Squeeze @ House of Blues San Diego

Wow, it has been since 2012 that I saw Squeeze.  Wow, that long ago?  I know it wasn’t last year so I thought it might have been 2 years ago...

Yup, they are wearing Pajamas...

Difford and Tilbrook had an acoustic performance, mixing songs from deep in their catalog.  They had a 2 set evening with a 30 break between sets.  Great songs, excellent acoustics.

After Wardrobe Change

HOB had this as a seated show up front.  I had a seat third row with 4 seats on my left to the center aisle.  The seats were empty until a guy showed up in the third song.  I guess his 3 friends had better things to do.

Upcoming Concerts

My sister Tracy arrives on the left coast in 1-2 weeks for an extended stay.  I already told Tracy I would be going to some concerts and it is her decision if she wants to partake.  She is excited about them and suggested to include Robert Cray on the list.

Culture is down the street from Belly Up

These are at the Belly Up.  I will look into getting tix for Robert Palmer (of Emerson, Lake, and Palmer fame) tonight.

Mattson 2 & Tommy Guerrero @ The Federal

The opportunity of seeing both Mattson 2 and Tommy G. made the drive to Long Beach worthwhile.  And Ray Barbee would be playing with both.

The venue was The Federal, which used to be a bank located in downtown Long Beach.  Parking was surprisingly easy to find ($6).  Walking in, the conversion from bank to restaurant/bar was well done.  However, the concert was held downstairs in a plain room, painted concrete floor, with a raised band floor (good).  The huge walk-in vault had been converted to the swag room with CDs and T-shirts available.

I walked into the vault to review swag and ran into Tommy G, and thanked him in advance for the concert.  Tommy was genuinely appreciative.  Cool dude.

Another venue negative:  while the main floor had a respectable on-tap selection that did not appear to be the same downstairs.  My Tanqueray and Tonic as reasonably priced ($8) but as with all drinks except canned beer, it was served in a plastic cup.

Mattson 2 with Ray Barbee

Mattson 2 took the stage with Ray Barbee.  Great show with plenty of back and forth between the 2 guitars.

During the band changeover, I surveyed the crowd.  I guess you could say I am an outlier on the band demographics.  Plenty of flannel and T-shirts.  Beanies.  Mostly 20-somethings.  Yeah, I blend.

Tommy and the band took the stage.  Band members were the same as were at the Lafayette a few months ago with the addition of a conga player.  Tommy has a coolness stage presence that makes it hard to believe this is a side gig from skateboarding and that business.  He is now my favorite west coast musician.

I had a conference call at 1am so I left mid-performance.  I spent all of 10 minutes on that call once connected.  The Eindhoven co-workers were disappointed I had to leave a concert for the CC and were interested in what ‘Surf Jazz’ sounds like.  I emailed videos links of M2 and Tommy G to a few of the co-workers.