Ventura Music Hall

X rocking the Ventura Concert Hall

 

 

 

The Ventura Music Hall opened a few months back in the space that once held The Ventura Bowling Center and then Discovery Bowl on Thompson, walking distance from my house. No more bowling, now it's a straight concert/club venue.

A variety of acts have played the venue and are on the upcoming calendar, and I had given serious thought to seeing both Flogging Molly and Bob Mould, but the thought of seeing long time favorites X was just too much to pass up-especially with a ticket price of $25.

The venue itself is pretty nice. Discovery Bowl had cleaned up the bar area in the front, and the bar served a nice selection of local micro-brews. The ceiling, if you get the chance to look up, is an interesting lattice work of wood-the building itself was built during WW II, meaning that there was no steel used in construction.

 

I first saw X in 1981 at the Roxy in Hollywood, and I remember that show was crazy-it scared me a bit. The mosh pit was huge, and I learned how to stand at the edge and push people back in or twist my shoulders to send people flying-whatever was needed. But this crowd looked to be my age or older-X drew an older crowd then the other bands I saw back in the day-and those same people were probably here. That meant that when the mosh pit broke out, it would last about half a song.

Back in the day, even slow songs got a slower moving mosh pit-that didn't happen here. X never liked stage divers, so of course there was none of that in the geriatric crowd that I watched the show with.

The sound mix wasn't great-the vocals were buried. The instruments sounded awesome-Billy Zoom's guitar lines rang true, and you could feel the power of DJ Bonebreak's drumming, but the harmonies make this band, and John Doe and Exene's vocals were low in the mix. The instruments locked into their groove, playing as well as when I saw them in the 80s. The songs from Alphabetland fit in well-the title track sounded like a vintage X song. For whatever it's worth, however, I miss Billy Zoom's Gretsch Silver Jet. He appeared to be playing a Gretsch Country Gentlemen, but I'm not an expert and could be wrong.
 

X does tour with an additional player, Craig Packham, who comes out when Billy Zoom plays the saxaphone or DJ Bonebreak plays the vibraphone. It's obvious, because DJ usually plays more complicated drum parts then the 4/4 that is being played when he moves to vibes.

Check the ceiling woodwork!

Hopefully, the sound mix was an anomaly, though it was a bummer to not get John and Exene's full harmonies. But the venue was good-good site lines all over the house and not too big. I'll see X again when they come through, and I'd happily see people playing at the Ventura Concert Hall.

The Rock Bottom Boys

The Rock Bottom Boys

For reasons that at this time remain somewhat unclear to me, I like bluegrass, Texas swing, and vintage country. I especially like harmonies. I also like fiddle playing, banjos and country yodeling. And I think I have for as long as I can remember.

This is somewhat interesting in that my parents don't care for any of that type of music, and I don't really remember hearing it when I was young except for maybe the Country Bear Jamboree at Disneyland, or the musicians you'd see at Knott's Berry Farm.

I remember Aerosmith and KISS being my favorite bands in middle school, and moving into a whole LA punk rock thing in the late 70's and early 80's-though I did like country-punk band Rank and File

and X's country tribute, The Knitters. Wait, maybe I could have gone country in a different set of circumstances....

When Toy Story 2 came out, I noticed that there was a Woody's Round-Up CD by Riders in the Sky, which I promptly bought for my son, though I played it myself, and then picked up a few other Riders in the Sky CD's as well. I don't think my son cared one way or the other, but I enjoyed them.

A couple of years ago, I picked up Strummin' With the Devil:The Southern Side of Van Halen, which has a bunch of bluegrass bands taking apart their favorite Van Halen songs (David Lee Roth even sings on a few of them), and really liked it.

So two summers ago, as I was strolling across the Ventura County Fair, I heard a rendition of Ozzy Osbourne's Crazy Train that I really liked, and I made my kids stop and listen. They didn't know any of the songs that the Rock Bottom Boys were performing, mostly covers of 60's and 70's FM radio staples in a bluegrass style, but I liked them so much that I bought their CD, It's Only Rock and Roll, which I play once in a while. Good harmonies, and the guys can play.

I missed the Rock Bottom Boys last year, though they were at the fair, and this year I made it a point to watch one of their sets, bribing my kids to listen. They're one of those fair type music acts, with bad jokes and hillbilly costumes that make them more likable. I don't know what happened to the washboard player, but now they added a young guy on mandolin-another instrument I'd like to learn to play as poorly as I do guitar and ukulele. 

This post kind of went around the mountain to just say that The Rock Bottom Boys are fun, and I'm curious as to why they don't throw a few more modern songs in their set. If your walking across some county fair and see them setting up, stop in for a spell and give 'em a listen.

On Turning 50

I started writing this missive back on my 50th birthday in August, but didn't finish. It was in my drafts, and I liked the original thought. I'm trying to remember where I was going in the thought process, though. Almost 4 months have passed, and I'm pretty used to being 50 now. Somehow, I was going to tie it all in to the coffee mug....



Going through one of our cupboards, I came across a Sex Pistols coffee mug that I bought during the Sex Pistols' 1996 reunion tour at the Universal Amphitheatre. It was shortly after my 33rd birthday, and I went with my sister. I remember it being one of the best concerts that I'd ever been to, with Johnny Rotten working the stage like the practiced frontman that he was, and as I think about it, only a few shows have measured up to that. (Johnny Cash at the House of Blues in on 2/26/96, playing a show that featured June Carter, Carlene Carter, Rosanne Cash, and for the encore, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, comes to mind. It was Johnny's 64th birthday). I also remember that my girlfriend was sleeping on my couch when I got home, after letting herself in through a window, which also is a good memory.

I know that somewhere I have a poster, too, but I had completely forgotten about the coffee mug. I'm not sure why I bought it-though I like coffee. I imagine that even then I got the irony of it all. I also now wonder why it isn't a tea cup. The Sex Pistols are very British, and a tea cup, I would think, would be far more appropriate.

While walking my daughter to school last week, a kid skateboarded by with a Black Flag t-shirt on. I saw Black Flag at the Olympic in 1981, and as the kid skateboarded by, I commented to my daughter, who looked to be about the same age, that I saw Black Flag way back when. My thought was that if I were wearing a shirt from a band that was big 32 years prior when I was in, say, high school, that would have meant that I would be wearing a t-shirt celebrating Dinah Shore, Kay Kaiser or Nat King Cole. They are all fine artists, and I own music from Nat King Cole, but I never would have put his face on a t-shirt and worn it to school-no one would have.

Actually, this would make a good shirt!

Elvis died on my 14th birthday. I remember Elvis alive, which now puts me in a minority, my kids only knowing Elvis from impersonators.

Madonna shares my birthday, though she is five years older. She never sends me a card, but I never send her one either.


Continuing the thought, November 29, 2013

I was going to have a huge bash on my 40th, inviting a taco guy and everyone I know, but my house was in the middle of a remodel then, and I don't recall doing much of anything.

And now, more on March 2, 2014

This year, I insisted that we be someplace on my birthday. My two older kids had commitments, and our window for vacation went by in a blink, but I insisted that I didn't want to be at home on my Birthday. Turning 50 at home had no appeal at all to me, because I knew that I would end up doing chores around the house, and I didn't want to be doing chores. My wife managed to hook us up for tickets to California Adventure, and then we went to Vegas, so my youngest and I were strolling the Strip on my 50th, the rest of the family collapsing after dinner at the Harrah's Buffet. We also saw the Mac King afternoon magic show, something that I highly recommend if you have kids and don't want to spend a fortune for a show. He's funny and family friendly, with just enough adult humor to keep everyone entertained.


So on my 50th was spent walking from the Flamingo to New York New York, where we found out that my youngest was still too short to ride the roller coaster. I expected her to have a full on melt down, but actually, she was okay. So we went to the M & M Store, and the Coca Cola store, and with a bag of M & M's and the amazing Coca Cola sample tray.

And it was my youngest that was with me. I don't know what to say about that beyond, I hope it's a good memory for her, because it will always be a good memory for me. And when I turn 60, it's probably be the two of us again.

Roadshow Revival 2013-A Tribute to the Music of Johnny Cash

Roadshow Revival 2013

A Tribute to the Music of Johnny Cash

Ventura County Fairgrounds

June 15, 2013

Walking in

(I started writing this on June 15. It's now July 31, and what I have learned is to break this sort of thing up into two or three entries. 

Here's the short version-I'll most likely attend next year-and most likely my father-in-law will too. The crowd was calm and friendly.

I really enjoyed the Dave Gleason Trio, the Blasters, Junior Brown, Robert Gordon, the Sideshow Preachers, and Zippy Josh. I felt that Alexandria and the Starlight Band was pretty good. I didn't particularly care for the Vonettes or Chris Shiflett.

On the whole, it was a great show. I'll see you all there next year). 

The first question you might ask is, "What exactly does Ventura have to do with Johnny Cash? Isn't he from Arkansas?"

Well, yes, he was from Arkansas and he died in Nashville. But strangely enough, Johnny lived in Casitas Springs, just outside of Ventura, from 1961 until his divorce in 1966. His first wife, Vivian and his four daughters by her stayed in Ventura. His daughters attended St. Bonaventure-Johnny attended all of their graduations, and Johnny did several benefits and other community activities during his time here.

He also accidentally started a 500 acre fire in the Los Padres National Forest, paying a very large fine.

So, if there's a beach town that should be considered for a Johnny Cash festival, Ventura would certainly seem most qualified to hold it-outside of Jamaica, where Johnny also had a home.

Cindy Cash organized the first Roadshow Revival in 2009, and I attended with my daughter in 2010. The 2010 version was heavy on Johnny Cash tribute bands, and brought up the question-how many times can you shoot a man in Reno on the same day? Robert Gordon was the headliner, playing a set that was terrible with Slim Jim Phantom and Jammie James backing him. W.S. "Fluke" Holland, Johnny Cash's longtime drummer was also there and played a set. It was okay, but the vendors and car show was interesting, and it wasn't that expensive.

I missed the 2011 show, which featured X, the Blasters, Kris Kristofferson and Deke Dickerson. I've seen X and the Blasters several times, but in hindsight, would have loved to see Deke Dickerson. I don't think I knew who Deke was in 2011, but I'm very familiar with his work now.

I didn't want to see the 2012 show with Wanda Jackson and Carlene Carter, so I didn't. 

But this year's line-up I was all over. Headlined by Junior Brown, who I've wanted to see for years, with the Blasters and Robert Gordon, I thought this would be perfect for me and my guitar playing father-in-law. He was unfamiliar with Junior Brown and the Blasters, but I knew he would appreciate the fine guitar slinging that both acts bring. Plus, in the ads, Robert Gordon was advertised with Chris Spedding, another hotshot guitarist who Gordon has recorded with several times over the last 30 years, which I thought would lead to a good set.

General Lee

My father-in-law and I have attended concerts together before (Matthew Sweet [see my 7/23/12 post], Social Distortion, Bob Dylan and BB King) over the past few years, and it's always been a good time. After breakfast at the Busy Bee (see my 6/17/13 post), we went to the fairgrounds.

The festival was set up with two stages, with the car show and vendors set up between them. We weren't searched walking in, but the guidelines said that you were allowed to bring in a chair and a bottle of water. Upon entry, I immediately spied the General Lee, and my neighbor, Coy Duke or as he was originally introduced to me, Byron Cherry. Byron let us leave our chairs under his table, and my father-in-law and I headed off to check out the vendors. On a side note, I must be the only person on earth who's never watched an episode of Dukes of Hazzard.

My Complimented Shirt

My shirt received a couple of compliments walking in, including some guy taking a picture of the back, which I thought was pretty cool. Nice to know that I got the dress code correct...

Cash'd Out was on the main (Get Rhythm) stage, but we walked over to the second (Hey Porter) stage, past the parading, tattoo'd Pin-Ups to see the Sideshow Preachers. About 50 people were standing on the lawn listening to the traditional country harmonies that reminded me of 60's and 70's country singers like Tammy Wynette. I don't remember liking that type of sound in the 70's, but found it very enjoyable on this particular Saturday. I'd read about them in the local paper, and if I see that they're playing somewhere, I'd go see them again.

Sideshow Preachers

Later in the day, I saw singer Erika Harding walking, and complimented her set. My father-in-law, who has the ability to strike up a conversation with anyone, picked up the chat, also complimenting her, and then asking questions about her guitar (a Takamine lawsuit, which from a distance I thought was a Guild). She was very friendly, which was kind of refreshing, and which we also would find to be the norm throughout the day.

Back to walking about, I won a t-shirt from the Bail Hotline which actually looked pretty cool, in black with a guitar on the front, and was given a water as well. Lil' Zeke's Bail bonds gave me a pen. I don't think I've ever been to a music festival with competing bail bondsman, and I'm not sure what that says about the crowd. I've never needed a bail bondsman, and hope I never do, but I can safely say that both booths were friendly, so I'm just going to leave it at that.

Alexandra

Back to the Hey Porter stage, Alexandra and the Starlight Band blazed through another 70's influenced set, but this time of the soul sound that fell somewhere between Janis Joplin, Stax Records and Tina Turner. Alexandra is a woman of indeterminate age and indeterminate ethnicity channeling a 70's stage presence that I found fascinating. My father-in-law and I spoke to Alexandra after her set, and I found her to be friendly as she shamelessly flogged her merchandize, and younger than I thought from the stage. Her music didn't quite fit in with the other, more country tinged performers, but it was still good.

I noticed a difference between the two woman performers that we spoke to, which was that Alexandra is trying to make it in the music business, and is very much a driven showperson. Erika Harding eluded to her day job, and gave the impression that she's happy to play music and make some money from it, but isn't looking to be a star anymore-if she ever was. Both women were excellent singers, but in very different styles and attitude.

Moving back to the vendors, I debated the pros and cons of getting a shave while my father-in-law shopped for some pomade. Two different barbers were doing haircuts and shaves, but I opted not to. In hindsight, I should have gotten the shave, and I will next year. My father-in-law selected some Suavecito Pomade, and I probably should have picked up a some of that too.

Though I understand the Christianity was very important to Johnny Cash, we would move from one stage to the other whenever the Pastoral Readings came up. The Pin-Ups had slightly more interest for me, and I think almost any woman in decent shape looks better in a 40's style sundress, but after you've seen one Betty Page, you've seen them all. Plus, I'm not really into the tatted up chicks that were most of the contestants. For whatever it's worth, I thought the Mexican participants could pull the look off better.

Zippy Josh and the Rag Tag Band seemed to have a big local following, with the band carrying on a dialogue with several of the people in the audience. An acoustic three piece that was playing at punk rock speed, they reminded me of a beachside Gogol Bordello mixed with a bit of Violent Femmes. Nice, tight playing and some solid songs.

Vonettes

The Vonettes' Roadshow Revival You Tube promo got me a %10 discount on tickets, and so I felt obligated to check them out. A 60's style girl group, we watched a couple of songs, and I wanted to like them, they were working hard...but it just didn't do it for me. I think what happened was instead of harmonizing, all three were hitting the same note the same way, and so it was just a bit shrill for my tastes. Harmonizing in an outdoor venue can be challenging, and I think they're local, so I'm sure I'll see them again.

The VIP Seating

There was a few minutes to check out the Johnny Cash memorabilia from the collection of Cindy Cash, so we looked at some of Johnny's old stuff.

At this point, my father-in-law and I hadn't watched one act on the Get Rhythm stage. That would change with Robert Gordon.

One of the reasons we hadn't been watching much on the main stage is that there was an area at the front blocked out for VIP's, which kind of sucked. So where you could get up close and personal with the acts on the Hey Porter stage, you had to have paid the extra bills to get a good spot.

Still, I've been listening to Robert Gordon since 1977, when I heard "Red Hot," and the ads had said he was going to be with Chris Spedding, so I knew it was going to be good. But as we walked over, the emcee was asking for Robert Gordon to report to the stage, that he was on in seven minutes.

Uh-oh.

Robert Gordon and John Oliver

Then I looked at the stage, and the guitar player wasn't Chris Spedding, but instead, someone who looked like a dead ringer for The Daily Show's John Oliver-right down to the suit he was wearing.

This wasn't looking good. But the band started playing, and R.G. came on, and all was right with the world. Robert's singing was strong, the band was tight, and unlike the last time I saw him, the set list was prepared. The John Oliver look-alike could play! Good, sharp Telecaster licks which really helped Robert's singing, it was a great set that left me wondering who the backing band was. Late in the set, R.G. confessed that he'd just met the band the night before, but that they were great, and I heartily agreed. No "Red Hot," but a great set none-the-less.

Chris Shifflet/Dead Peasents

Chris Shiflett and the Dead Peasants was a band that I was curious about. Shiflet is the Foo Fighters lead guitarist, and the Dead Peasants are his roots-rock side act. Another group that I wanted to like, but for some reason, they just didn't do it for me. It seemed like the guitars were mixed low, and the sound just wasn't very good. The band could play, but there was something amiss that even after two weeks I still can't quite figure out. My father-in-law wasn't really into them either, so it was back to the second stage, where we discovered....

Dave Gleason Trio-looking like John Oliver!

The John Oliver look-alike! And he could sing, too! It turns out that they were the Dave Gleason Trio, and for me were the discovery of the day! Sounding somewhere in the area of Dwight Yoakum and Buck Owens, Dave put on a rocking set of Bakersfield-country music that was really good. Rocking on the side of the stage was Robert Gordon, checking out his pick-up band and really getting into it. I believe Gleason's wife was hawking his wares at the side of the stage, and I picked up a copy of his cd, Turn and Fade, which I've been playing around the house and really enjoy. Dave's wife said that I could have the cd signed after the set. We also had a brief discussion about the b-bender that gave Dave's playing a country-twang, with me misidentifying the creator as Gram Parsons, and Dave's wife correcting me, that it was in fact Clarence White and Gene Parsons. I was close, though-they were all Byrds.

After his set, Dave's wife handed me a marker and told me to bring it to him, which I did. My father-in-law and I both complemented his set and remarked on his playing with Robert Gordon. Dave graciously said that playing with Robert Gordon was a thrill, and he seemed to be a genuinely nice man. I gave him the marker, and he signed my cd, and then, it was off to see the Blasters.

Surf City Signs

As we walked over, I checked out a trash can that the guy from Surf City Signs was just finishing up. If I had someplace to put it, I've have bought it. No website, but if you like the trashcan, the number is 530-410-2281.

I could go on and on about the Blasters, a band from my hometown of Downey, California and whom I've seen several times in the last 30 years. I can't remember ever seeing a bad Blasters show. I've seen them when the crowd was totally in to them, in various clubs and roots and rockabilly shows around LA, and other times when they were the unwelcome opening act (the Kinks in '85 at the LA Sports Arena comes to mind), and they have always delivered. I saw them in their original incarnation, with Dave Alvin and featuring Lee Allen, and later versions with Smokey Hormel, Jame Intveld, (though not with Hollywood Fats or Steve Berlin) and a few times with this current line-up that features Keith Wyatt (great lessons on You Tube).

the Blasters

The Blasters were already going when my Father-in-law and I walked up, playing a set list that they could have played in 25 years ago, and the crowd was rocking. When you have a core of good songs, you don't have to change much, and the Blasters gave their all. Good to see in the light of singer/leader Phil Alvin's emergency tracheotomy in Spain last June. Phil's voice sounded good, and though some Blaster's fans may find this blasphemous, I think Keith Wyatt is a better player than Dave Alvin.

I though both 4-11-44 and Fun on A Saturday Night (both on eMusic and iTunes) were strong albums and on par with the rest of the Blasters' canon of work, but the band didn't play any songs from those two discs, or if they did, it was before I walked up. I was bummed, but it was only a 45 minute set, and a band with as many quality songs as the Blasters can be excused for a greatest hits outing.

Junior Brown

The show ended with Junior Brown. By this point, it was starting to get cold, with a breeze blowing off the ocean, but Junior came on ready to rock. The guit-steel guitar was placed center stage, and with his 3-piece band, featuring wife Tanya Rae Brown Junior preceded to put on a guitar tutorial. Though ostensibly a country picker, Junior's Surf Medley or his Hendrix covers show he can rip into just about anything on that guit-steel (now you can buy your very own!), grabbing the tuning machines and twisting, using volume pedal swells and cranking dials on his amp. It was a stunning guitar display.

This post has been over a month in the making, so enjoy the pix down below. I finally want to get this posted.

Johnny Cash Stuff

The late Jalopy Joe's personal ride

Jalopy Joe, RIP

I took a ton of pictures, but I don't really feel like putting captions on the following. Shoot me an email if you want me to comment on something. Otherwise, thanks for reading this far.