to come when Evil Ways took the stage. The eight piece band filled the stage and started out with an intro piece before launching into “Everybody’s Everything” which brought a smile to my face. I’ve loved that song since it came out, especially the horns which originally were played by the Tower Of Power (one of my favorite bands of all time) horn section on the album and on Saturday night Evil Ways horn section did it justice.

It was at that point I sent a text to my sister who just saw Carlos last month in concert and told her “these guys are good, you should be here”

They said they were going to be playing the full spectrum of the Santana catalog “from Woodstock till now” and they did. From Jingo off of the first album “Santana” to Game Of Love off “Shaman” they hit it all. For me the highlights were the fore mentioned “Everybody’s Everything”, “No One To Depend On”, “Samba Pa Ti”, and “Evil Ways” all some of my favorite Santana tunes.

The thing that could have killed it for me was if the lead guitarist struggled, I mean c’mon, could you pick someone harder than Carlos Santana to play? Mike Goldberg really impressed me, the guy has got chops. It’s nice to see a guitarist feel relaxed with the instrument and let the music flow from it instead of wrestling with it to produce the notes. The guy has talent. The band itself was tight all night. I mentioned the horn section earlier, Eric Dregne (Trombone) and Lizz Wilson (Trumpet), who to me really emphasized the importance of the horn section in Santana’s music and they did a great job. Kenny Baehr on vocals and percussion was great plus his energy was infectious to the audience. Michael Carabello himself would have been proud to hear Marko DiMicheli on congas and percussion. It would have been cool to see on old Hammond B3 organ like Gregg Rolle played on stage but keyboardist Dennis Augusta did a really nice job handling it and not to be forgotten Gregg Garlock (Drums) and Jim Curtis (Bass) provided the backbone of the music perfectly all night. Like I said a tight band.

You could tell they were really into the songs they were playing. The energy was high, they looked like they were having fun and they got the audience into it. I mean even Mrs. Bear was moving to the music.

If you like good music then this is a band to go hear, if you love Santana, then this is really a band you must hear! Either way you won’t be disappointed, I wasn’t.

For more information on Evil Ways shows, videos, and song clips visit their website at www.evilwaysband.com

Nuff said, least till next time
Peace
Bear
www.clevelandrockandroll.com

Woe Is Me The Native Clevelander

You know being a Clevelander is hard.

We tune in and watch week after week as the Browns go thru the motions while the owner laughs at us being the suckers we are year after year.

We watch our former Indians pick up their World Series rings with their new teams as we go into another year of rebuilding.

The Cavs, well we’ll see. We’ll see LeBron dishing the pass off to Kobe or Dwayne Wade or Dwight Howard next year and we’ll just sit here and say what if?

You know it seems we like to be the underdog, the downtrodden, the “crapped upon”. It seems we relish it at times, wear it as a badge of honor because we keep taken it, year after year from our sports teams.

But you know what we have that every other city in the United States if not the World would love to rip away from us but we Clevelanders seem to take for granted?

The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame…..

Other cities have football teams, baseball teams, basketball teams but none have the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. We do, but do you care?

I don’t know……

All you readers out there hold your hand up if you have been to the Rock Hall..…Okay keep them up if you have been there more than once….Okay now who has been there recently…..Okay that’s what I thought, you couple of people, lower your hands.

We love to bash the Rock Hall Foundation for not having the Induction Ceremonies here each year and complain that New York is stealing our glory, but if they were here every year would you go?

I don’t know……

We complained that the 25th Anniversary Concert for the Rock Hall was in New York and not here in Cleveland and we were being shafted again but would you have went if was?

I would hope so…….

While we were complaining about the Induction Ceremonies and the 25th Anniversary Concert not being held here did you know what is held here and NOT in New York for the past 14 years?


The American Music Masters Series Tribute Concert!

Now raise your hands out there if you knew this…..Keep them up while I count. Okay now those with your hands up, keep them up if you went….Yep that’s what I figured.

Okay, okay I’ll admit it, I didn’t know about it also until last year when they honored Les Paul but you know what…I won’t ever miss another one.

Every year for the past 14 years the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame honors one of the important figures in music with the American Music Masters Series Tribute Concert, right here in Cleveland. They have honored in the past Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, Sam Cooke, Buddy Holly, Muddy Waters, Hank Williams, Robert Johnson and Woody Guthrie to name just a few and you know who came to Cleveland to perform at these concerts to honor the greats of the past? Well some of the greats of music now. Artists like Bruce Springsteen, Arlo Guthrie, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Levon Helm, Southside Johnny, The Allman Brothers, Bob Weir, Peter Green, BB King, Bo Diddley, Bonnie Raitt, John Mellancamp, Robert Plant, Aretha Franklin, Elvis Costello, Billy Gibbons, George Thorogood and this is a fraction of the artists that come to our town, our Cleveland, to perform for the past 14 years for us, not those New Yorkers we like to complain about, but us. Take that New York!

Did you go?

This year I did and man, I am glad I did. This year’s honoree was Janis Joplin and it was a great night of music. It showcased the not only Janis but the periods of music that flowed thru her life. From her early days in Austin Texas with the country roots to her love of the blues to the San Francisco sound to her following her heart and finding her unique style as a solo artist. This was all done with an eclectic mix of musicians, many who were friends of Janis.

The night started out with the big cowboy Ray Benson from Asleep At The Wheel accompanied by Carolyn Wonderland and they started the night out on the right track with “Silver Threads And Golden Needles” and for the next 3 hours it never waned. Highlights for me from the night were Carolyn Wonderland, who is just a powerhouse on stage, doing “Down On Me”, Susan Tedeschi’s great versions of “Try (Just A Little Bit Harder” and “Kosmic Blues”, Nona Hendrix doing “Move Over”, Gregg Rolie and Michael Carabello of Santana doing “No One to Depend On” and “Evil Ways” and truly confirming to me that the best music Santana ever created was when Rolie was the voice of the band, and Nick Gravanites “Buried Alive in the Blues” which he wrote for Janis for the Pearl album but she never got to record before she died. A beautiful blues ballad that Janis would have made her own. I especially loved the video of Kris Kristofferson who couldn’t be there talking about him and Janis during the recording of “Me And Bobby McGee” and the very funny stories he told of the two of them. The Rock Hall also did a great job of weaving video of Janis throughout the concert highlighting different parts of her life and seeing the transformation of this woman who finally became Pearl.

I had the honor of being with the press interviewing these artists before the show and got to see for myself how they really felt about the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame and Cleveland. For Rock Hall Inductees like Gregg Rolie and Michael Carabello, they said it was cool for them to see their old outfits and items on display from their early days of Santana and for every other artist I talked to, they were like kids in a candy store as their eyes lit up while they talked about going thru the Rock Hall and seeing the guitars, lyrics and personal items of the artists they idolize.

I’m going to be publishing the interviews throughout the next few weeks here and they should be entertaining reading (at least I hope!). They were very open and gave great insights into their careers and music in general from Rolie and Carabello taking about the creation of Santana to Ray Benson telling me about seeing a 17 year old Stevie Ray Vaughan for the first time to Susan Tedeschi talking about the new project with her husband Derek Trucks (Allman Brothers Band) to Nona Hendrix of LaBelle fame talking about working with Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye, Jimi Hendrix but her revelation about her time hanging out with rock’s ultimate bad boy Keith Moon of The Who was definitely an eye opener.

On a personal note, I want to thank Reena Samaan and Margaret Thresher for their invitation and for their great hospitality.

We need to remember as our sports teams disappoint us again, we still think we are a great sports town but before that we were known as THE great music town and that’s why the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame is here and not New York or San Francisco or Philadelphia or London. It’s here for a reason. Cleveland was the epicenter of Rock, period. Rock was formed here, given its name here, careers launched here and no one ever skipped playing here. That’s why the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame is here so let’s make sure it stays here. Go out and support the Rock Hall. Go visit the hall, go to one of the talks with the guest speakers they bring in, go see one of the shows like U2 3D in their theatre. Just Go and show them why Cleveland is still the Rock And Roll Capital Of The World!

Take that New York!

Nuff said, least till next time
Peace Out
Bear

Is There Gas In The Car? Yes, There’s Gas In The Car…. Or Is There?

It has been 35 years since I last saw Steely Dan perform.

35 years!

That’s like 245 dog years or the average number of combined years for the careers of any 12 artists of this decade.

That 1974 tour was the last tour they did before breaking up in 1981 and it was also the last time Steely Dan was really a band, and not just Walter Becker and Donald Fagen. Steely Dan back then was Becker, Fagen, Jeff “Skunk” Baxter, Denny Dias and Victor Feldman. That was a line-up of some serious musicians, but the road took its toll that year and Becker and Fagen decided they wanted to just work in the studio and produce albums – thus it was the last tour for 19 years.

I mean this was pre-Aja and pre-Royal Scam, the two albums they featured this week at E.J. Thomas Hall. Back then, they were a great live band but how would they be 35 years later?

The first thing I noticed Monday night was the difference in Donald Fagen. Back in 1974 he didn’t seem to want to be there much, but in 2009 it looked like he was actually having fun performing his songs live. The second thing I noticed – they put together a hell of a band to re-produce that studio sound. I don’t know if you really can understand how hard it has to be to produce that Steely Dan sound live. Fagen and Becker were famous during the recording process for bringing in three, four or five different sets of musicians to play each song they were recording and picking the best parts of each group for the final product. For example on the Aja album – 37 musicians are credited for playing on it, and 27 musicians are credited on Royal Scam. To Becker and Fagen they always set out to produce the perfect studio albums but how would that come through now live?

The night I went was the night they featured the album Aja. This was a monster album in 1977 and has held up through the years. Frankly, it’s a classic and I looked forward to seeing it performed live in its entirety. I mean these are songs I have listened to for 30+ years on albums, cassettes, CDs and on the radio but never live. So there was a definite high expectation for me.

So how did it come out?

Amazing…just amazing. I sat there and just drank in some of the best music ever produced being played live and being done well. The songs just kept rolling through the night: “Black Cow,” “Aja,” “Deacon Blues,” “Peg,” “Home At Last,” “I Got The News” and “Josie” and that was just the Aja part of the show! The rest of the night was like a Steely Dan jukebox filled with hits: ”Black Friday,” “Time Out Of Mind,” “Daddy Don’t Live In That New York City No More,” “Bodhisattva,” “Babylon Sisters,” “Show Biz Kids,” “Hey Nineteen,” “Dirty Work,” “Do It Again,” “Don’t Take Me Alive,” “My Old School,” “Kid Charlemagne” and for the encore, “Reeling In The Years”. I mean come on, how could you not like that set list?

The band they put together was up to the task - especially guitarist Jon Herrington, who had many shoes to fill in for the many great guitarists that originally played on those songs. He did a great job and the band as a whole was fantastic. Walter Becker got to show his chops taking over some of the guitar solos, but the highlight for me was the unique and stylish vocals of Donald Fagen, who still can produce those notes. As my wife said to me during the show “he sounds better now than he did on the album.”

Not everything was perfect mind you but it was pretty close. I didn’t think Becker doing the vocals on “Daddy Don’t Live In That New York City No More” really carried well. I was disappointed that they let the three female backup singers do the vocals on “Dirty Work.” I know, I know. This is the only song that Fagen did not sing on an album, but if he did not want to do the vocals then they should have let one of the other musicians take a shot at it or not do it at all. It’s probably my favorite Steely Dan song of all time and instead of being a great bluesy rock song the arrangement became a torch song of sorts.

My only other complaint about the night and this is a personal observation. This is to the couple sitting next to me: Why do you go to a concert and feel the need to talk to each other? Was the conversation boring on the ride over and you felt a need to pick it up, or was it so stimulating that you had to continue it? Also, why yell out “Woooooooooo!” at the start of every song? Did you think that Donald was going to say “Thank you everyone and especially to that guy in Row L Seat 49 for that Woooooooo!” I hope you’re reading this and my advice to you – or anyone else that this could fit – Shut the hell up!

Okay enough of my rant.

To answer the famous line from “Kid Charlemagne,” is there gas in the car?

Yes there is, and there is still plenty left in the tank of Steely Dan!

Nuff said, least til next time
Peace Out
Bear