Rolling Cef Concert Reviews

Volume II, Issue #5 (6/19/98)

Holly McNarland
Monday, June 1, 1998
Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco, CA

Holly McNarland made her return to this venue after two years. She told the crowd that when she played in San Francisco two years ago, she met a 94-year old man, whom she later wrote a song about. That song was Elmo!

It was an excellent show as usual. She said there only about five people in attendance last time, so with over fifty this time, I think she was satisfied. She also mentioned the Bimbo's show from March and said that it was "scary" to play such a big place when there's not that many people in attendance.

I caught her walking by after the show and she told me she remembered me from the Bimbo's show. For some reason she thought I knew Tara Maclean personally. Maybe I'm getting a reputation?

Creed w/ Fuel and Mayfield Four
Friday, June 12, 1998
The Edge, Palo Alto, CA

I have to say I was a little disappointed with Creed. Their main set did not offer any more depth than the first two singles, and with one guitarist, the sound seemed incomplete. They could have used some acoustic guitar thrown in. The best part of the show was the encore when four guys came back out and played three awesome tunes. If I didn't look up at the stage, I would have thought it was another band.

Fuel, on the other hand, had enough guitar! These guys were a quite a surprise after only hearing their pop-like single. The music was everywhere, from pop, to hard rock, to alternative. The band was really tight and most songs were pretty good, although there were a few duds. For the heavy numbers, the blonde-dyed short-haired singer would give his best Bruce Dickinson stance with one foot on the monitor and elbows out to side. Hey, it worked for him.

Mayfield Four -- Wow! The guy who fronts this band on vocals and lead guitar has an amazing singing range and excellent shredding skills. Every song in their set was good. Definitely worth keeping an eye out for.

Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band w/ Todd Snider and Uma
Sunday June 14, 1998
The Warfield, San Francisco, CA

The Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band rocked the place. With a collection of classic blues songs and bluesy-rock tracks from his first and second CD's, Kenny put on a guitar-playing clinic. He's found his own style and he's got great stage presence as well. He's also put together a solid young band that can play blues years beyond their age. The new singer, Noah Hunt, has a great voice, and respectfully stays beneath Shepherd's guitar.

Todd Snider makes a claim up front that 10% of everything he writes comes from influences like the Beatles, and 90% comes from Credence Clearwater Revival. He's got dance moves coming out of his ass and he works the crowd like a bible-thumpin' preacher. He's an honest hard-working musician and won over a slew of fans that night.

Uma was the opening band. There's a guy and girl that share lead vocals, although the girl really deserves the spotlight for herself. She played keyboards on the first song and then acoustic guitar for all the others. Her singing was excellent but the guy was uninteresting. He would frequently walk over to her mic and sing with her, but he never made eye contact with her, which made it seem pointless.

Brother Cane w/ Bloody Mary
Tuesday, June 16, 1998
The Usual, San Jose, CA

This ain't the same Brother Cane that recorded "Got No Shame". Maybe I waited too many years to see these guys live because they seem to have lost their edge. The southern rock sound on their first album was awesome, and I miss it. I don't know if they're trying to sound more alternative, but I hope they haven't changed their sound to sell more CD's. They actually said that they sell CD’s at their shows because many stores don't carry them!

A real bummer for the crowd was a no-show encore after a good five solid minutes of hollering and applause. Some shit must have gone down because the lighting crew clearly expected them to return. The radio station gave them intense promotion all week, but the turnout was just over half capacity. I wouldn’t say that I don’t recommend them -- just that they didn't meet my expectations.

The opener got off to a weak start, but Bloody Mary's set really picked up after about three songs. They're a newly-formed band with an L.A. hard-rock sound and great harmonies. I would say that I recommend them.

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