Review: 2019-12-28 - Roxy- Los Angeles, CA
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Setlist, Attendance, and Recordings for 2019-12-28 - The Roxy - Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles Night Two! So excited to see this show tonight. But with a rare afternoon to spend exploring the sites I was pumped to check things out. I had gotten a swift jog in post-show last night, don’t ask, I couldn’t sleep, I was ready to hit the town. So turns out we had a bunch of out of town nerds here for the shows and we had LA resident @mdjabber to show us the sights. Met up with @fl-af and collected @tmacd2001 at the illustrious Alta Cienega Motel. The Alta has it all, proximity to West Hollywood running water and a bed. I was a little sketched out about this place until I met my neighbors who all seemed to be going to different shows in the area. Oh, I had said illustrious, and that is because this hotel had been a residence to Jim Morrison back in the day. So there is that.
We ended up heading down to Santa Monica and were going to take in the pier when I noticed that this town was overrun with tourists! Granted it was Holiday break for everyone but it was shoulder to shoulder on the pier and the surrounding areas. We took a stroll and found ourselves in downtown Santa Monica in a cross between Denver’s Avanti and a Mall food court. Great to fuel up for the evening. Sights seen it was time to get ready for the evening’s festivities and the real reason we were in the City of Angels, Spafford.
I ended meeting a few nerds up at the Rainbow Room, which was right next door. I failed to do my research on this place prior to walking in, but it is a piece of Rock and Roll History. I was doing some light reading on this place (Wikipedia) and the place has some interesting history starting in 1972 leading all the way up to modern day when it was introduced on the ballot for the heavy metal hall of fame induction.
Finally got into the Roxy and made myself comfortable, grabbed a frosty beverage and then posted up close to the stage. I made sure that I had my ‘rig’ all set up for everyone, to be honest I cheated. The Roxy has such a large stage and people were putting jackets on stage so I nestled my set up right in front of Red. For those of you on the live stream, this is where you were 'sitting'.
Photo by @stephanieportphotos (Steph Port Photography) for Goldenvoice!
And technically not over the line
Shortly after setup, we get the first song of the night, When it Falls! I really like this as an opener because it really gets me moving and I think that the crowd agreed with me because it looked like everyone got right into this one.
Cantaloupe Island to follow! What? This has only seen the light of day twice prior to tonight. This song again shows what a wide range that these guys have! I’m getting the genre wrong I’m sure but this song has some Calypso elements to it for me before it jumps into a jam.Then came the opening guitar for The Postman, Brian leading down this long meandering original jam. Such a classic tune and defiantly a classic. If I’m remembering things correctly, it was during this jam that I saw Brian and Red exchanging glances and smiles while they tried to figure out what direction that they wanted to take the song. It was really interesting to see how these guys develop these jams up close and personal. Now I get why so many of you want to be right up front rail riding.
Catfish John by Johnny Russel followed that signature ending of Postman. This is one of those songs, where I need to ask the band someday how they found this, or how they decided to cover this. They have truly made it their own and then orchestrated an amazing jam to add to the end. Give the original a listen sometime to hear what I mean.
People to close out the second set? Yes please! Nick sets the pace and everyone jumps in behind him. Such a cool Jam and that seems to be the theme of the night, jams. Well they are a jam band and all but seriously tonight is super jammy.
After a brief intermission we were treated to Comfortable. Making it’s debut this year it has found itself in pretty heavy rotation. I really like the lyrics to this one. I can imagine chuck sitting in the tour bus writing the lyrics to this one, but that is just my opinion man. Now they didn’t segue into Mind's Unchained, and they didn’t take a break between songs, but Nick kept time with what I’m going to guess is his timber. It took me and the crowd until Brian dropped the opening guitar licks that we knew what we were in store for. I do believe that this jam proves my point that they were going to take everything on an extended jam. This is a lot of fun and I find myself just swaying back and forth to this one throughout.
Photo by @stephanieportphotos (Steph Port Photography) for Goldenvoice!
The band gave us a second to breathe before they jumped into Lovesick Melody! This song has one of my favorite beginnings to a song. It’s like they wind the crowd up to get down! Such a funky dance number for me I always love it when they bring this song out and take it for a spin! Just when you thought that the band was gonna let you off easy and catch your breath, they start picking up tempo and segue us into Soil! Having made its debut just 2 New Years prior this song is fast becoming a staple at their shows.
A quick breather and then, wait is that, yup the unmistakable opening to Virtual Bean Dip! I love how the band plays with tempos, getting us going and then letting us come back down! I know sometimes I reference other shows or give you some random fact about songs, well here is one for you. This song made its debut at my first ever Spafford show back in 2014. Such a great jam and one of those that seems everyone takes the lead on at some point. Then just when you thought you had it figured out, what corner they were going to turn next, they change course yet again and take you in the direction of Mad World! Such a cool tune and another great tune to just jam out too. Please go give this a listen you can almost feel the guys pushing a little harder on this version, you’ll hear it.
Ohh LA our 2 nights has come to almost a close. A brief set break I prepare for the final song of the evening and boy am I not disappointed, Double Time. The gents sure know how to whip the crowd into a frenzy and they take every advantage during this encore. This had us all dancing and craving just one more song but to no alas, the gents took their curtain call and thanked us for coming. Thank you Spafford and we will see you soon at my favorite show, the next one.
Thanks Nicole for taking the picture. I tried to get one last night but didn't pull it off. And yes it was Caturday.
My favorite Stafford show is the next one. Hope to see you there. #killingit
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@mccuem Doooooooood.
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Am I in that pic?
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Night 2 at The Roxy.. SO GOOD!!!! Soundcheck was FIRE too and they didn't let up all night!
