The Kurzweil keyboard is the signature instrument used by one of the best boogie woogie pianists in the northwest. Robert Lee Mitchell is the preferred keyboard partner for many alt. and country bands in the region. He was playing in all three bands tonight. I was a little surprised of this happening but I shouldn't have been. It's like this; you just got a bottle of really good scotch. You could have a wee dram, maybe two. But wouldn't it be better to invite some pals over and enjoy the whole bottle? As long as they had him up there on stage, might as well take advantage of his monstrous talent.
Here is Robert Lee with The Annie Ford Band.
Here Robert is with The Andrea Peterman Band.
And here is Bob with Los Caballos Locos.
They all made very good use of him tonight. I imagine it is pretty easy; make a little room and let him go. He was most excellent tonight, an awesome piano player.
There was a pretty good crowd tonight, this evening brought the promise of great country. I had seen Annie Ford before and loved her. I have her CD and listen all the time. I was looking forward to seeing her again. Here is a link to a review of the last time I saw them: http://liveseattlemusicintheclubs.blogspot.com/2012/11/davidson-hart-kingsbery-and-annie-ford.html
They were on first. The Annie Ford Band is: Annie Ford on fiddle, banjo and lead vocals, Robert Lee Mitchell on keyboard (sitting in this evening), Olie Eshelman on steel guitar, bass and 6 string, Ivan Molton on Saxamophone and bass, Mathew Manges on drums and Tim Sargent on banjo and 6 string.
Here is Olie playing his beautiful 6 string.
Annie has a great voice and writes some wonderful music. They played mostly originals but did a great cover of Wynone Harris' great tune, Don't Roll Those Bloodshot Eyes at Me at the end of their set. She is also multi-talented playing 3 instruments tonight.
The band played some kicking tunes, great solos coming out of every amp. Here is Ivan rocking the bass.
Ivan was also multi-talented, playing 3 different instruments and singing vocals tonight. Here he is playing the stand-up bass.
He pulled out the woodwind to great applause at the end of the set.
Olie played bass when Ivan picked up the sax, but I love Olie when he is sitting down.
You can see Matthew in back playing some awesome creative percussion. Scott the sound tech at Darrells mentioned that it was an all-star cast tonight. He was not joking, there were some talented and skilled artists in the house tonight.
Annie is a killer performer and a lot of fun to watch. She has an easy going manner and carries on a friendly conversation with her mates and the audience. Here she is, fiddling around again.
This was good fun, everybody in the place was into the music and gave big applause after every tune.
Robert was playing his usual excellent stuff. He had one hand on the keys the other on the magic-box (just my guess of what it does, I don't really know).
They were playing happy music; toe tapping american music. Robert's honky-tonk style is the perfect sound for this band.
You can connect with Annie and her partners here: http://www.anniefordband.com/band.html and see her on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Annie-Ford-Band/174468215954247?fref=ts
They were off the stage all too soon, but there were good things ahead. Here is Annie and the band rocking one more time.
Robert was back with a new set of musical partners. There was another treat in store for the kiddies. Kelly Van Kamp was sitting in on drums. He is an awesome drummer, vocalist and personality best known for his work in The Dusty 45's. He stays busy also in bands like The Jukehouse Hounds and The Jerkels. He just loves to play music. I was really happy to see him mount up.
The Andrea Peterman band was up next. This was a dynamite collection of musicians. The guitar power was massive. Country muisc that is; rootsy tunes about drinking heavily, breaking hearts, and moving on.
Here is Gary Westlake and Andrea cranking up.
Here is Justin, Travis and blazing in the country way.
This is the line up for tonight as far as I can tell; Gary Westlake on guitar and mandolin, Keith Ash on bass, Justin Davis on guitar, Kelly Van Kamp on drums, Robert Lee Mitchell on keys and Brigitt Rains (from the Swearengens) on vocals.
You can connect with Andrea here: http://www.andreapeterman.com/index.html
What you gonna do when the sun goes down baby? Andrea sang wonderful original tunes with passion.
The band was tight and skilled. The guitars were amazing, the volume had definitely gone up in the bar. The solos coming out of Gary and Justin were hazardous.
They played beautiful tunes and sang some great harmonies. They got quiet, playing lovely solos. But I liked them best when they picked up the tempo.
Oh Lord have mercy on me, Andrea pleaded.
Brigitt added a lot, she has a great voice and sang some sweet harmonies with Andrea.
Kelly had the mallets out tonight. He is always fun to watch. It is too bad he wasn't adding vocals tonight as he has a great set of pipes.
Robert got to show off on a couple tunes adding his great honky-tonk styling on the keys.
They played long and lonesome tunes, most slow and lovely. The harmonies were amazing. Andrea is an awesome writer and a compelling performer.
There was always room for great guitar though. Here is Justin playing out his childhood fantasies.
Annie joined them for a tune or two. The fiddle always adds a lot to the mix. An authentic, traditional ingredient.
Andrea presented great country music with an all star cast. She is a terrific writer and a marvelous performer to boot. I am sorry I didn't get better pics as I had my camera pushed a little too much for the hot light.
Did I mention the killer guitars? The good news was that the next band was going to include most of the same great musicians.
Los Caballos Locos is a Neil Young tribute band. As previously mentioned, Los Caballos Locos included some of the same offenders from Andrea's band. Here is Keith rocking the bass.
Justin and Gary were jammin'. This was heavy, psychedelic and loud. Neil Young on a good night, before he got straight. Neil would be proud.
Robert was back behind the mighty keys, but we had a new drummer. Their Facebook page lists him as Shawn Zeller. But Justin, Tim, Gary were a reoccurring phenomenon.
Keith sang vocals during this set. They performed some awesome Neil Young tunes with an original and very heavy touch.
The music is already gold, Neil and especially with his band Crazy Horse made some beautiful music. Los Caballos Locos performed some screaming renditions of Neil's best stuff.
Shawn is in back keeping the beat and driving this killer band.
Ears were bleeding at this point. The band was giving it a ten, pity the faint of heart.
The line-up was awesome. I had not seen these guys before and I was slammed with their wall of sound.
They did some great vocals, Keith and Gary made some sweet music together.
I mentioned to my buddy that the bar seemed to be getting fuller. It was close to midnight and folks were still coming to see live music. They were also coming to play pool. Here is a pic of Adam Bruno playing billiards and listening to the great bands. He plays trumpet and trombone for The Georgetown Orbits and other bands.
I loved their brand of entertainment. The cascading waves of guitars and keys, mixed with the bottom of the bass and percussion was earth-shaking. I did leave before the last couple tunes as my tympanic membrane had been shredded and tinnitus was the prognosis.
The description on their Facebook page says it all: Loud Guitar Jams. Uh, yes and so much more. You can see them here. https://www.facebook.com/LosCaballosLocos
Thanks to Dan and Scott at Darrells for presenting consistently great live music in a clean, friendly and comfortable environment. Thanks to Damian, Jenna and the the rest of the great staff for all the tasty adult beverages and TLC. See Darrells here: http://www.darrellstavern.com/
See some live music soon. You can't get this experience listening to a CD.
