The unfortunately late L.A.-based musician John O'Brien had a lot of famous friends. Some of them showed up this night to perform at a benefit for his family. The show was long but never boring (though some of the stretches in between acts could get lengthy). The show featured short sets by Katey Sagal, Curtis Stigers, Fishbone, Tom Morello, Stephen Stills, Sheryl Crow, Maroon 5 & Velvet Revolver. Of them all, Morello was the biggest surprise, Fishbone were the most energetic, and Revolver were the most popular with the crowd. This being the Sunset Strip House of Blues, it was cool seeing these acts in such an intimate setting. My friend and I got there early and stood not 5 ft. from the right side of the stage for the duration of the show, which lasted five hours. You can imagine how sore our feet were afterwards, but it was worth it. Classic rock legend Edgar Winter was seated in the V.I.P. arena just off of my right. Sagal, currently starring in both FUTURAMA and SONS OF ANARCHY, came out and did a version of Leonard Cohen's "Bird On a Wire". She was a professional singer long before she became an actress, singing with the likes of Bette Midler and Gene Simmons in the '70s. She later became famous for playing Peg on "Married...with Children". She was followed by Curtis Stigers, who did two songs, "John the Revelator" and "This Life", both featured in SONS OF ANARCHY. He was followed by Fishbone, who did a strong, energetic set of 3 songs. They were fun; I hadn't seen them before. Ex-Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello came next, first doing two straight-ahead folk protest songs, then really laying into a rocked-out version of Bruce Springsteen's "The Ghost of Tom Joad". His soloing on this song was just spectacular. The man's a great guitar player. Stephen Stills and Sheryl Crow came out together, and did "Love the One You're With". Crow then left the stage while Stills did a bluesy version of his Buffalo Springfield standard "For What It's Worth". Big audience sing-along here! Crow then came back out and did "Everyday Is a Winding Road" with Stills. He then put down his guitar, walked to the back of the stage and watched while she did a passionate take on "If It Makes You Happy" (my favorite of hers). There was a long turnover between Crow and Maroon 5, which presumably led to them cutting their setlist in half. They did two songs, "Harder To Breathe" and "Sunday Morning". They were great, but the audience wanted more. After another 25-min. turnover, Velvet Revolver did 4 songs, closing with a cover of Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here". After the heated fighting between Scott Weiland and the rest of the band for the last 2 years, it was nice to see them come together for this benefit. They seemed to be enjoying themselves, as were the audience. For the price (around $50), you could hardly do better for an evening's live entertainment, especially in such a small venue.
House of Blues Sunset Strip @
- West Hollywood @
, CA @
- Thu, Jan 12, 2012 @
Favorite moment: Velvet Revolver's "Slither", Crow and Stills doing "Love the One You're With", Morello's intense "Ghost of Tom Joad". @
Setlist: Detailed above. @
Opening act(s): Two folky acts with female leads that made no impression on me, unfortunately. At least they were brief. @