Livin' La Vida Randy: The Residents at the Abron Arts Center, NYC, Sat., March 24

I knew pretty much nothing about the Residents until about a year ago. Sure, I'd hear about them, but I never actually heard them.

Anyway, last year they played World Cafe Live, and I went to the show out of curiosity and with zero expectations. The show was great and I became a fan.

So, upon hearing that Residents singer "Randy Rose" (not his real name) was bringing his one-man show to the Abron Arts Center NYC, I decided I had to go. There were several California performances last year, but the Abron shows were the first (and most likely only) East Coast shows, so I bought a ticket and hopped on the Greyhound. Also, it was really close to my old NYC neighborhood - I lived at 169 East Broadway from 1995-1996.

There are actually three characters in the play: Sam (played by "Randy"), Mack the Piano Player (Joshua Raoul Brody, in a full clown costume), and an unnamed waitress. As we filed into the theater, Mack was already playing. After being seated, the waitress wandered through the crowd, offering drinks in a thoroughly unpleasant fashion. (I had one - pretty sure it was Hawaiian Punch.)

Then, Sam enters, howling the words to "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" while propping himself up with a walker and swigging from a pint of Jim Beam. It's his birthday, and he's drunk and miserable, so he wants to sing a few songs.

Sam lost everything. Once a child of wealth in privilege, he was drafted and sent to Vietnam, spent time as a POW, cheated on his wife, was fired from the family business, and had a falling out with his son. He's now a broken-down (and broke) alcoholic.

If this sounds like dark stuff, it is, but there are also of humorous moments, especially in the first act. The play makes use of lots of pop songs as both plot devices and comic relief.

"Randy" remains a heck of a singer, though a decidedly nontraditional one, and a compelling performer. His "Mack The Knife" was pretty amazing, and his snarling on "Who Do You Love" was truly convincing. Brody's piano work was stellar. He left the piano a few times over the course of the evening to dance and act, and the switch to pre-recorded piano tracks was seamless.

All in all, well worth the trip.

Return of the Son of the Blog: Jessie Baylin & the Watson Twins, World Cafe Live, March 3, 2012

Sorry I haven't updated this blog in aeons. It's because - eh, I got nothin'.

At any rate, it's time to start back up, so here goes...

I was tipped off to Jessie Baylin's song "Hurry Hurry" by a friend and I liked it right away. I saw she was playing at WCL, so I checked out a few songs online and decided to go. The show had a 7 p.m. start time, which to me is an added incentive. (More on that in a future post.)

I arrived just in time to catch the Watson Twins' set. The only thing I knew about them was that they had done a record with Jenny Lewis that really hadn't done much for me - but, hey, I'm game.

I'm glad I gave them another shot. With only a single acoustic guitar between them (and occasional keyboard accompaniment), they put on a very good show with beautiful vocal harmonies, entertaining stories, and, at one point, a song sung in the middle of the crowd with no electricity whatsoever. I especially liked the song they did after their cover of Bill Withers' "Ain't No Sunshine" - wish I knew the name of it - where the harmonies had a gospel feel.

As good as the Watsons were, Jessie Baylin was even better. She's charismatic, confident, beautiful and talented, and she sang wonderfully despite technical problems with the vocal monitors. Her backing band (an electric guitarist, bassist, keyboardist and drummer, plus the aforementioned Watson Twins) were tight, and the arrangements never overwhelmed the songs. The set included several tunes from Baylin's new LP "Little Spark", some other originals, and a torchy version of Sonic Youth's "Little Trouble Girl."

I picked up "Little Spark" after the show - Jessie was kind enough to sign it - and I've listened to it at least a dozen times since. Highly recommended to fans of 60's pop and soul - it's reminiscent of records from that era, but she adds her own spin to things. Go see her if she's in your town.