Fans Flock To Foxfield Four (and more) at The Summit Music Hall - Friday November 9, 2012

they'll pop your socks off
- Photos by Barry King



David James: leader, pop-styled singer-songwriter of the Foxfield Four

  


  













David James bangs on the drum all night



David James is on top of the world
(or at least his piano)

All one had to do to gauge the popularity of each of the four different artists on the roster of The Summit Music Hall on Friday night, November 9, was to check to see how many people left their bar stools or standing spots further back against the walls and crowded into the small space in front of the stage to watch the highly appealing, playful and fun David James, leader of the Foxfield Four. 

James has a poppy style along with being a gifted songwriter, and it was clear that he has a loyal following and fan base who showed up for him last night for a great time.  People closer to the stage were jumping or dancing pogo-stick style up-and-down, arms flailing up over their heads and down again, in unison, keeping time with the energy in the music and in David James.  Others were dancing together, arms around each other, but swaying and moving rapidly as well.  Then more people were standing a bit further back in the crowded space, watching James perform, but no one could keep still, least of all James himself.  He doesn't just sit in front of the piano all night.  The piano can't harness him.  He often bounces up naturally while playing and singing, engaging the other members of the Foxfield Four and his audience as well.  He also will jump up on top of his piano's top at times, and can even play the keyboard backwarrds, as his lanky frame allows him to move to the other side of the piano, and reach over and somehow play the keyboard from that position, with his back to the audience.  How does he do that!  He has so much pent-up energy ready to let loose during a performance that he'll even find time to grab a couple of drum sticks, stand up and bang out that rhythm on a drum along with the drummer, and the rest of his bandmates adding to the percussive combustion that is exploding on stage.



Three of the Foxfield Four

 The appreciation for the Foxfield Four was given up for them by their boisterous fans, who cheered and applauded wildly at the end of numerous numbers.  And why not!  How often do you go out to hear some live music, and what you get is what you've heard so many times before, the standard-issue band, or duo or trio, who, even when they're good, don't really connect with the audience or put smiles on their face, or let them feel the blood increasing circulation in their bodies, where you go home feeling great after one helluva satisfying night?  David James has the flair, wit, intelligence and musical skills to accomplish this, and does.  The Foxfield Four's fans are growing.  Go see them whenever you have the chance.  Lead by David James, they should be a household name and get national attention.  They're that good! - Barry King

 More From The Floor... of The Summit Music Hall ... click on Read More... Jump!

My Old School - A Tribute To Steely Dan - The Walnut Room - Saturday November 3 2012



My Old School at the Soiled Dove Underground - Photo by Monique Jenkins

 



My Old School at The Walnut Room - Photo by Barry King

My Old School - A Tribute To Steely Dan was at The Walnut Room on Saturday night, and they cover a great number of Steely Dan songs that Fagen, Becker and company did in concert last time I saw them, which was during the Think Fast tour in 2008, at Red Rocks.  But the Dan fans My Old School does the original band one better. Make that two better.  Three.  Okay, more.  The reason is that when I saw Steely Dan at the Rocks, there were still so many songs that I wished they had played that they just didn't do.  Fagen seemed to content to concentrate on more of the mellower, jazzy tunes.  That's fine, but there's a lot of great Steely Dan rock numbers too.  My Old School does these songs!  And does them very well!  They rocked out and did the kind of show I wanted to see and hear when I saw Steely Dan.  I finally got my wish fulfilled, thanks to My Old School.  No static at all.

They do very tasty cuts from Pretzel Logic album, like Rikki Don't Lose That Number and the title track, among others.  In their previous Denver appearance at The Soiled Dove Underground, they also did Night By Night too, from that album, and some great selections from The Royal Scam, including Green Earrings, The Caves of Altimira and Kid Charlemagne.  My Old School cover great songs like Dr. Wu, Bad Sneakers and Chain Lightning from the Katie Lied album (all of which were ignored by SD in 2008); and they cover their early work, including Dirty Work and Reelin' In The Years. Plus later SD songs such as Hey Nineteen ("nice!"), Time Out Of Mind and Babylon Sisters.  They also cover songs from the Aja album, including the incredibly difficult title track, with so many changes.  And they do it to a "T".

My Old School's front man is a dead ringer for Steely Dan's front man, and he also sounds like him, which makes the My Old School/Steely Dan experience so much more authentic.  I would like to see My Old School's "Fagen" appear alongside Mr. Fagen himself.  I think it would be great, possibly hilarious, along the memorabe time of when Joe Cocker and John Belushi (as Cocker) appeared side by side, choreographed to perfection, on Saturday Night Live. 

A tip of the hat to everyone else in the band as well: great sax, confident and knows the lines in the songs; the bass player never misses a note, he's the glue that keeps everything together; the drummer plays tight and powerful, and was a joy to watch, especially during that drum part on Aja; also, the keyboard player tinkles the ivories, keeping it together and occasionally throwing in some additional improvisation that works well within the song; great guitar too, both of them play with the fluidity the songs demand (though I will wait for them to tackle something like King Of The World); and we even heard a cool trombone.  Plus, the band has two terrific ladies who do the back-up singing, and even get to take the lead vocals on a couple of songs.  They're great to watch dance too, and they keep things interesting on stage.

I'm hoping they will add some Donald Fagen solo numbers too to their repertoire, like something off The Nightfly, and also Fagen's new one, called Sunken Condos, which was just recently released and is getting great reviews and doing very well on the charts.

Steely Dan sold gazillions of albums back in the day, and Red Rocks was packed when I saw them in 2008.  If you're a Dan fan, do yourself a favor, get out of the house (it'll do you good and you should do it more often!) and see this band!  And I will be going back, to My Old School.

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals - The Fillmore Auditorium - Friday October.26 2012



Grace Potter and the Nocturnals - Fillmore Auditorium, Denver - Photo by Monique Jenkins

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals did an AMAZING concert at The Fillmore Auditorium in Denver on the last Friday night in October, 2012.  I cannot stress enough how FANTASTIC this show was that night.  They rocked out with long, rockin' jams; long, spacey jams; pure rock; gritty blues; country rock; country blues; angelic, spare songs; you name it.  And they soared! Incredible musicianship. 



Grace Potter - Photo by Monique Jenkins



And Grace is a wild woman! She's got the medicine that everybody wants!  At one point, I thought they were coming back for an encore.  That so-called "encore" morphed from one song into another, with a few surprises too, for about a half hour non-stop.  Then they came back and did more songs for an encore!  They more than gave everyone their money's worth, and it was an aural delight that exceeded my expectations.  Wow!  This had to be one of the best concerts of 2012.  It was that good.  I'll see them again next time around, and you should too! - Barry King







Grace Potter and the Nocturnals - Photo by Monique Jenkins