Concert #194 - Newport Folk Festival (Various Artists) at the Greek Theatre (September 20, 1998)

Who would have thought that one day I could attend the Newport Folk Festival without having to leave the West Coast? Well, it happened, courtesy of some clever promoters who figured that it's more economical to bring a few musicians to Los Angeles, rather than fly five thousand fans to Newport, Rhode Island. The LA event was one of the thirteen stop of the touring festival, the first time such an unlikely tour actually took place. As it turned out, there wasn't much folk music in this seven-hour event, but we all had a grand time nonetheless.

This wasn't a typical Greek Theatre concert. The proceeding started at 3:00 PM sharp, with a short set delivered by Mark Eitzel, formerly of the American Music Club. He did not connect with me. Beausoleil's set of Cajun music was a bit longer, but just like Mark's set, it failed to grab me. Things weren't happening for me out there under LA's burning sun.

Then, as the theater was beginning to fill up, things started to improve rapidly. Bruce Cockburn, whose albums to this day I don't particularly enjoy, knocked me out with a powerful set that, as far as I was concerned, came out of nowhere. With his great songs, "Night Train" in particular, strong vocals and energetic guitar playing, Bruce's performance was a huge and totally unexpected revelation.

Bruce Cockburn's set list

Mistress Of Storms

Lovers In A Dangerous Time

Stolen Land

Night Train

Creation Dream

Bruce Cockburn

Richard Thompson's solo set was one of the highlights of this musical marathon. Not content with just playing crowd-pleasing old favorites, Richard threw into the mix three brand new songs from "Mock Tudor", his not-yet-released upcoming album. His passionate delivery of two of those songs, "Dry My Tears And Move On" and "Bathsheba Smiles" was something to behold and I will never forget how he kept the crowd of thousands under his spell with nothing but an acoustic guitar. But I was quite disappointed by the brevity of Richard's set - hard to believe, but the organizers had him on the stage for only twenty-five minutes.

Richard Thompson's set list

Sights And Sounds Of London Town

Bathsheba Smiles

I Feel So Good

The Ghost Of You Walks

1952 Vincent Black Lightning

Dry My Tears And Move On

Richard Thompson

John Hiatt was another huge revelation. In spite of his critical acclaim, I had had some trouble earlier embracing his recorded music, but his live performance that I witnessed at the Greek Theatre changed all that. Exuding joy and power, John made an instant fan out of me, and today, fifteen years later, I still am. I don't have a set list, but I recall "Thing Called Love" and "Cry Love" among the songs he played that night.

John Hiatt

Marc Cohn was yet another unexpected surprise. At the time of the show, I only knew "Walking In Memphis", his first hit, and I only knew it superficially. Marc's super-soulful delivery of that song took me by surprise and I've been a fan ever since.

Marc Cohn

There was no obvious connection between traditional folk music and the set performed by Bela Fleck & The Flecktones, but they were absolutely sensational. Individually and collectively, they were all brilliant. Bela was anything but an attention hog, as he gave plenty of time to his band mates to show what they could do. I was most impressed with bassist Victor Wooten, whose two extended solos brought us to our feet. Their high-tech songs, such as "Communication", were strikingly unconventional, yet instantly enjoyable.

Bela Fleck (2nd from right) & the Flecktones

Fronted by Jeff Tweedy, country-rock outfit Wilco delivered a surprisingly good set. Among others, they played "Christ For President" (music by Jeff Tweedy, words by Woody Guthrie). Wilco was yet another example of an act whose live performance appealed to me a lot better than their studio work.

Wilco's set list

 James Alley Blues

Christ For President

Hesitating Beauty

When The Roses Bloom Again

New Madrid

She's A Jar

Forget The Flowers

California Stars

Wilco

Surprisingly, Joan Baez was not given the honor of closing the show, as I had thought would be the case. Her set included a few songs from the repertoire of much younger artists, such as Ireland's Sinead Lohan and the Indigo Girls, the American folk duo. She also sang "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot". 

Joan Baez

Closing the show, Nanci Griffith delivered an outstanding set that included Richard Thompson's "Wall Of Death", with the author watching from the wings, and an exhilarating rendition of "If I Had A Hammer", which quickly turned into a sing-along. Nanci's performance was exceptionally strong, which made me forgive the organizers for having chosen her as the final act of the evening.

Nanci Griffith

Overall, it was a fabulous evening that opened my appetite for a number of musicians who had previously not connected with me.

Concert #695 - Aoife O'Donovan at McCabe's Guitar Shop (December 14, 2013)

Last night was my third time to see the lovely Aoife O'Donovan in action at McCabe's, but only the first time as a solo performer. Her earlier appearances there with Crooked Still and Ollabelle made a fan out of me, but I must confess that I was less taken by "Fossils", her first-ever full-length solo album. As a result, I showed up at McCabe's with a certain dose of mixed feelings, not really knowing what to expect.

Pronunciation guide: Aoife, an Irish name, sounds like EE-fa, with emphasis on the first syllable. Go figure.


Somewhat surprisingly, Aoife came out without any backup musicians and from that moment on, her gorgeous voice and cheerful personality carried the evening. She opened with a gospel tune that's at least eighty-years old, "Troubled About My Soul", from which she transitioned seamlessly into something newer, the self-penned "Lay My Burden Down", a song also recorded by Alison Krauss. The crowd responded with enthusiasm. The show continued with many songs from "Fossils", interspersed with numbers from other sources, such as Crooked Still's "The Lovesick Redstick Blues" and the traditional "Pretty Polly". She ended her set with "Oh, Mama", also from "Fossils", with full crowd participation. For her one-song encore, she chose to sing Doc Watson's "A-Roving On A Winter's Night". Overall, Aoife's performance last night at McCabe's ranks right up there with the very best I've seen there, and I've seen a few.

Aoife O'Donovan at McCabe's

Throughout the show, Aoife accompanied herself on acoustic guitar. She is not a guitar virtuoso, but her playing did not hurt her either, that's for sure. Funny thing, though: I loved each and every song Aoife sang last night, even the ones whose studio versions failed to initially excite me. After the show, while driving home, I gave "Fossils" another good listen, this time with radically different results. Reconsidering an album after having seen the respective artist in a live setting is nothing new to me and it may have happened to you as well.

Aoife O'Donovan having fun at McCabe's

Aoife O'Donovan set list

The unmistakable star of the show was Aoife's voice, a truly beautiful instrument. Singing seemingly without effort, she kept her audience captive for the entire duration of the show, about 75 minutes in all. There's no one out there who sounds quite like Aoife, and it's more than just the beauty of her voice: equally exquisite is her phrasing. There's plenty of soul and emotion in her voice, even when she brings it down to a whisper, like she often does. I liked her work with both Crooked Still and Ollabelle, but if you want a full helping of Aoife, then you must catch one of her solo concerts.

The evening kicked of with a forty-five minute set delivered by Patrick Park, an American singer-songwriter whom I had not seen before. I liked his guitar playing, there was a lot of variety in his finger-work. I also liked some of his songs, "Holding Hands" and "Blackbird" in particular. On the minus side, I found Patrick's delivery somewhat repetitive, as he used the same vocal and emotional approach to most of his songs.  

Patrick Park at McCabe's

Patrick Park's set list

Aoife O'Donovan (left) chatting with fans after the show

Patrick Park chatting with fans after the show