Jill Sobule and John Doe Live at Largo

It’s a new year. And what better way to kick it off then with some of the brilliant songwriting of Jill Sobule and solid musicianship of John Doe. John is “Presenting” acts every Thursday this month at Largo in L.A. Jill was the first in the series and what a great start. The evening actually opened with Tom Brousseau playing a few songs. Tom seemed a bit off this night. His guitar playing was a little sloppy. It was almost like he wasn’t prepared for the show. Still, he keeps growing on me. I may have to break down and buy his CD when it comes out (if it hasn’t come out already).

John Doe then came out with his 2 piece band consisting of a drummer and Dave Carpenter on stand up and electric bass. They played about an hour, singing old and new songs. John also did a couple of songs on his own. He finished up the set with Jill joining the band. After a nice duet, she got down on her knees ripping out a feedback drenched solo on her classic Gretsch guitar. At the end she stormed off stage, leaving her guitar lying on the floor. But, she came back a few seconds later because she just couldn’t leave such a beautiful guitar lying on the floor. It was all in fun, and we all enjoyed it enormously.

After a short break, Jill came out and did another hour. Most of it was solo, but about 5 or 6 songs were with the band (including John on guitar). I love when Jill plays solo. She is apt to do just about anything and that is just so much fun. But, you sometimes forget how good her songs can be. The full band brought that all back to me. When they rocked, they really rocked. Jill is working on new material, but it appears to be coming slowly right now. She ended up writing a song about writing a song. It was very cute and a nice start for the next CD. Meanwhile, she played lots of great stuff as she always does. The highlight may have been the closer; a blues number. It is, according to Jill, the first blues number she has ever written, and it really cooked. Jill was recently on tour with Cyndi Lauper. One of the highlights for her was when Cyndi asked her if she could sing with her on “Mexican Wrestler”. What I wouldn’t give to have a bootleg of that.