Old Californio Resounds at Grand Ole Echo

Gary Numan asked, "Are friends electric?" I ask, "Was my weekend eclectic?" Short answer: Hell, yes!

Friday night during a soirée at a friend's home on the West side of Los Angeles, powerful operatic tenor Carlos De Antonis stood in the middle of the living room and sang "Nessun Dorma" from Puccini's "Turandot," moving some of the guests to tears - and even bringing a lump to the throat of this hard-hearted rocker. On Saturday night, it was off to the Echoplex in Echo Park for a visit to Bootie L.A. - the fab sister party to the long-running San Francisco mash-up event - where DJ Schmolli of the Bootie crew in Munich, Germany, brought a handful of his lederhosen-clad pals on stage to clomp around to such kinetic mixes as his monumental "Mash Me Amadeus," which rams together Falco, Nelly, Luniz, and a few other artists to jubilant effect.

Then came Sunday. I was back in Echo Park from the late afternoon to the early evening for the 2009 kickoff of the Grand Ole Echo alt-country/Americana/roots music concert series (complete with backyard barbecue). The venue was the Echo, which is the club located upstairs from the Echoplex. Or is the Echoplex the club located downstairs from the Echo? No matter. There was fun to be had with three tuneful, creative ensembles mining strains of country & western, folk, and rock music with very satisfying results. No clinkers here.

Old Californio, the middle band on the bill, was my favorite of the show, although their comrades - opener Whispering Pines and closer I See Hawks in L.A. - were just as adept and entertaining with their chiming/twanging/sliding guitars and hearty vocal harmonies. All three bands are descendants of Southern Cali forebears such as The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, the Flying Burrito Brothers, Poco and the Eagles, with varying degrees of rock, roll, and rustic in their DNA. What a perfect way to spend an early spring twilight in the City of the Angels!

Because the members of Old Californio were celebrating the release of their sterling debut album Westering Again, they might have had a little more oomph to their set. They're the most rockin' of the three groups, leaning as much on the rough, raw, homespun sound of Neil Young & Crazy Horse and the R&B-influenced, but pop-wise British Invasion stalwarts The Who and Faces as on folk and country elements. And that especially shined through at the Echo as they showcased tracks from Westering Again, all of which were written by genial singer/guitarist Rich Dembowski.

On stage, the quintet's positivity - so evident in their rambling "Mother Road," as well as the more down-home "Just Like Joseph Campbell" - was infectious. There were hints of Grateful Dead-style filigree that flashed in the guitar work of Dembowski and Woody Aplanalp and the roiling sound of keyboardist Levi Nuñez. And the dynamic instrumental interplay between bassist Jason Chesney and drummer Justin Smith on the rumbling "Harmony" inspired memories of The Who's rhythm section John Entwistle and Keith Moon at full throttle.

Old Californio

Guitarist Paul Lacques of I See Hawks in L.A. added some whirlwind pedal-steel to a couple of songs at the end of Old Californio's set. The coup de grace was a scintillating cover of "Hey Grandma," the late '60s proto-country-rock shuffle-with-a-sting from San Francisco psychedelic trail-blazers Moby Grape.

I left the Echo after enjoying some fine tunes from I See Hawks in L.A. Amazingly, I was feeling refreshed after quite a long weekend. I was also sure I'd be revisiting Old Californio at the next opportunity.