I went and saw Junior Brown open for Cowboy Mouth Last Friday, the 8th in Santa Ana. I didn’t know. I am sorry. I should have been seeing him ALL this time and I didn’t. What a MISTAKE! If you ever get a chance to see him play live, you MUST! His band is tight, his songs are classic old time-y country 3 minute jobs but all include a little guitar magic in each song. He is so good!

The Walter Michaels Band opened up and they were like a combo between Skynyrd and Shooter Jennings without any good songwriting. And not as good playing. BUT, they were a good little band and they got the party started with original sounding Southern Rock. They weren’t bad at all and at the right show, they could be darn right honky tonk fonk. Then Junior Brown came on and tore the roof off. I have no idea why he wasn’t the headliner. When Cowboy Mouth, the headliner came on, it almost seemed  dopey by then. They are from New Orleans and try to bring that party to every show. They try way too hard and end up sounding not authentic and more like a fraternity Mardi Gras party band. Terrible. They sucked and I left after 5 embarrassingly weak tunes with expressions like “Boy Orange County really knows how to PARTY!” thrown in between. Oh, they also threw out like 4 sets of Mardi Gras beads into the audience just in case you didn’t get that they were there to throw a party….ugh.

So, WHY was Junior Brown even there? He likes the party. I am sure it is exposing him to new crowds and will help him grow more. Maybe. HE is an outstanding entertainer and an extraordinary guitar player. He plays what looks like a Fender Telecaster with a lap steel guitar attached to the bottom. But, it really seems like one big chunk of wood. He plays both with aplomb and in many tunes we are treated to him shifting between the two seamlessly while maintaining an excellent rhythm and singing. He has a deep and clear cowboy voice which goes perfectly well with his mostly country and rockabilly leaning tunes. He has several albums out and all are available still so, pick one up and you won’t feel ripped off. I got one on Amazon for 6 bucks!Anyway,his whole band wear suits and he wears a 20 gallon hat. My buddy says he has a separate flight case just for the hat. No joke.

He is almost a virtuoso on that guitar and sounds like a mix between Billy Gibbons and Don Rich. He really gets it going and the chicken pickin’ just takes over. His lap steel prowess comes forward when he makes that thing sing and cry  and his little trio sounds like a full country juggernaut throughout his show. He does his own tunes and then will throw in medleys that are all instrumental and will range from 6 surf songs in a row to a bunch of blues and rock numbers. It almost peels your head back he is so good and he makes it look almost effortless. But you KNOW he’s workin’ hard up there. His normal drummer was replaced by a younger kid this time and the bass player and him really held it down allowing Junior to SHINE! Which he did. I wish he played all night. I will DEFINITELY be seeing that show again and I hope I will see y’all there too!

PS: The “artsy” photo was taken as an experament with the advice of photographic guru Chase Jarvis:

http://www.switched.com/2009/12/18/chase-jarvis-best-camera/

YES I DID see Ice Cube this last weekend. I know I am not a kid anymore. I know I am not representing the thug life that I once threw down for. But, it was so close, and I had never been to The Grove in Anaheim. And it was CUBE! He is an icon in the entertainment industry. He has gone WAY beyond gangster rap and come out with all kinds of dopey flicks that number almost equally with the good ones. In fact, his acting career has made some suspect about his ability to “keep it real” and still be able to rock the house like he has always been known to do.

Well LET ME TELL YOU this was NO different. I saw him 10 years ago when I lived in SF and this was JUST as high energy, JUST as powerful and JUST as gangster as it was back then. He has been at it a while now, so the sound was perfect, the vocals were clear and dead on…no forgetting all his songs like that crappy Tribe Called Quest (they are far and AWAY the worst rap act to see live ANY time HANDS DOWN). Also, Cube bucks the rap world by actually coming out close to on time (even with 4 no name openers going at it) and playing for more than 20 minutes. In fact, it was close to an hour and a half! He was a true professional while really giving it the hard gangster rap show. The crowd was TOTALLY into every minute and he played it to a real strength making the show just BLASTING with power!

He played all the hits including Check YoSef, Today was a Good Day, Gangsta Gangsta (NWA!!!) Bop Gun, You can Do It, and songs from his long history of putting out some of the best rap in the history of the genre. He was giving shout outs to The Westside the entire time and his caller or back-up guy was infamous rapper and member of the Westside Connection, Dub C (also a true talent on his own particularly noteworthy is his album ‘Curb Servin’) which only added to the power of the Westcoast Gangster flavor. He also had the Dj (DJ Crazy Tunes) play mixes of tunes from the 80s and then would say “Wait a minute, I had a hit in the 80s too…” and bust into a wicked version of one of his hits and also did that for the 90s. It was great fun.

The place was loaded with Vatos, Essays, hoods and gangsters of all creeds and colors. I think Cube and I were the only ones in there with gray in our beards but you know what? We both are still full on Westside OGs!!!! Oh and sorry for the terrible iPhone photo in the dark. S’all I got!?!?!