Vince Warner, Debbi Ruud team up for an all-star, post-Thanksgiving tribute to Simon & Garfunkel
Also, Audrey Johnson's gig with La Luz and your event calendar for the week.
There are few things better than a good concept concert — a one-off, one-night only performances designed around a central theme to be something special and truly outside the band or musician’s typical catalog.
Phish’s epic Halloween shows come to mind, and also the once-kinda-semi-annual decade-themed tribute nights hosted by Bigfoot Attack frontman Ben Mooneyham, for a Fresno example.
Also Vince Warner’s Sunday-after Thanksgiving residency at Fulton 55.
For the past several years, Warner has produced a series of tribute concerts with a house band of all-star musicians backing an roster of “Fresno’s finest singers.” There has been tributes to the The Band/The Last Waltz, to George Harrison, and to the year 1969.
This year’s show happens 6 p.m. tonight and is a tribute to Simon and Garfunkel with Warner and Singer Debbi Ruud standing in for the harmonizing duo.
“Debi is my dear friend,” Warner says.
“I think of her as my sister. We’ve played music together for many years, including performing many of the Simon and Garfunkel songs we both love. We wanted to keep this year’s show to a minimum of singers due to COVID issues. We figured this would be a good year for a tribute to the duo.”
Warner will stand in for Simon, with Ruud as Garfunkel, backed by a band that includes Lawrence Bohanon on bass, Nate Butler on piano, Stan Schaffer and drums, Ben Sondheim on keyboard, Phil Wimer on Guitar and Vince ‘Papa V’ Perez on percussion, plus Mark Ribera and The Dark Horse Horns.
The setlist is taken from songs Simon wrote and performed with Garfunkel either on their original releases, or in later reunion concerts. Many of the arrangements are taken directly from the pair’s 1981 concert in Central Park.
That was their first reunion show, the one attended by 300,000 or so people that was recorded and released the following year.
Below, Warner talks about the inspiration — and work — that goes into making these concerts happen.
I love the idea of these kinds of one-off special concerts, but what do you get out of them, and what do you think is in it for the audience?
“I get the enormous pleasure of working with some fantastic Fresno musicians, many of whom are personal heroes and people I don’t normally get to play with very often in our everyday gigging lives.
I’m extremely fortunate that these stellar players and singers are willing to join with me to make my chosen theme a reality each year. They work their butts off to make these shows happen at the level they do.
I think the audience gets the same sort of kick out of it, seeing a lot of their favorite local musicians coming together on one stage. The response to these shows has been tremendous. We’re already planning next year’s show and a return to the multiple singer format.”
How do you go about choosing the center point of a show like this? And what is the process of arranging the songs, knowing you have a full backing band you’re working with?
“After years of playing original music when I was younger, I play music nowadays in order to play the songs I love. I choose the material each year based on the same criterion: songs I love, grouped by a central theme.
I envision the band I have, and how to best feature the players’ strengths. Because we have Mark Ribera and his fantastic horn section, I always try to make sure the list includes as many songs as possible that feature horns.
When we’ve done the multiple singer format, the singers I have available inspire me to create a set list that best matches singers to songs, and that plays to each singer's strengths and stage presence. This year, Nate Butler returns as my Music Director. He’s created precise charts for all the songs and is the bottom line for all questions regarding chord changes and arrangements. His genius, along with drummer Stan Schaffer’s stunning attention to detail and rhythmic precision, takes a lot of pressure off me, and allows me to focus on trying to get my own parts right.
We’ve had amazing results over the years, with a lot of love and good vibes on stage and from the audiences.”
“Time, Time, Time,” the Music of Simon and Garfunkel, 6:30 p.m. TONIGHT, Fulton 55. $15-$20. Brandon Freeman (who’s band Cloudship scored the CVMA’s Best Rock Band award) opens the show with a selection of ‘60s folk songs.
La Luz has a familiar face behind the drum kit
Those following the psychedelic noir surf band La Luz will have noticed a new face popping up in its social media posts, publicity shots and videos.
Audrey Johnson joined the band for a run of West Coast tour dates, which included Eddie Vedder’s Ohana Fest and Levitation Fest in Austin, TX. She was also featured playing a super rad white drum kit in the band’s latest video “Metal Man.”
Johnson has been holding it down in the Fresno indie- and punk scenes since she was a teenager and is currently connected to several bands here, notably Fatty Cakes and the Puff Pastries and Eighteen Hundreds.
Johnson is also a wikipedia official member of ORLG, the experimental rock band side project from the Mars Volta guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López and played on the “The Clouds Hill Tapes.”
Events list Nov. 28-Dec. 4
Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 1, Full Circle Brewery District. This show is sold out.
Trans Siberian Orchestra, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 2, Save Mart Center. $39.50-$79.50.
Tinlicker, 9 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 2, Fulton 55. $10-$20.
Nekromantix, 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 2, Full Circle Brewery District. $20-$25.
Christian Martin, 9 p.m. Friday Dec. 3, Mint. $10-$250.
Dear You: Emo Night, 9 p.m Friday, Dec. 3, Strummer’s. $5.
The Emo Night tour, 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 3, Fulton 55. $15-$18.
Kill Devil Hill, 8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 4, Fulton 55. $22.
Buddah Fest II, 6 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 4, Full Circle Brewery District. $10-$15.
That’s it for this week. Remember you can now hear me on the Homegrown Show Sundays at 8 p.m. on New Rock 104.1 FM. If you have anything you think I need to be looking at or listening to, feel free to let me know: jtehee@gmail.com