On July 9, 2023, I headed out to San Francisco California for another Stern Grove Sunday show. When I left the house, it was a beautiful sunny day with light traffic and made for a great drive in. By the time I parked at Stern Grove, it was overcast and chilly with a slight drizzle. As I made the beautiful descension into the Grove, the temperature just kept dropping. The entire day it never got above 58*f. I was so glad I grabbed my hoodie! On deck for this Sunday show was Andrew St James (w/ Scott Padden) and Lyle Lovett and his Large band.
Andrew St James was up first, with his friend Scott Patton accompanying him. Andrew grew up about 5 minutes from the Grove and they always like to have a local act opening so he was a great choice. They couldn’t get much more local this time. Andrew, on acoustic guitar, worked his way through his short 7-song set while Scott kept pace on the electric bass guitar. Very reminiscent of Bob Dylan, if Bob Dylan put out an alternative record, he is a great storyteller and was very well received by the crowd. The set consisted of a few songs from his past discography featuring a couple off of his Light After Darkness album and a couple off his Liberation Music For Boring People album.
Setlist
1). Here She Comes
2). Red Hair, Green Eyes
3). Slow Dive
4). Olivia, Can You Here Me Now
5). Golden State
6). Hey Boss
7). Love Is The Cancer That Kills All Conditions
Up next was Lyle Lovett and his Large Band. Large is right, including Lyle there were up to 15 members on stage and all were seasoned veterans. The only one that looked a bit out of place was Warren Hood, the fiddle player. He was significantly younger than the rest of the band but not lacking in talent at all. The band hit the stage and did an instrumental version of “The Blues Walk” before Lyle hit the stage to start song two, the Tammy Wynette classic, “Stand By Your Man”.
Lyle and the Large Band worked through many of his hits giving them a newer, fuller sound with the additional members and instruments. The bigger sound works so well at this venue and the crowd was totally into it. Everyone was dancing and having a great time as the band played on. Once in a while Lyle would pause to tell a story just to jump right into the next song. About 3/4 of the way into the set, they broke into the Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers’ cover “Don’t Let Your Deal Go Down” before diving back into Lyle’s back catalog again. They finished up with “That’s Right (You’re Not From Texas)” and “Here I Am (Reprise)” much to the dismay of the crowd. They were wanting more but, being that this place is in the middle of a neighborhood, I am sure they have curfews to abide by. As far as the crowd was concerned, they could have played all night.
Lyle Lovett Large Band Members:
Lyle Lovett – vocals, guitar
Jim Cox – piano, Hammond organ
Buck Reid– steel guitar
Jeff White – guitar
James Harrah– guitar
Leland Sklar – bass
Steve Herman – trumpet
Mace Hibbard – sax
Brad Leali – sax
Charles Rose – trombone
Lamont Van Hook – background vocals
Willie Green Jr- background vocals
Amy Keys – background vocals
Russ Kunkel – drums
Warren Hood – Fiddle/Violin
Setlist
1). The Blues Walk
2). Stand By Your Man (Tammy Wynette cover)
3). Here I Am
4). Pants Is Overrated
5). It’s a Naked Party
6). Are We Dancing
7). Pig Meat Man
8). Cowboy Man
9). Penguins
10). My Baby Don’t Tolerate
11). I Will Rise Up
12). I’ve Been To Memphis
13). Don’t Let Your Deal Go Down (Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers cover)
14). Nobody Knows Me
15). 12th of June
16). If I Had A Boat
17). That’s Right (You’re Not From Texas)
18). Here I Am (Reprise)
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Photographer of about 10 years, I have been shooting concerts for about 8 of those years. I started to get serious about concert photography about 6 or 7 years ago and now try to shoot as many as I can. I shoot mostly rock but, have done some country and big band stuff. I love music and since I am nowhere close to being a musician, this is a way I can be a small part of what, in the words of Henry Rollins, “gets me through the highs, the lows and everything in between”.
