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The name Fred Walecki might not mean much, if anything at all, to music fans, but on Tuesday at the Santa Monica Civic, Walecki was responsible for a night of music history that saw two different eras of the L.A. singer-songwriter community come together on one stage. David Crosby, Chris Hillman and Roger McGuinn played live together in an impromptu Byrds reunion for the first time since their induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1991.
The owner of family-run music equipment store Westwood Music,
Walecki was recently struck with throat cancer, resulting in the
loss of his vocal cords. To help him pay the costly medical bills,
his friends -- including Jackson Browne,
Bonnie Raitt, Linda Ronstadt
, Don Henley, Warren
Zevon, Crosby, Graham Nash, Emmylou Harris
and Spinal Tap, among others --
arranged to play a two-night benefit. The nearly four-hour show,
broken down into two halves, had each segment featuring a mainstay
to tie it all together. For act one, the unifying thread was, not
surprisingly, Jackson Browne, who clearly remains the dean of
Seventies singer-songwriters. After brief sets by former
Eagle Randy Meisner and one-time Men at Work
frontman Colin Hay (definitely the odd man out in this lineup, but
who gave a valiant performance), Zevon took the stage, accompanied
by Browne.
In addition to being the first performer to really energize the
crowd, Zevon stood out for being the first artist of the night to
present new material, as opposed to obvious back catalog hits. He
turned to his excellent, and grossly underrated, new album
Life'll Kill Ya' for the moving "Fistful of Rain," with
Browne providing harmonies. They then teamed up for a rambunctious
version of "Johnny Strikes up the Band," which Zevon introduced by
saying, "This one's for Fred especially."
Zevon then left the stage, leaving Browne up there for his solo
set. Immediately, some buffoon from the audience called for "Late
for the Sky," but Browne ignored the calls, as he would throughout
his too brief three-song set. Instead, he focused on more recent
material, such as Looking East's "Baby, How Long" and "The
Next Voice You Hear," the title track from his 1997 greatest hits
collection. Interestingly, the two most popular Browne songs of the
night were both sung by other people, with Raitt taking "My Opening
Farewell" and Ronstadt booming out "For a Dancer." Displaying his
musical generosity, Browne constantly forsook the spotlight to let
other musicians have their moment. In particular, he pointed
repeatedly to the dazzling Ry Cooder, whose
guitar prowess left even Raitt speechless. After she and Browne did
an acoustic version of "My Opening Farewell," she closed the first
half with a gritty set that included "Thing Called Love."
Crosby, Browne's counterpart in the second half, kicked off his
round in style with longtime collaborator Nash. The duo weaved its
way through a pleasing four-song set that culminated in a forceful
"Wooden Ships." The show-stealing Spinal Tap cranked it up to
eleven for crowd favorite "Big Bottom."
Putting the show back on its musical course, Hillman and Herb
Peterson came out for a guitar and mandolin duet. And when Hillman
was just about to introduce Harris, McGuinn and Crosby came out
unannounced. In what to had to be the least amount of fanfare ever
witnessed for a reunion of a band of this scope, McGuinn took the
mic and announced, "And now, ladies and gentlemen, the Byrds." The
trio, backed by Ethan Johns on drums, cranked through beautifully
harmonious versions of hits "Mr. Tambourine Man" and "Turn, Turn,
Turn." The presence of McGuinn, Hillman and Crosby together
electrified the crowd, resulting in multiple standing ovations and
cries for more.
To the audience's credit, they showed no disappointment when Harris
(who gave a rousing set) took the stage, though their requests for
more from the Byrds went unheeded. And any post-Byrds letdown was
avoided when Ronstadt made her first appearance of the night. The
possessor of one of the most powerful voices in music, she rarely
performs live anymore, which added to the "event" feel of this
show. She was surprisingly timid though, limiting her set to two
songs, one of which was a duet with her niece Mindy.
Don Henley, in the unofficial role of headliner, closed out the
individual portions of the show with a credible three songs,
including a slowed-down version of "Boys of Summer" on acoustic
guitar. The requisite all-star finale was all that was left, though
this one was memorable for its intriguing song selection. Instead
of going for an obvious Byrds' song, "Take It Easy" (which Browne
co-wrote with members of the Eagles) or even a sing-along of
Zevon's hit "Werewolves of London," the musicians cranked through a
rocking take on "Mercury Blues." By the time they wrapped up the
evening with "Stand By Me," closed out by a thundering ovation
reserved for Walecki (goaded out on stage by Browne and Co.), the
amount of love and affection on stage and in the audience was
almost overwhelming.
STEVE BALTIN
(August 10, 2000)