Rolling Cef Concert Reviews
It may have been North Beach in San Francisco, but it felt like we escaped to Sunset Blvd. in LA for one night. Gilby Clarke, the guitarist who replaced Izzy Stradlin in Guns N' Roses headed up to Northern California just for this show. He was supposed to bring with him Eric Singer, one of the drummers from KISS. Unfortunately, Eric Singer couldn't make it, but his replacement was "a bad fucker, mother fucker" as Gilby put it, and I have to say this guy beat his drum skins to a pulp. Also along side Gilby was Ryan Roxie, the backup guitarist of Slash's Snakepit.
The only Gunner stuff that Gilby covered was a few riffs from My Michele and the remake of Knockin on Heaven's Door, in which he even got the crowd to sing along with the choruses just like Axl used to. The encore was a cover of Cheap Trick's Surrender with Ryan Roxie doing an awesome job on lead vocals. As for my favourite pick of the night, it was probably Gilby's hit song, Cure Me or Kill Me, off his '94 solo album, Pawnshop Guitars.
I was flipping through the music section of SF Weekly, and I saw a familiar name, Shannon Moore, the final artist that I caught at the SXSW music festival in 1998. I headed up to Mick's Lounge to catch her set and got there during the sound check. Was it the same Shannon Moore I wondered? She looked familiar, and when she played the familiar chords from the song, Fucked Up, that I've jammed along with many times, I was a happy guy.
She was performing solo that night, and had both an acoustic and an electric guitar with her. Surprisingly, I recognized a lot of the songs from the tape that I bought from her a year and a half ago. Her voice was better than I remembered. She's got a quite a high range, even though she usually sings in a low register. The dynamics she provided as a solo performer were impressive as she would be quietly strumming some parts, then with little warning she'd start to really rock out.
As you might have guessed, I got a chance to speak to her. I didn't even have to attack her since she came up beside me to order a drink. I told her I saw her in Austin a year and a half ago. She reminisced and said that was about the time she broke up with her last band. She told it took her this long to finally get a new album together and start touring. It was her first time playing back in San Francisco. She seemed a bit astonished that I would have spotted her name in the paper after a year and a half ago. Well, as you guys know, Cef Rocks! Initially, she was so impressed that she said she would just give me one of her new CD's. But then I think her better sense prevailed, as she conveniently became preoccupied. The good news though is that she's planning a move here.
Penelope Houston is a well-known name in the San Francisco music scene, but I had never seen her before. Since she was playing just a few blocks up Mission Street, it was a good opportunity to check her out. This was also the first time I stepped foot in the Tip Top Inn, which I barely knew existed. Apparently, it's been around for like 20 years, but not until this year have the owners expanded it and added a back room with a stage. It's actually a very cool place and with its close proximity, I may have to become a regular. Anyway, Penelope Houston performed acoustic this night with two other members from her band. It was a cool show and she played songs from throughout her career, including a couple off her new album, Tongue.
Penelope really didn't look much over 30, but I asked her about her old punk band, The Avengers (which she's best known for), and she told me they were around from '77 to '79. Man, I felt young. I was listening to the Bee Gees back then.
Opening up the show was Jean Caffeine from where else, but Austin, Texas. Jean's material wasn't as polished as Penelope's. The songs were also a bit sparse since Miss Caffeine's lead guitarist was a no-show. But the dude arrives at the end of the last song and walks up the stage with guitar in hand, thinking everything's cool. Jean just unplugged and the dude looked like a fool.
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