Tues July 20th - Spacehog - Key Club - Hollywood

The Hog ripped it up - even after a long delay the Hog delivered a powerful set of Power Pop with an Art Rock edge. After rocking thru many of their classics; In the meantime, Space is the Place, Mungo City and Zero - the boys reworked a number from Royston's solo career, Cool Water. The song starts off slow and builds as it picks up speed and volume. When it reaches the last few measures it strains to reach Anthem Rock status before dropping from the Frenzied Peak into a Cool puddle.

Friday July 16th - Johnny Mastro & Mamas Boys - Blues Cruise

After racing to catch the Blues Cruise out of Alamitos Bay Landing - life's perspective seemed to change at the specific moment I stepped onto the Boat -leaving solid ground behind seemed to change the gravity of life bearing down on you, to floating along and riding the wave.

It wasn't long before good got better - as I was handed an Ice Cold Heiney and a down home welcome by Johnny and Jimmie Lee.

Once the boat left the dock the band began to play..... throwin down a nice variety of tempos they sailed along thru numerous songs, several off their new album Beautiful Chaos.

After a short break Johnny Mastro and Mamas Boys delivered us back to shore. Rocking and Grooving and providing the engine that drove us home.

Thursday July 15th - Ben Lee, Brothers & Ry Cumming - Santa Monica Pier

The best decision of the evening was to go early - although my 2nd choice of taking the #1 bus almost reversed that - feet to sand occurred @ approx 7:20pm. After landing a pretty choice spot and securing it with a large sheet and some beach chairs, Gary B. and I settled in for some tasty Apricot Margies. As Ry Cumming filled the air with some great sounds the crowd filled in around us.

Brother - an interesting mix of Styles and instruments played next, and kept rotating between Digeredoo, bagpipes and some more traditional options. For a 3 piece they rocked well beyond there numbers.

Ben Lee took the stage next and in my opinion chose the wrong songs to take over the helm after two acts that gradually built the jam up to a solid foundation. In a small crowd the songs would have gone over huge but in a setting like the Twilight Dance series - his low key selections could barely be heard over the growing crowd.

He did manage to pick things up a few times and get the crowds attention - if it weren't for the talent of the two opening acts - the evening might have fallen short of musical enjoyment, but all things considered when the price of admission is free - you can't expect that every show will rock from start to finish. A fun time was had by all and this show marked the 1st beach party con Tiki Bar of the 26th Twilight Dance Series season.

Sunday July 11th - Pie ala mode - House of Pie

This was the true encore to the Steve Miller and Los Lobos show - 4 kinds of Pie at the House of Pie in Los Feliz. Blueberry Pie ala mode, Strawberry pie with custard and whipped cream, Banana Creme Pie and Apple Pie ala mode for dessert.... oh no wait it was all dessert so I guess it was the nightcap.

Sunday July 11th - Steve Miller and Los Lobos - Greek Theater, LA

Steve Miller is the kinda musician that you know every song and can sing pretty much all the words to them. When he tours in LA he pretty much plays the obscure places like the Orange County Fair or the Glass House in Pomona. When I saw he was playing the Greek my interest was piqued. After hearing a new song of his on the radio - I was even more interested in checking him out. When the mysterious text came in early Sat - Would I be interested in $5 tix for Steve Miller on Sunday the trigger was pulled.

With just a few hours to pull together a crew - Wally, MB and the Polish Prince joined the party and after a stop at Bay Cities deli and some creative sandwichery from Larry behind the counter we made our way over to Griffith Park and the Greek.

After a stop at the "Bar" we made our way to the seats as Los Lobos kicked things off. They continued to play many of their best songs and sounded like they were having as much fun as their hometown crowd - short of downtown at the Staples or Dodger Stadium and Chavez Ravine there probably isn't a venue closer to their East LA roots.

Kiko and the Lavender moon, La Bamba and a medley of Good Lovin and Bertha where the highlights of their set.

When Steve Miller took the stage the sun had pretty much set and he brightened things up with his effortless playing.

Due to the size of his past catalog there wasn't time to play every song you wanted to hear but admittingly when he came back for his encore and asked the crowd for requests I couldn't think of a song he hadn't played yet.

Crazy Bout my Mercury
Cash ain't nothing but trash and
Wide River - there 3 songs that he didn't play

Friday July 9th - The Wailers - Hollywood Park Racetrack

After breathing in the smells of the track we were transported to Jamaica or a local dispensary or perhaps a combination of the two. The Wailers were burning it up on stage while it seemed just about everyone in the crowd was burning as well. With Family man Barrett anchoring the lineup the band revisited many of the clssics that put them on the map when Bob was at the helm.

In what was my last show of the summer season at HP - the groove was the perfect end to a fun season of music and betting on the Ponies.

Thursday, July 8, - Konono No. 1 - Santa Monica Pier

For someone who was not familiar with Bazombo trance music - I kinda liked it...... the Peach Margaritas helped with the translation, sort of.

To kick off the 26th season of the Twilight Dance series I decided to venture up to the Pier and witness the LoFi vibe of Konono NO. 1 1st hand.

While the music was new to me the groove was not and although the weather had been a bit lacking during the day the night turned into the perfect setting for some live music under the stars and the rumble of the Pacific Park coaster.

After the show we meandered over to Rusty's for some great music by the Fudogs - an act I would love to see again

Fri July 2nd - The Tubes @ Brixton South Bay

The Tubes came to entertain and they certainly did not disappoint. The musicianship would have been enough to satisfy most of the crowd, but when Fee Waybill takes the stage he intends on making a Visual impact in addition to the Aural one he orchestrates as the charasmatic frontman.

Though there were a few numbers that this mild mannered fan didn't recognize the dozen or so songs that were from four score and twenty years ago delivered a groove that could prosper in any decade since or current.

Fee takes on several personalities throughout the show - culminating in Quay Lude - afterwhich there is no turning back.

Thursday July 1st - We are Devo D E V O.....

After a night of bettin on the ponies the only thing that wold fit as the cap for the evening was the blue cap or engery cap or flower pot that DEVO made popular many years before. After several new songs the band switched it up and layed down a few classics to keep the crowds interest. After Whip it, Peek a boo and Satisfaction - the price of admission was almost paid....... Girl you know and Secret agent man and all bets were off.....

Weds 6/30 Rocky Dawuni at the Waterfront Theater - Marina Del Rey

Rocky and the Gang - set the night afire with the rhythms and horns that bridge traditional Reggae with the African Variety.

The supporting musicians all kept up with Rocky as he Marched around the stage rallying the crowd to stir it up and catch what he was putting out there.

Sunday June 27th Main Street Summer Soulstice

Sunday brought with it a beautiful day and around 3pm we ventured down to Main St and caught the last half of Killing Cassanova while enjoying Mango Margaritas on the lawn of the SM Heritage Musuem.

Next up was Dr. Wu down the road at edgemont plaza - a good crowd had gathered and we waited, and waited and waited for Dr. Wu to start and when they finally did it was great, at 5:20pm a switch over to Stone Soul was in order.

Stone Soul layed down there usual Soulful Set and got the crowd up dancing.

Next stop was the Brad Ummel Band who surprised us all with a very skilled set