« Coco concert continued | Main | Los Lobos at Shubert »
March 9, 2008
Command performance
Friday night, it was back to the Fairfield Theatre Company for a show from The Commander Cody Band, which I have missed on its previous stops at the venue. It turns out, I had been missing out on a lot.
What a fun time it is when the Commander takes the stage, though you would hardly know it from watching him amble up there. Not to be too unkind, but the veteran rocker looks every bit his 60-plus years . . . and then some.
Still, he and his bandmates put on a heck of a good-time concert. I wasn't too familiar with Commander Cody's music other than what I know from seeing a few concerts at FTC by Bill Kirchen, the guitar wizard from Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen.
It was fun to listen to Commander Cody's versions of several of the same songs as Kirchen, naturally, focuses on his Telecaster and Commander Cody plays keyboards. I must confess that, as much as I enjoyed Friday night's event, Kirchen's live show is still the better of the two.
Friday night's opening act, Professor Louie and the Crowmatix, was almost as much fun. I had seen this group before, at a WPKN fundraiser in Newtown about six years ago, so I kind of knew what to expect.
Apparently, I forgot how solid this band is. With Professor Louie at the keys and, later on, accordion, the FTC crowd was treated to an uplifting performance, highlighted by a cover of The Band's "Ophelia."
Professor Louie and the Crowmatix hails from the Woodstock, N.Y., area and worked with The Band on its final three records, as well as solo discs from Garth Hudson and Rick Danko. If memory serves, Hudson accompanied the band at that WPKN fundraiser.
The set switched from fun and loose to respectful and poignant when Professor Louie dedicated a song to deceased bassist-singer Danko, the title track from the posthumous release "Times Like These." Very touching.
Posted by Sean on March 9, 2008 11:48 PM
