Dave Stewart and Friends- The Roxy Theatre, Hollywood, CA 12/8/14 (SHOW REVIEW)

Dave Stewart, the mercurial English rock guitarist best known as half of one of the most successful pop duo’s of the 1980’s, the Eurythmics, brought another magical night of music to Hollywood on December 8th at The Roxy. Stewart has been a regular fixture in the Hollywood music scene over the last several years, playing numerous jam sessions in the most prestigious small venues around town including The Troubadour, Roxy, El Rey Theater and the Ricardo Montalban Theater. Billed as Dave Stewart and Friends or the Dave Stewart Rock And Roll Circus, the extended jam sessions always feature surprise guest singers, which in the past have included Joss Stone, Pink, Ringo Starr and Marilyn Manson to name a few. But the well known singers that join Stewart on the stage are just part of the musical magic that the self proclaimed Ringmaster creates. The shows also include a phenomenal band of veteran sessions musicians that Stewart put together to create several albums at the Nashville studio owned by John and Martina McBride- the Blackbird Studios.

The Hollywood shows have even included the Lucha VaVoom alternative circus, featuring masked Mexican wrestlers, burlesque dancers, and acrobats. The shows also showcase new talent from the stable of performers that Stewart produces. The marathon concerts, with tickets never costing more than $25.00, are all unique and truly astounding musical events, each in their own right. The shows feel even more special in the light of the immense success of Stewart in undertakings ranging from film and television production, music production, author, director, photographer, filmmaker, and philanthropist. This past year, Stewart appeared on the 50th anniversary television special honoring The Beatles first appearance on the Ed Sullivan show, alongside Annie Lennox, in a Eurythmics reunion. He also filled the Hollywood Bowl for three consecutive nights this past summer, doing concerts honoring the 50th anniversary of The Beatles performance at the Bowl.

In this light, the show at the legendary little Roxy nightclub on the Sunset Strip seemed all the more special. The evening began with an opening set, by 16 year old Hollie Stephenson. Stewart is managing the young English blues singer, who is set to release her first album shortly. The fresh faced London youngster led a crack R&B band, singing with passion belying her youth. It may be disingenuous to compare the young singer to the late Amy Winehouse, but the comparison is inevitable and indeed the young singer, belts out genuine blues laments similar to Winehouse in style and substance. The singer and the band played a rousing forty-five minute set of crisp bluesy rock music that set the mood for the phenomenal night of music.

After a short intermission, the Ringmaster  himself took the stage with a nine member ensemble of his veteran Nashville musicians and singers. Stewart led the band through an explosive 18 song set, rocking hard right out of the gate. The guitarist played several of his cherished axes, with a unique nuance given to each instrument. His collection included a Fender Stratocaster, a Dusenberg, and an acoustic Takamine among others. Several songs into the set, Stewart brought out the first guest of the evening, yet another member of his management stable, Molly Tuttle.  She sang a duet on two songs with Stewart before the band took a break and let her perform two solo songs. Her singing talents were paired with an exquisite bluegrass picking style on acoustic guitar.

The band returned for a few songs before Stewart introduced the second guest singer of the night, Lindsey. The young Louisiana man with a small stature and a huge voice astounded the crowd with his blues drenched vocal skills. The young singer is involved in Stewart’s latest recording project, simply titled Stewart and Lindsey. The recordings by the duo feature classic Blues, Gospel, and Soul music with an English rock boost. Remarkably, Lindsey’s voice is eerily similar to Stewarts ex partner in the Eurythmics, Annie Lennox.

After several roof raising songs off the yet to be released recording, Lindsey left the stage and Stewart took a moment to offer up an anecdote to the crowd. He told the story of how “34 years ago to the day, we had been on a plane leaving Australia when the engine caught fire and the aircraft had to return to the airport. The plane landed safely, but when the band entered the terminal we received the news that John Lennon had just been shot in New York”. Sadly it was the anniversary of Lennon’s death, so Stewart and the band played an emphatic cover to mark the occasion. The band returned to a more upbeat mood and the young Stephenson returned to the stage to take over lead vocals, while the other guest singers joined the back-up singers to create a gospel choir. She was replaced by the final guest singer of the evening, Dave Stewarts’s daughter Kaya.

The young singer has greatly matured both physically and vocally since her appearance at the Troubadour, last year. The final two songs of the evening, both Eurythmics classics, were sung first by one of the back up singers, who Stewart introduced as a veteran singer who used to back up the Talking Heads, in a guitar drenched version of “Would I Lie To You.” Kaya returned to sing the lead on the final song a jam version of “Sweet Dreams” featuring solos by tremendously talented musicians, including the seductive violinist, Anne Marie Calhoun. It was another magical night of astounding music unique to the Ringmaster and his own musical circus.