Just a reminder, Hotel Cafe on Cahuenga Blvd. in Hollywood Sat. Feb. 28 (tonight) at 10 PM.

Just moved to LA two days ago and this'll be my first West coast CR gig. Can't wait to hear what's been going on.

As advertised, it was Common Rotation and the Dustbowl Cavaliers, plus Jillinda Palmer and Larry Kim, all together on the Hotel Cafe stage. This could have wound up like a musical version of a frat-pledge activity where students see how many people can cram into a phone booth (it's a relatively small stage), but they all made it work.

The set began with Eric solo on acoustic guitar singing, very powerfully, "Don't Want to Die Alone," which he introduced as "a love song I wrote to my band."

Adam joined Eric on stage for the frisky, acoustic-guitar version of "True Hollywood Romance," with Adam contributing expressive hand gestures.

Jordan then came on with his trumpet for "Surround Face (Drown Me Out)," which was very jazzy and lively, with the trumpet and vocals kind of intentionally dueling in places.

"I'll Be Waiting for You" got a sturdier-than-usual rendition, with Mark McConville on steel pedal guitar, Adam on glock, Jordan on a warm trumpet. Eric and Mark really made individual notes ring for emphasis.

The stage filled up for "How To Lose," with Matt Young on stand-up bass, Jillinda Palmer on accordion, Ryan Raddatz on mandolin, Chris Krishbaum (? I think?) on drums, Mark taking on electric guitar for "How To Lose," which had a very percussive, rhythmic and wailing wall-of-sound effect.

Mark stayed on electric guitar for "Let Me Die With My Trumpet in My Hand," with Jordan on banjo, Eric on acoustic guitar and back-up vocals and Adam on lead. With all the additional instruments in there, it had a very rich sound.

"Union Maid" absolutely wailed. John Rosen played banjo, Chris was on drums, Adam was on harmonica, Jillinda on accordion, Jordan was on trumpet, Mark on pedal steel guitar and Larry Kim on sax, Eric on acoustic guitar and Adam and Eric singing lead. It had a crazy, crowd-cheering huge outtro.

"Everything Under the Sun" had Adam on harmonica, Jordan on trumpet, Mark on pedal steel, Ryan on harmonica, Matt on bass. Chris' drumline was very strong throughout, and Matt's bass kicked in dramatically on the second verse. There was careful string work on the chorus, and Eric mildly tweaking the melodic vocal line.

Ryan took the piano for "No Love at All," with Jordan on banjo, Adam and Eric trading lead vocals, Corey Rouse coming up for backup vocals, Larry Kim back on sax. Jillinda had a huge accordion highlight on the bridge and Adam wailed harmonica on the outtro.

There was an exuberant cover of "I'm Your Puppet," with Adam on sax, Jordan on trombone, Adam and Eric on lead vocals, with Corey and Matt each taking a bridge verse. Everybody seemed to be reveling in the big, old-time rock sound and having a blast.

"My Kingdom" had Jordan on banjo, Adam on harmonica, Ryan on piano, Matt on bass, Mark on pedal steel. The drums and piano made a really big splash on the bridge -- the use of piano instead of autoharp created a sound that was a little gentler but also larger.

"Bitter Honey" literally shook the room, with Chris on drums, John Rosen and Jordan both on banjo, Mark on electric guitar, Ryan on piano, Adam on harmonica, Larry Kim on sax, Corey on backup vocals, Jillinda on accordion, Matt on bass and Eric on acoustic guitar and lead vocals. It was just stunning.

Then the Dustbowl Cavaliers -- Matt, Mark, Ryan, Corey, Chris and John -- had their own set, which was some wonderful finger-flying, rabble-rousing material.

Finally, the off-mike number, with everybody, was the old song "Will the Circle Be Unbroken," with Adam on harmonica and Eric without guitar, just singing. Mark was on acoustic guitar, Ryan on mandolin, Corey on acoustic guitar, Jillinda or accordion, John on banjo, Matt on bass. It sounded great.

And that's the set report.

Shapenew

a show! a full bodied perfect sounding wonderful (frisky!) show! and with Surround face too! Grateful for the words. Envious beyond them!

Thanks for the report, Shapenew. Lucky you to get all those musicians packed onstage.