Eat to the Beat
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Maybe this is a Los Angeles thing, but lately, I've found myself attending live music performances in restaurants. I'm not referring to some natty geezer or elegant lady tinkling the ivories with a tip jar and a repertoire of Tin Pan Alley standards. No, I'm talkin' kick-ass rock bands.
In fact, the last time I caught the soul-rockin', power-poppin' band the Neighborhood Bullys, they were on stage at a most unlikely eatery. I ambled into the old-timey French restaurant Taix in Echo Park on Friday night, and surveyed the main dining area/bar which was busy with a slew of customers. A little old man was wrestling with a plate of escargot. A 30something couple dug into their onion soup and salade frisée. And so on. As groups of three and four finished their meals, they opted for coffee or cocktails. Then, suddenly, the Bullys were on a stage at the front of the room, thrashing into a set of new material from their soon-to-be-completed sophomore album Lost & Jealous.
When the band wasn't slamming out instantly engaging numbers such as "Downtown" (its stunning coda highlighted by the interplay of guitarists Tex Mosley and Michael Hayes), singer Davey Meshell's heartfelt R&B stylings were earning a few new fans among previously unsuspecting lovers of French cuisine. Admittedly, the little old man with the escargot seemed somewhat disoriented, even trying to speak on his cell phone in the middle of one song. But it wasn't like anyone was running for the hills at the incongruously loud volume.
After the gig, Meshell told me that the Bullys used Taix as a lab, playing free shows there once a month and experimenting with their repertoire while drawing a gang of enthusiastic locals. As for the gastronomical consumption that was going on at table after table, Meshell shrugged, and said that the food was appetizing and reasonably priced. I guess you could think of the Bullys' set as a fine aperitif.
The previous weekend, the ubiquitous, talented and adorable violinist Charlene Huang invited me to Canter's Deli - the historic Fairfax District restaurant that was best-known as a hangout for such pastrami-loving Hollywood stars as comedian Jack Benny and his cronies, but has also counted legendary actors such as Marilyn Monroe and Cary Grant among its patrons. Again, the occasion wasn't food-related, although I did suck down a chocolate egg cream while I was there.
Charlene, who regularly plays in at least three bands (including Knife favorites Leslie & the Badgers) and sits in with a few others, wanted me to drop by Canter's Kibitz Room, the restaurant's teeny-tiny adjacent bar, for a combo birthday party/jam session. The bill featured, among others, singer-songwriter-guitarist Paul Chesne who manages to weld together the raw roots-rock side of Neil Young, the bittersweet folk-rock plaint of Tom Petty, the down-home twang of Jimmie Dale Gilmore, and the urban grit of Lou Reed.
And what a treat when Chesne and some of his regular mates like birthday boy/guitarist Dutch (whose own group Dutch & the Disasters had already played a rollicking set) took on a couple of unlikely covers. First was a version of M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes" to numerous whoops. But the piece de resistance was a wall-shaking midnight rendition of James Brown's "I'll Go Crazy," with a guest lead vocal from the leather-clad, weathered, yet seemingly immortal Willie Chambers of the beloved, '60s-era psychedelic soul band The Chambers Brothers ("Time Has Come Today").
Willie Chambers & Paul Chesne at the Kibitz Room
People on the jam-packed restaurant side of Canter's couldn't help but look up from their corned beef, knishes and white fish platters to peer at the glass partition dividing the Kibitz Room from the rest of the facility. All in all, it was a delicious night.
I subsequently learned that the Kibitz Room previously hosted weekly jams led by Guns N' Roses axeman Slash and nurtured Jakob Dylan as he gathered his Wallflowers together. Apparently, Taix and the Kibitz Room are cool places for musicians to ply their trade. I'm not sure if this "melodies with calories" phenomenon is specific to L.A., or is happening elsewhere (and I certainly don't count fancy Vegas supper clubs with aging tuxedoed crooners or glammed-out, surgically-preserved divas) - but it certainly brings new meaning to the phrase "tasty tunes."
Although this isn't as loosey-goosey and informal as his Kibitz Room set, here's a clip of Chesne and his band doing "Wichita/Dark Love":
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Comments (10)
I know a few places in washington tried it but the rowdy rock crowd terrified restraunt owners who were unaccustomed to such boisterous folk. so sadly the whole experiment died after about a month and a half. and the musicians went back to the bars and clubs they were already familiar with. I think music in resteraunts is cool but it's success depends on the maturity and decorum of it's fans. Not everyone came to party some of the audience had no Idea there was going to be a band and came just to eat. Also genre plays a part I don't want a riotous punk rock show while I'm trying to eat and I think metal should stay away from resteraunts altogether unless of course there's a theme that is congruent. So yeah Music in resteraunts is probably mostly a california thing but then again 95% of trends start out as a california thing so we'll hae to wait and see. I'd personally like to see mariachi singers in mexican resteraunts again! Blues guitarists in BBQ joints, slack key players at the Aloha Island grill, folk at the local coffee and bagel joint. you get the picture there are certain music food pairings that really add to the atmosphere of a place.
me likee!....would love to hear his rendition of Paper Planes!!!
danse: "Aye aye!" on the musical pairings, although (for all my delight at the above-noted events), I'm not the kind of guy who likes a mariachi band in his face while I'm forking up my enchiladas.
Madeline: It was awwwe-some!
well I wasn't meaning that they'd be at the table grubbing for tips, I'm thinking of them more as background preformers like in old westerns. Lending an air of ambiant authenticity.
I don't know 'bout all that. One of the finest venues around here is in an Oriental Resteraunt.
But hey....The music? This is right up one of my many alleys. This is good, solid Rocknroll with a nice kick to it. They sound like they should be in a smokey bar with sawdust covered fllors and knife-fights in the parking lot.
Thanks to MOG Radio........ Oh man....."Tired, Lonely, & Poor"....cool. a distant relation, melodically to Don't Think Twice Its Alright
...D'oh....I shouldda waited for No Big Surprise......THIS is the kind of disolute, elegantly wasted sound the Stones used to do so well. Excellent
....You hit it outta the park tonight, Mike! Yeeha
danse: Got it - although a well-programmed sound system might do the trick, too. ;-)
dmdm: Glad you're on board! Chesne is one of those under-the-radar standard-bearers who live and play the music, in any and all directions, for its own sake. What's odd is that he isn't trying to break out of some Middle American dive bar, but is working regularly in the L.A. clubs and speakeasys. Is he famous? Not yet. But the cognoscenti know!
I'd love to see more of what you so eloquently chronicled. It would be a novel experience to actually EAT and drink, vs just drink--when I go to a show. And just think of the exposure hungry young bands could get.
Let open a restaurant. I'll take the promo photos. :)
Hungry young bands! Ha! Love it, amber. And think how much more people could drink with some food in their bellies. (Uh-oh.)