2011

Wanda Jackson feat. Jack White and the Third Man House Band : El Rey Theatre, Los Angeles, CA 1/27/11

While it’s great that people have come around to acknowledge Jackson’s past achievements, Wanda Jackson's January 23rd show at Los Angeles’ El Rey Theatre confirmed that she is still breaking new ground and making a big sound, with a little help from her friends. For 75 minutes, the Queen of Rockabilly and company captured the spirit of early rock n’ roll, but added elements of gospel, western swing, blues and as you’d expect from any band that features Jack White on guitar, a heaviness and bite that could take music of yesterday’s past and make it feel like anything but oldies.

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Cake: The Fillmore, San Francisco, CA 2/16/11

It appears that the market for Cake's finely-crafted music is as strong as ever, as the band quite unexpectedly sold out four nights in a row at the Fillmore.  Not bad for a band that just released their first album in seven years.

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Galactic / Trombone Shorty: Terminal 5, NYC, NY 2.26.11

Cases of Abita and Pat O’Brien’s Hurricane mixed were shipped in to turn the sold out Westside club into the closest approximation of a French Quarter haunt as two New Orleans acts (and friends) brought the jambalaya flavor north.  The night was ‘hosted’ by “The Rent Is 2 Damn High” guy himself, Jimmy McMillian who launched into his catch phrase multiple times to the delight of the fans in attendance.

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Review: Lo, Aaron, Jon & Dan @ Joe’s

Lo Faber and Aaron Maxwell w/ Jon Bevo, Dan Pifer and special guest Jason Crosby @ Joe’s Pub, February 25

Joe’s Pub isn’t exactly like the ramshackle bars and clubs where God Street Wine cut its teeth two decades ago in New York City. Guitarist Lo Faber, who was performing with three of his four GSW band mates at the high-end venue, alluded to the difference after the Borderline opener by mentioning how weird it was to have food served to the tables in front him as he was performing the tune. “They didn’t have food service at the 712 Club,” Faber said before the quartet launched into Thirsty.

[All photos by Vernon Webb]


Over the course of the hour-plus set, Faber, Aaron Maxwell, Jon Bevo and Dan Pifer offered a mix of God Street classics and rarities in front of a crowd filled with family and friends. For most of the show, Maxwell and Faber performed on acoustic guitars as they have for the handful of shows the duo played over the past few months. What made this show different was the addition of Pifer and Bevo.

While the presence, skill and chemistry that GSW drummer Tom Osander brings to the group can never be replaced, those in attendance weren’t focusing on what was missing. Instead, the Winos lapped up the rare opportunity to see the songs they love in such a plush setting.

READ ON for more on last night’s show…

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Friday Mix Tape: The ’80s Rocked

The phrase “’80s music” usually induces cringes and thoughts of hairspray, spandex and synthesizers. And for good cause. So much of the music produced in the ’80s is tremendously forgettable.

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F4tF: Guts to Eat the Guts aka Nose to Tail

By the time most of you read this, I will be seated in a restaurant in Montreal, Canada named DNA for a nose to tail dinner prepared by DNA Chef/Owner Derek Dammann and Chef Chris Cosentino of Incanto in San Francisco.


You are probably wondering how a well known chef from San Francisco winds up in Montreal working with a local chef for his Nose to Tail dinner there.

Every year, Chef Cosentino does a nose to tail meal at Incanto.  On February 25, 2009, he changed how he selected his “volunteers” to help with the dinner and put the following posting on the Offal Good site:

Do you have the guts to help cook Head to Tail?

Which read as follows:

I have decided to do something a little different for this year’s head to tail dinner, inspired by the constant requests for knowledge about how to cook offal. Now’s your chance to learn. I will be accepting 2 volunteers to help with the event this year. You get to come into my kitchen and help cook 2 nights of head to tail dinners. You will work your ass off, have some fun and learn a ton, but there are rules to this game. This offer is open to professional cooks only. You will be an unpaid volunteer. You must commit to working in my kitchen for 5 days, from Friday, March 20th through Wednesday the 25th except for Tuesday, which you’ll have off to recover. You must submit your resume and a short essay on why you should be one of the chosen ones. This is a busy time and I don’t have time to be baby sitting. The Head to Tail dinner is a multi-course menu with a shit load of detailed work..

READ ON for more of this week’s column…

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Video: G. Love – Fixin’ To Die

Earlier this week Garrett Dutton, better known by his stage name G. Love, released his fourth solo album, Fixin’ To Die.  The record takes G. Love’s penchant for the Delta

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Televised Tune: On The Tube This Weekend

Anvil! The Story of Anvil – showing on VH1 Classic tonight at Midnight – tells the story of an obscure Canadian heavy metal band that plays to small crowds across

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Smith Westerns: Dye It Blonde

Smith Westerns is a band with potential and they deserve the opportunity to develop and grow into their sound and style.  However, with the raves coming in hot and heavy for Dye It Blonde, the peak may have crested and the accolades may never be as strong as they currently are.  Here’s hoping the opposite comes true, and the youngsters are given the chance to do even bigger and better things. 

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