As a fan of a wide variety of popular (and not-so-popular) music from the 1950s (and sometimes even earlier) up through the present, one of my bucket list projects for years has been to put together a list of my 100 favorite songs of all time. At some point I decided that, once I got around to figuring that out, I could put it out on a blog, for the infinitesimally small proportion of the Internet world that might be interested. So, here we are. While the Top 100 will be a major focus, I also plan to post on a variety of other musical (and occasionally non-musical) topics, in which you may or may not be interested. (If a particular posting doesn’t ring your bell, you’re only a few clicks away from a dancing cat video on YouTube.)

Thursday, January 1, 2015

Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes w/ Ashleigh Chevalier, Birchmere, 12/27/2014


Southside Johnny may have been a little under the weather (bad cold), but he and the Jukes nevertheless managed to put on a great show for a large, appreciative crowd at the Birchmere Saturday evening. They started with an abbreviated version of “Talk To Me” (doing the full version later), then moving right into “Angel Eyes”. Other highlights included “Better Days”, “Love On The Wrong Side Of Town”, “No Easy Way Down”, and a tremendous cover of Jimmy Cliff’s “Many Rivers To Cross”, sung by keyboardist Jeff Kazee. They got to “The Fever” near the end, with Johnny’s voice clearly flagging, so the band then gave him a break by belting out an extended version of “Lookin’ For A Love”. He then returned for “Havin’ A Party”, but didn’t have enough left for any encores (so we missed out on the traditional “I Don’t Want To Go Home”). I don’t think anyone felt cheated under the circumstances, since the show still ran over 90 minutes.
 
The Fredericksburg-based Ashleigh Chevalier opened with a 30-minute set, accompanied on guitar by Bruce Middle. Her repertoire blends genres, with flavors of folk, country, and blues. Nice voice, although we weren’t particularly blown away by her original material. She did do a nice version of the blues classic “Ain’t Nobody’s Business If I Do.”
 
Enjoyed the Margarita Chicken Salad, and (unlike last time) managed not to make any wrong turns on the way home.
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3 comments:

  1. JFJanuary 1, 2015 at 9:19 PM

    Just saw Southside Johnny for seventh time on New Year's Eve at State Theater in New Brunswick, NJ.

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    Replies
    1. Mike RhoadsJanuary 2, 2015 at 10:41 AM

      Excellent -- hope he was feeling better.

      You've seen him one or two more times than we have, but we didn't get started until a few years ago -- June 16, 2011, when my friend Louise and I saw him on a double-bill with the Smithereens at Wolf Trap. (To be honest, although I was looking forward to seeing Johnny, I was primarily there for the Smithereens, one of my favorites.) We both loved Southside and the band, though, and have seen him several times since at a number of local venues, including a couple times in their "Poor Fools" incarnation.

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  2. JFJanuary 2, 2015 at 8:57 PM

    First time was way back in 1976 in a Morristown theatre show, and then during the past ten year a bunch of times at a Jersey Shore bar.

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