This week weighs heavily on the old-timers. The one and only Willie Nelson will be at the OC Fair with his family band on the 13th, while the next night it hosts the Happy Together Tour, which offers a 60-something lineup of the Monkees’ Micky Dolenz, the Buckinghams, Gary Puckett & The Union Gap and, of course, the Turtles with Flo & Eddie. I saw one of these types of flashback concerts a few years back and it was rather fun (if you don’t take it too seriously).
The Hollywood Bowl pays tribute to Ray Charles on the 11th with a concert featuring Dee Dee Bridgewater, Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds, Martina McBride (really!), the Count Basie Orchestra and others. New Wave veteran Howard Jones will be performing his first two albums, Human’s Lib and Dream Into Action at Agoura Hills’ Canyon Club on Friday the 13th. But the best vet, in my book, coming to town this week is Ray Wylie Hubbard. The Texas outlaw has a show at McCabe’s on Saturday night.
Eleni Mandell
Eleni Mandell has a terrific new album, I Can See The Future (her Yep Roc debut!), that’s full of beautiful bittersweet tunes. She’s has a record release show at the Hotel Café on Tuesday the 10th with the talented singer-songwriter Henry Wolfe and Lavender Diamond also on the bill. Largo also has a fine show lined up that night with Sara Watkins and Tom Brosseau. Watkins will be showcasing songs from her recently released Sun Midnight Sun album, while Brosseau will play tunes from his upcoming, and Sean Watkins-produced, disc.
The folk orchestra Dustbowl Revival will roll into Beverly Hills’ Canon Gardens for one of those free summertime shows on the 12th. The String Cheese Incident will be jamming at the Greek on the 13th, while TV Girl will perform its giddy pop at the Bootleg that night. The next night, you can catch the eclectic singer Carina Round there.
