Dave Barnes @ The Roxy

The last time I saw Dave Barnes in LA was at The Hotel Cafe back in April of 2009, almost a year before the release of his current album "What We Want, What We Get." I always enjoy Dave's recordings, so I snapped up his latest release on pre-order several months ago and have been listening to it non-stop in the car since it arrived in the mail. But nothing beats a Dave Barnes live show, so I was happy to see him making an appearance at The Roxy on Sunset Boulevard.



The best part was running into Cissy and Suzanne, two new friends I made at the Hotel Cafe LAST YEAR! Catching up made standing in line a lot more fun!



One of the great things about Dave is his support of young, up and coming artists, and I'm always curious to see who comes along for the ride to open for him. At the last Hotel Cafe show, I discovered Andrew Ripp, who is currently working on a new album, produced by none other than DAVE BARNES, and opening for Dave on some Midwest dates.

The first act was Julian Moon, a San Diego based college student who sounds kind of like Jewel without the yodeling.



The thing stood out most about her was her awesome shoes. She's cute, but the music is pleasant yet unremarkable. Her band mates were more interesting than she was -- a one-armed drummer (one arm was in a sling) and a guitar player that could pass for Kings defenceman Matt Greene.



So much for that.

But the REAL new talent discovery of the night was Allen Stone.



Don't let the long blond hair, geeky black rimmed glasses, and acoustic guitar fool you -- this guy has a HUGE voice tailor made for R&B. Think James Morrison or Marc Broussard, two of my favorite singers, and you get the idea. The son of religious parents, he grew up singing gospel, and you can tell. All of his original music is passionate, thoughtful and melodic, and the cover he pulled off of the Marvin Gaye classic "What's Going On" had the whole room singing right along.

Stone's performance more than justified further exploration with a CD purchase, which is now on constant rotation in the car right next to Dave's record.



Key tracks to check out include "Better Off This Way," "Figure It Out," and "Poison."

Then it was time for the man himself...THE Dave Barnes.



If you look up the term "cutie-patootie" in the dictionary, you'll find Dave's picture next to it. Or as Suzanne said several times throughout the evening, "He's just so adorable!"



The set list kicked off with selections from the new album, then mixed in a nice variety of old favorites from previous albums with classic Dave story vignettes sprinkled throughout.

********************
Chameleon
What I Need
Butterflies
My Love, My Enemy
Grace's Amazing Hands
Someday, Sarah
What We Want, What We Get
The L.A. Song
I Have and Always Will
God Gave Me You
Little Lies
Until You
Greyhound (Encore)
********************

My only complaint about the show was the venue, or more specifically, the crowd. During the portions where I was standing in the back, it was hard to hear and a bunch of unappreciative people were talking through some really nice moments. After the epic campfire sing-along harmonizing at Hotel Cafe, this one was a little bit of a let-down.

To Dave's credit, he worked his butt off to keep his audience engaged right up until the end, even coming down into the crowd to get everyone snapping, clapping and singing along to "Greyhound."



Because whether the whole crowd knows it or not, Dave Barnes is a talent worth seeing under any circumstances. And the next time he's in LA, I'll be there.